Our 40-acre farm lies in the quiet back country of northeast Tennessee at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountain range, locally known as the Great Smokey Mountains, near the borders of North Carolina and Virginia. We welcome visitors who want to get their hands dirty learning the permaculture way of growing, living, and perpetuating life! To book a visit, please email us, if you’d like to stay longer (weekend, week, month, or season on Shambhala), please visit our WWOOF host page to learn more. This is not a rest stop, this is an experience to teach you food sovereignty, self sufficiency and a kinship with nature.
We feel the traditional farming model is expiring. Farmers are isolated, underpaid, and lack the freedoms to travel and enjoy life outside the farm. A cooperative farming model like ours helps us stay connected to our families and hold on to our dreams of traveling while still having a sanctuary like Shambhala to come home to and sustain us for the long term. Together we can care for what’s needed to sustain us more simply, efficiently, and cooperatively.
We currently have 3 member families on site, and we’re seeking 6 more to reach our 9 total to share this land with us, build tiny homes or small cabins, and sustain our future together through gardens, food forests, living off grid, making the most of our surroundings, using our natural resources wisely, and educating others to do the same.
To learn more about our Guidelines, Values, and Vision, you can download our document here.
It is our intention: To encourage, foster, and educate on community-style living and permaculture sustainable practices for long-term success and self-reliance. We intend and expect to leave the land and space better than how we found it.
Our primary focuses are on community, sustainability, land stewarding, and self sufficiency.
Our primary goals are to be self sufficient in energy, water, and food, to be a zero-waste and universally-designed community, with a strong focus on reducing and eliminating waste through best practices, composting, reusing and recycling.
To become a member of Shambhala, members must go through our application process, and that document can be provided.
Members are approved by consensus with an equal-share buy-in for land. Members home structures are the financial responsibility of each member/family, but can be community-built. Membership and land stewardship are separate categories.
Members have equal voting rights on community decisions and share responsibility for all projects and farming practices.
We welcome visitors, please book tours by contacting us directly. We also welcome WWOOFers, to get a deeper, richer experience, and stay the night if you care to do so. All overnight visitors must be registered with WWOOF, and can view our profile here:
https://wwoofusa.org/en/host/39242
One person or partnership has ultimate authority.
Generally seek agreement, but have backup methods when consensus isn’t reached.
Power and responsibility are shared relatively equally among members.
Members contribute a percentage of income to community funds.
Join fee: $38000
Regular fees: $0
Labor: Yes
Common House, Garden(s), Greenhouse(s), Library, Workshop, Outbuilding(s), Outdoor Kitchen, Tractor & Farm Equipment, Fire pit, Recreational vehicles, Internet
Countryside locations with significant distance from urban centers.
Private homes with shared common facilities, designed for neighborly
interaction while maintaining independence.
Integrated communities designed around ecological principles with sustainable living practices.
Communal living with shared resources, property, and often income or work responsibilities
Connecting communities through an intentional online marketplace
A residential project: people live here as their primary home.
An institution, business, network, or project that isn’t a residence (e.g. a learning center, farm, or network with no one living there full-time).
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