Life on an Eco-Village

Be sure and check out our GIVEAWAY while you're here.

Welcome friends! This is a post I've been intending to write for almost three months now. If you've been following the blog for a while now you know that as a family we have lived in some unusual places. When Little Owl was first born we lived with my family in their home. Then we moved on to an organic farm where Brian worked for the growing season. Then, we moved back into my parents house for a short time and now we live on an eco-village!

Welcome to Lost Valley!

The place we are living now is called Lost Valley. It is a permaculture educational center and eco-village. In a future post I can explain more about what permaculture is for those of you who are not familiar, but for now I want to share with you a bit of what life is like. Mostly, I will explain briefly what we have been up to the past three months in pictures and a few words.

What are we doing at Lost Valley? Brian is volunteering as the assistant garden manager in exchange for room and board credits. I am attempting to continue blogging, working odd jobs, and mostly taking care of Little Owl (and now a new family member... more on that later!)

Life in a Barn Loft

When we first moved onto Lost Valley we were staying in a barn loft. The bottom part of the barn functioned as a storage area for garden tools, seeds, and other items. As I mentioned on Facebook, when I approached our home from this angle, I felt like a bird coming home to its nest.

Here is a view from the inside... It was... cozy, quaint, snug... and really pretty dirty. But, it worked for a short time. We enjoyed it. But, we are also glad that we've moved into a bigger space now.

Then comes the snow storm...

Of course, everything changes when a snow storm hits. A few weeks into our stay we had a snow storm blow through and we lost power for a while. To stay warm we piled under blankets at night. Thank goodness for co-sleeping! We all stayed nice and snug. 

I love how no matter the weather, kids still have fun. Here is Athena chasing the ducks even in the snow...

Life for Little Owl...

Really living on the village has been absolutely wonderful with Athena. She loves to chase the chickens and ducks, pet the baby bunnies, say hello to the neighboring cows, and welcome the baby chicks with papa. 

I'm pretty sure a kid couldn't ask for a better life. No matter if things are a little more difficult for me than they would be in a "conventional home", seeing her joy makes it all worth it a hundredfold. 

Not to mention that it's pretty awesome to just walk out our back yard and have this to gaze at... (A forager's paradise!)

Athena and I love to go for walks around the property. It's over 80 acres and we've barely explored any of it. There are LOTS of kids living out here. And it seems like more show up every week! There are six kids just around Athena's age. It's like a play date everyday! (So THIS is what living in a village used to be like!) 

Our New, New Home... and Our Newest Family Member!

We moved out of the barn loft about three weeks ago. Here is a picture of Athena and I with our NEW DOG! Yes, we welcomed a new family member. Her name is Piper, she's five, we got her from a shelter. Her favorite place to sleep is curled up in a ball, under the covers at our feet. No need for an electric blanket when you co-sleep with a dog! Athena is loving having her around, and so are Brian and I. She's a keeper. 

It's really nice now to have a more function-able space for our family. When we lived in the barn loft, we had to use the group kitchen to cook, which isn't very toddler friendly (read: NOT toddler friendly AT ALL). Here, we have a little kitchenette with a toaster oven and hot plate. It's nice to be able to cook a little bit again while Athena just plays (or begs to be let up and held!) It's also nice to have places to store our food the we canned and dehydrated last year... 

There is so much more I could share... but I need to finish a few projects (hopefully!) before the little one wakes up from her nap. I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into our new lives. It's been a wonderful experience so far and I will continue to update as time goes on. Brian is loving all that he is learning, I am enjoying being around so much beautiful nature, and getting to know the other people and families who live out here. Hope you are all well! Blessings! <3

- The Crunchy Momma

What have you been up to lately? Are there any new developments in your life? Share them with me in the comments! I'd love to know. 

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