Off-grid homestead in the southern Appalachian mountains, USA
Location: Ellijay, USA
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
We are a small, 3-acre homestead in a cove of the southern Appalachian mountains. We are also forming an intentional community that will eventually expand to encompass multiple properties. We are establishing subsistence farming systems for vegetable, meat, and fruit production, and are currently in our second year of work on the property.
We generally begin hosting guests in late February or March, but guests who can handle camping in potentially freezing weather are welcome before then. No indoor sleeping space is currently available. Camping is the only form of accommodation right now, because our cabin is too small and rustic for hosting guests. The indoor bathroom is available at all times, keeping in mind you are sharing it with four cats and all that entails, and the kitchen is almost entirely outdoors.
We have eight chickens, eight garden beds in rotation planting, two more gardens and an orchard to clear and establish, and a long-term guest helping establish new gardens and greenhouses.
There are two creeks right next to our cabin and a lake just down our road, so it is a good place for swimming, hiking, fishing, and other fun. You can hike up the mountain we are on for breathtaking views if you can handle the steep grade. We are surrounded by outdoor activity opportunities, yet only 2 hours north of Atlanta, so you can see the city too in one trip.
We are located 20 miles or 45 minutes away from town, Ellijay, so you will need your own transportation to get here. There is no cellphone service and we either wash our clothes by hand and line-dry them or take monthly trips to the laundromat. We have a Skype phone number you can use to receive and make calls when you are here, and there is cellphone service about 10 miles towards town.
Our four cats and chicken flock make this place unsuitable for anyone with allergies to either of them. We cannot accept more than three people at a time, or anyone traveling with pets or children. We prefer guests who can keep themselves entertained during their free time. We are LGBTQI friendly and accepting of alternative religions, as long as your meditation or bodywork does not get in the way of you helping out around the place.
We are happy to teach you about brewing wine and mead, fishing and crawfish trapping, baking with whole wheat, making yogurt from scratch, canning, fermenting, blacksmithing, wild plant and tree identification, herbal medicine, rustic instrument making, and meditation and other spiritual practices. No previous experience or belief system is necessary if you can keep an open mind.
We generally begin hosting guests in late February or March, but guests who can handle camping in potentially freezing weather are welcome before then. No indoor sleeping space is currently available. Camping is the only form of accommodation right now, because our cabin is too small and rustic for hosting guests. The indoor bathroom is available at all times, keeping in mind you are sharing it with four cats and all that entails, and the kitchen is almost entirely outdoors.
WORKING ARRANGEMENT
We are looking for people to help at least 4 hours a day, four or five days a week. The work is varied and depends on the season. We are establishing gardens and hugelkultur growing areas and other permaculture techniques, so there is plenty of rustic fencing, soil turning and amending, and plant starting to do all season long. We have plans for a second coop and run for a separate flock, and many general landscaping and beautification projects like expanding our frog pond and clearing out the bog for growing cranberries and wild rice. Visitors get a chance to help us build and establish new projects and then visit later to see the results of their hard work.We have eight chickens, eight garden beds in rotation planting, two more gardens and an orchard to clear and establish, and a long-term guest helping establish new gardens and greenhouses.
LIVING ARRANGEMENT
We eat three meals a day and we are happy to share, and we provide some basic staples for preparing your own meals at other times. We eat omnivorous meals made from a mix of homegrown, conventional, and organic products. We cannot provide a lot of extra snacks or specialty foods because we are on a tight budget and the homestead itself does not produce any income.There are two creeks right next to our cabin and a lake just down our road, so it is a good place for swimming, hiking, fishing, and other fun. You can hike up the mountain we are on for breathtaking views if you can handle the steep grade. We are surrounded by outdoor activity opportunities, yet only 2 hours north of Atlanta, so you can see the city too in one trip.
We are located 20 miles or 45 minutes away from town, Ellijay, so you will need your own transportation to get here. There is no cellphone service and we either wash our clothes by hand and line-dry them or take monthly trips to the laundromat. We have a Skype phone number you can use to receive and make calls when you are here, and there is cellphone service about 10 miles towards town.
Our four cats and chicken flock make this place unsuitable for anyone with allergies to either of them. We cannot accept more than three people at a time, or anyone traveling with pets or children. We prefer guests who can keep themselves entertained during their free time. We are LGBTQI friendly and accepting of alternative religions, as long as your meditation or bodywork does not get in the way of you helping out around the place.
We are happy to teach you about brewing wine and mead, fishing and crawfish trapping, baking with whole wheat, making yogurt from scratch, canning, fermenting, blacksmithing, wild plant and tree identification, herbal medicine, rustic instrument making, and meditation and other spiritual practices. No previous experience or belief system is necessary if you can keep an open mind.
