reply to post by HiAliens
Tinker's Bubble is a great example of a simple living community. In contrast to their upper-class neighbors with their huge houses and manicured
gardens, the community uses just the resources they need. Formed in 1994 by a group of people with similar ideas of living off the land, there are now
twelve adults and four children living under the trees on top of the hill. Owned by a cooperative the land consists 40 acres of woodland, pastures,
and apple orchards. We learned of them by word of mouth, as they don't have their own website and they are not listed in the usual community
directories.
Low-impact living is the major idea of this community. This is easily seen when visiting. For one, they have strict principals of not using fossil
fuels. They cook on a wood stove or over an open fire, use wind and solar energy for light, and have a huge steam-powered locomotive engine, which
operates in a straw-bale barn (for noise insulation), where they mill trees from their land. For their farm work and any heavy moving, they have a
Shire horse, named Samson, who when not working grazes in the apple orchards.
A second aspect of their low-impact living is their dwellings. Like at Steward Wood most live in self-built benders, though the longer they stay the
more strawbale and cob walls replace the cloth. The main communal building houses the kitchen (though the pots and dishes and sink are outside to save
space) and a communal sitting area and loft. It is a beautiful building built with their own milled timber and thatched with recycled reeds (from a
local house). Their one other communal building is the bathhouse that houses a bathtub and a wood-fired water tank where many also do their laundry.
Only one member had built a permanent house, also with their own timber and thatched with self-grown wheat.
A third aspect of their low-impact living is what they eat. Almost all of their produce is grown organically in their gardens, with the remaining
grains and nuts coming from a bulk organic distributor. There is also one cow from who's milk they make yoghurt and cheese. They buy their bread
daily from a local store.
Though the land is cooperatively owned, they do not share income, so everyone has to figure out their own means. They have to contribute around 20
pounds ($30) a week for the communal expenses, which include food. In addition to these expenses everyone commits to one and a half days of communal
work per week (gardening, woodland work, building management, etc.) and one rotational "domestic" day when they wash dishes, do communal house
cleaning, and cook (vegetarian) dinner for everyone. Because their weekly living expenses are so low they can easily earn this in one day's work.
Many of them spend one day a week working on an organic market farm/store that a former member has started. Others work in offices of local
non-profits. Others grow veggies or make crafts to sell at the weekly Farmer's Market in Glastonbury. In the winter there is often enough paid work
for everyone on their own land. There is apple harvesting and juice pressing and woodland management including coppicing work and timber milling
year-round. During our visit we worked mostly in the gardens, weeding and planting, even through the driving rain.
One of
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