I am cross-posting this on NWMama and MysticMarketplace so some of you may see this more than once. Thanks for taking a second look! :>) Lisa

Good Morning!! Our remodeling project is DONE - atleast for the
upstairs apartment. Actually, because we are built into an
incredible south-facing slope, both apartments have their own ground level entrances. Anyway, this marks the first step in making our project a COMMUNITY!

I wanted to post our rental ad here in case any of you are
interested, or know someone who is. This is such a beautiful place - 38 acres of an old Ohop Valley homestead. The house was built in 1970 and is quite modern - double pane vinyl windows, carpet, dishwasher, ice-in-the-door fridge....even your own flush toilet. Ha! It's really funny how many people freak when we say we are creating a Demonstration Project for Sustainable Living. Somehow "sustainable" has come to be associated with hippie, commune, primitive, etc......

We are beginning with straightforward rental - no longterm
commitments. Again, the freak-out factor had to be considered. We just want to include more people, hopefully families, in this awesome thing we are doing. This way, folks can try out our version of Sustainable Living to see if it is where they'd like to invest their passion. Please let me know if you are interested. I have lots more information I can send about our project and about the area.

Newly forming Sustainable Community has 1000 sq. ft. apartment for rent in Ohop Valley WA. 2-3 bedrooms, one bathroom, plus 8 x 16 storage unit. $600 plus utilities. Call 360-832-4150 or
lisa@luckyfarm.us

I want pictures, and I would love somemore info. Thanks. :)

How close is the town? What does the town have to offer? :D

Love Val

You asked for it, you've got it! Below are the websites for our particular project as well as Eatonville's website. The apartment available is in the pretty white house with green shutters. We are about four miles from town. We run perpendicular to two major North/South routes, a beautiful little valley approximately 5 miles long. Since we are only 45 minutes from Olympia and 30 minutes from Tacoma, services are NOT a problem. Eatonville boasts a Wellness Center with the world's greatest midwife and women's health practitioner, massuese, reiki master and herbalist, and chiropractor. We also have the requisite schools, a great library system, a tatoo parlor (Someone would want to know!), food buying co-op becoming a natural food store, and lots of those small town businesses which make a place great.

Project site: www.luckyfarm.us/ohop.htm
Eatonville site: www.eatonville.com/index.html

We have always loved that town...oh man...I am going to talk to dh this afternoon. Wow. What an opportunity!

My husband is a teacher, and we'd need to get him a job teaching, preferably under 30 minutes away, but up to 45 min would be okay. Does that sound possible?

And I'm a massage therapist. Is it totally oversaturated there already? Or is there room for one more? I am also Reiki Level II, studying to be a Reiki Master.

I don't know the exact hiring situation for the school districts (we homeschool) but there are several districts within 45, even 30 minutes of us. I too am a Reiki level II, in fact, my Reiki master is one of the people involved in making this community a reality. Below I've posted our Vision and Purpose Statements to give you a BIG picture of what we think we can do. Can't wait to talk to you more, Blessings, Lisa

JOURNEY SCHOOL PERMACULTURE COMMUNITY
"Revitalizing the Local Web of Life"

PURPOSE
JSPC proposes to manage various properties within the Ohop Valley for the purpose of creating diversified, self-reliant, sustainable homesteads which together will provide shelter, food, healthcare, energy, and lifestyle products and education to residents, members and neighbors. By blending cooperative Permaculture principles with individual, residential sustainable- technology projects, JSPC will effectively protect unmanaged land, partner with sustainably managed privately-owned properties, and provide connection for neighboring residents to public conservation projects.

STRATEGY
Two well-proven methods will be utilized to achieve JSPC's management and education goals:
1) Intentional Community: Prospective residents will apply to JSPC with a sustainable-technology project proposal. Residents will be accepted based both on their personal compatibility with JSPC values as well as project
suitability for available Ohop property and long-term sustainability needs.
2) CSA (Community Supported Agriculture): From the beginning, JSPC will share sustainability with our neighbors in the Ohop Valley and greater Puget Sound region. Journey School Whole Life, Whole Year CSA will offer subscription purchase of products, services, and educational and hands-on workshops for all aspects of sustainable living to be delivered monthly, then weekly as development diversifies. Current residents of Ohop Valley will be invited to adopt Permaculture principles and offer products through the CSA as well. In this way, JSPC will foster sustainable development, community interaction, and a strong local economy.

VISION
We envision a self-sustaining, self-reliant Ohop Valley where all residents participate in sharing the abundance naturally available and consciously cultivated. The property owned by Steve Pruitt and leased by JSPC will function as a demonstration farm and gathering place for residents, CSA
members, and all people wanting to exchange current resource-exhaustive buildings, transportation, healthcare, and nutrition sources for sustainable, low-cost, ecological alternatives NOW. As we earn management rights of other properties, we will seek partners able to create a Healing
Arts Center, biodiesel modification and production, dairy goat and pastured poultry farming, native plant preserve, organic fresh water fish farming, alternative water and wastewater treatment testing facilities, natural building school, and K-12 experiential school among many others. Each property will function as an essential part of the whole Ohop Valley
sustainability project as well as fulfilling the permaculture potential of its own particular site.

I wish, Lisa. Too far for dh to commute, unfortunately.

Good for you for taking the bull by the horns and putting your dreams into reality though. :thumbsup:

Lisa, dh and I are discussing it...

VERY excited to hear it Lauren.

Keep watching and keep us in mind Allison - the purpose of our "Demonstration" project is to prove that a group of families can indeed sustain themselves from existing internal assets. Everyone knows how hard it is to "make a living off the land". We won't be trying to do that. We want to show that by living WITH the land, the need to commute to make a living is greatly minimized. Your great talents and attitude would definitely be a huge benefit to our creation.

Sincerely, Lisa

This sounds so wonderful! I would love to do something like this. There is land about…oh I will say 40 miles from here, that is selling for somewhere around the neighborhood of $15,000 for 3 acres…This would be so awesome…quite a different climate then you have there, though….
I am just so very impressed, I can not put into words how impressed I am.

Lisa, that makes so much sense, as it is what our ultimate goal is. To massage and substitute teach and eventually to both write (I'll still massage and do Reiki but Matt would like to phase out of public school teaching eventually). We would like to minimize the need for cash.