Our village is an idea at this point. We seek to take 100 people out of the modern world with all of its pluses and minuses and build this independent community. Let's do this in a number steps over some realistic time period.
The founding step would be to assemble the like minded core group of founders. Maybe ten or twenty very committed people, Settle on a timeline and evolve expectations that all can agree on, then go shopping for some land. Within the first year strive to get storage, water supplies and rudimentary housing in place. This is a building year, so much attention will be put into education, first attempts at farming the first 20 acres and storing the most basic foods for preservation. Only a few live on site, and the village is dependent on outside resources during this time. 20 acres under cultivation.
As time goes on and crop planting is scaled up a majority of the community will now be able to locate on site. Perhaps half of the community now live on site by year 4. The other half may be working outside of the community. Crop production and housing are priorities. 100 acres under cultivation.
By now some livestock are in production, a system is evolving to manage a woodlot to furnish 3 or 4 cords of wood per family each year. Rainfall catchments assist the irrigation of crops. The goal for full village occupancy would be something like a years worth of stored food, and a years worth of stored energy.
By year 6 the wells, streams, and catchment should be able to provide 5 gallons/day for people, add in animals, washing etc and the need grows to 6-7000 gallons a day for the whole village. So water treatment and purification as well as colocation to a reliable clean water source is a fundamental location factor. 120 acres under cultivation and full caloric production is achieved with storage goals met. All 100 villagers live on site.
So what does this cost to get off the ground? For our 100 person village, basic housing $2M USD, water system $120K USD, electric solutions with batteries $250K, another $259K for tools, equipment for mini tractors and implements, and $120K for storage facilities. So start up costs that will need to be sunk in by say, year 3 to enable progress by year 5 or 6 is around $4M USD levied among the 100 villagers. That's $40K per person. Land cost is highly variable but consider something like $750K USD for 200 acres.
In succeeding years crop rotation plans need to get implemented. The planting calendar is now reaching steady state. Acre by acre planting plans need to be established, along with the crop rotation map. Your village is in tune with the earth now and not very dependent on any external resources.
After the complete transition in about year 6, continuous improvements will strengthen the future of the village. By this time 90% of the food consumed is produced in the village. Population is stable and soil amendments have increased yields naturally - organically.
So talk to your friends, think about how such a concept of community could exist by just working together. Maybe an incremental approach works better for you and your group. Here's the thing - these 3 posts are just a roll up your sleeves and THINK of what needs to happen for a 100 people to live a sustaining life in a moderate climate. Use those system simulation tools in new ways, what if somebody in your group owns a 50 acre hobby farm, how could a small group collaborate to lessen dependency on outside resources given the considerations I mentioned? Be inspired to imagine how some other grouping might work well for you. Maybe your goal is for everyone to live right where they are and only achieve food independence... A completely different set of inputs. Build the models, take a look!
A key take-away is cooperation among committed people if you commit to action. Once a strategy is formed, no matter what you do, strong designs and disciplined execution are needed because this is hard work.
That's all for now. there will be no PART4, just my hope that these think pieces will inspire you to take a look beyond the platitudes and think about how we can actually benefit from collaborating.
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