Stowe Farm Community

An Intentional Farm Community located in Colrain, Massachusetts

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Living in cohousing

Stowe Farm Before social distancing

A short description of cohousing: People living together in neighborhoods designed for community interaction and personal privacy. Now with social distancing, we need to be more creative, but are finding ways to stay connected.

A few quotes from folks living in cohousing: “…both momentous and ordinary.” “…fun, cooperative, friendly, challenging, supportive, thrifty, sometimes annoying, but I love it!” “…after parenting, the single greatest personal growth opportunity.”

These quotes are from CohoUS (The Cohousing Association of the United States). Foundation for Intentional Living (ic.org) is another resource with a variety of intentional living arrangements. Equity, cooperation, and ecological living are the common threads.

Cohousing lifestyle first became popular in Denmark. It has 165 cohousing communities in US and 140 new communities forming!

We recommend reading Ben Brock Johnson’s NPR article about cohousing: The Case For Cohousing: Where Responsibilities Are Shared And Life Is A Little Less Lonely

Visit Stowe Farm’s Facebook, Instagram, and see our pins on Pinterest. You can also sign up for our email to inform you about open houses, workshops, events, and potlucks, which will resume when we’re pandemic free. Stowe Farm Community is scheduling distanced outdoor visits, weather permitting.

 

Cohousing is social security

Our new kid at Stowe Farm, Cosmo (bottom right), is 20 minutes old!

Adults who are more socially connected are healthier and live longer than their more isolated peers, and social disconnectedness and perceived isolation seem to be independently associated with lower levels of self-rated physical health.

However, many of us find it gets increasingly difficult to maintain a sense of connectedness. Marla Paul describes the problem well in her book The Friendship Crisis. “Simply put, we’re on our own more often now. The old structures don’t function the way they used to. We hurtle through life and don’t have time to get to know the people on our block. Many of us are flung far from parents, siblings, and cousins. Work friendships fracture as companies slash budgets and employees, and more people are isolated in home offices as telecommuters or in home-based businesses. Even marriage is a wobbly source of both companionship and social webbing. … Clearly, we need to craft our own tribes.”

Community members come together to build a shelter for the goats being brought by our newest Stowe Farm family arriving from California.

Cohousing is an answer to this need for social webbing. Originating in Denmark in the 1960s, interest in cohousing worldwide has surged in recent years, a trend driven by folks seeking a downsized, community-oriented and environmentally-friendly lifestyle. Cohousing is also gaining traction among millennials as they search for a better way to raise their children. Nearly 200 cohousing communities exist in the United States today, ranging in size and shape but nearly all premised on the belief that people are happier, healthier and more resilient if they live in community.

Some of the experiences of living in a neighborhood or a condominium or other shared living situations are applicable to cohousing. But cohousing adds specific organizing principles, goals and characteristics that are designed to enhance the community aspects of living together, similar to a small village or a group of extended family members.

All of us have felt the benefits from meaningful daily social interactions and connections that have been proven to improve happiness, health and increased longevity. Why not deliberately live in communities that are safer, friendlier, and healthier?

 

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Resident mechanics fixed farm equipment today. Alt Resident mechanics fixed farm equipment today. Although the animal tractor still needs work. 
#cohousingcommunity #urbanexodus #homesteader
Chicken club is keeping busy with some egg calculu Chicken club is keeping busy with some egg calculus. Which hens are laying? Who lays what color egg,? Just how big are these eggs??
What a beautiful evening at Stowe Farm. #permacult What a beautiful evening at Stowe Farm.
#permaculturelife #urbanexodus
Nothing like a day at the River. #kidsincohousing Nothing like a day at the River.
#kidsincohousing #cohousingcommunity #urbanexodus
Come check out Stowe Farm Community (today!). Chil Come check out Stowe Farm Community (today!). Child friendly walk, dip in the river, bring food or drink and join us for dinner.
Pop’s helper #intentionalcommunity #farmingwithk Pop’s helper
#intentionalcommunity #farmingwithkids
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Recent pins

Life up here at Stowe Farm Community is "berry nice" around this time of year as we fill our bowls with fresh picked blueberries and raspberries from our planned gardens and harvest some of the wild blackberries too. More garden goodies and all about us at www.stowefarm.orgSummer's bounty rolling in with plenty of cucumbers to share in community for pickling, salads, and simply as a super crisp snack!A busy bee in the summer season in Lynn's flower garden. We too are busy at Stowe Farm Community harvesting veggies and berries from the gardens and     putting food by to enjoy throughout the rest of the year. More at www.stowefarm.orgLynn had a beautiful sunflower in her gorgeous gardens this year. On this day the birds were singing as the sunflower swayed in the gentle summer breeze and the clouds rolled by in the blue, blue sky. Simply splendid! More connections to nature at www.stowefarm.org
Thank you, Ed for sharing this magical moment after the storm yesterday here at Stowe Farm Community.Harley's butterfly garden is attracting the guests she had hoped for with many blooms available in the sweet summer sun.Berries are ripening throughout our community in the hot summer sun. Some folks have their own home grown patches and there are wild ones to be picked by both humans and the local black bear!
The babbling brook that runs parallel to our community is lush with all sorts of glowing greens throughout the summer. A sweet spot to cool off on a hot summer's day!Peter has a grafting project going on one of the apple trees in our old orchard. Time will tell how it turns out - stay tuned!FrogsThe summer storms have been passing through multiple times each week as the heat and humidity have arrived. We are glad of the rain for the fields and gardens. More at www.stowefarm.org
A few apples continue to grow in the summer sun out in the old orchard here at Stowe Farm Community. Some may be used for cider in the autumn. Sweet!We are surrounded by lush greens and sunshine as summer is in full swing here at Stowe Farm Community. Plenty of open spaces to walk in nature. Discover more at www.stowefarm.orgJuly Morning at Stowe FarmSummerBreeze
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Recent posts

  • Stowe Farm Community Garden
  • Pigs arrived
  • Oriole birds and bees
  • Coltrane in Colrain
  • What do we value most in life?

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