| Sunflower River is joyfully creating a sanctuary wherein we embody and promote sustainability, spirituality, adaptability & safety within our selves, community, our land, and Gaia.
Sunflower River is a place in which we live in community, in ever-increasing harmony with our ecosystem, striving to balance the needs of that ecosystem with our own needs. It is a place of centeredness in spirit, a refuge and center for our magical workings, a sacred place. It is a place of sacred work as well as sacred play, daily bread work that we recognize as meaningful and self-sustaining, and of celebration of the cycles of nature and our lives. A place where we can strive towards self-sufficiency--growing and raising our own food, creating our own energy with sun and wind power, living in sustainable, earth-friendly dwellings, taking care of each other and sharing resources.
We act as a center for sustainability outreach, of contact with other communities engaged in sustainable or spiritual practices that touch upon ours, of the education of interested people in sustainable and/or spiritual practices.
We are a small aspiring sustainable farm, on 3.5 acres, 4 miles south of Albuquerque at 4900-feet elevation. We're in our fifth year on the land. There are four Founding Member/Stewards, one additional full-time member, one infant, and a diverse community of supporters who volunteer at work parties, purchase produce, and otherwise support the farm. We are a host farm in the WWOOF internship program, see http://wwoofusa.org/.
We have a large vegetable garden, but are not selling for market. Our well is off-grid. We raise chickens, turkeys, and meat rabbits. In addition, four humans, one livestock guardian dog, and two cats live on the property. We plan to get goats and bees in the next year. Upcoming major projects include installing rainwater cisterns, construction of a straw-bale passive solar community building, building a root cellar and a labyrinth, and managing flood-irrigated pasture.
Most of us work full-time off the farm. We are connected by city bus and bicycle routes to Albuquerque. Our land extends back from a semi-rural highway to a tree-lined field with open views of wide green alfalfa fields and the mountains.
We are a half-mile from the Rio Grande. We are a poly-friendly, LBGT friendly pagan community, with a vision of sustainable spiritual | Community location is placed at the center of the zip/postal code, city/state, or city/country (not based on street addresses) |
Population Members(adults and children): 6 (5 adults, one infant) Non-member Residents: 3 (up to 3 interns at a time) Open to new members: No (We are *not* looking for new members.) | Government Decision Making: By consensus Leadership Core Group: Yes | Labor and Money Financial Style: Members have independent finances Labor Contribution: Expected (all four of us work full time to support the farm, and do as much farm work as we can fit in around that, which is a lot, every day.) Regular Fees: Yes (in the form of paying for the land and for capital projects on a case-by-case basis, yes.) | Land and Buildings Other (semi-rural; we're 4 miles from a major city, in a developed area that is nevertheless still primarily agricultural) Area: 3.5 acres (1.4 hectares) Land Owned By: Individual community member(s) (Four of us own the place as joint tenants) Number of Residences: 1 (one house, two yurts, one travel trailer) | Food, etc. Percentage of Food Grown: 6-20% Share Community Meals: 1 time/week Dietary Choice or Restrictions: Diet is up to each individual Dietary Practice: Other (we're all over the map. One of us is vegetarian, the other three are omnivores, but one omnivore can't eat wheat and another can't eat nuts, so we are accustomed to working around food sensitivities of many types.) Alcohol Use: Used occasionally (We brew our own mead.) | Social Factors Common Spiritual Practices: Yes (We are a Pagan community.) Which Spiritual Traditions(s): Paganism/Earth Religions Educational Style(s): Home schooling | |
