We feel so much gratitude for all the support from our amazing donors, professors, staff at Olin, and all the other humans who enabled this experimental learning experience. This endeavour showed us that community is the most meaningful asset we have - especially in this time of isolation and disruption. With your help, we raised an unbelievable amount of $9555 and $3500 in two fundraisers. Many future students will benefit from the proceeds that went directly to the new buildings, wind-turbine, solar-panels, and other projects on the land. While we yet have to mull over all the memories and thoughts from the semester, we are planning to continue this beautiful journey with more students from Olin College and Wellesley College.
In the spring 2021 semester, seven students went back to the farm. We continued the work on the buildings and built a solar tracker mechanism for the solar panels. However, most of our energy was spent chopping wood and stoking the fire. The North Carolina Winter is cold and snowy! Lisa & elizabeth have plans to continue to host many humans in the new buildings. There are even plans to potentially allow Olin students to receive credits in the fields of renewable energy systems, diverse project management, complex systems/permaculture, and dynamics of power and oppression.
A huge thank you goes to our mentors Lisa and elizabeth, who generously shared their land, resources, time, and wisdom with us. You're amazing!
Wooh, it's been a crazy four months! Since our arrival in August we have grown as a community and as individuals so much. We learned how to be more adaptable to the unpredictable lifestyle. There were lots of firsts for everyone here. Here are just some of the firsts people had here...
Working in the winter is becoming more and more difficult as snow and ice come our way. A lot of our work on the buildings are outside and being cold isn't the only challenge. Insulating and plastering walls need to happen on warm days for the materials to set.
For the past couple of weeks, we've been focusing on winding down most of our projects to get to a good stopping point before we all leave at the end of the semester. We refurbished and installed all but one window in the Octagon and are hoping to get metal roof panels on soon.
What has it meant to you to have this experience during the pandemic?I have never been so immersed in a lifestyle that emphasizes living off the land without depending on modern civilization and capitalist societies. Sometimes, it can be a relief to live in such blissful ignorance...
We purchased four new batteries to help store energy for stormy days, since ours no longer hold charge for very long. We also made a prototype for a wind turbine. As a group, we're continuing to move in the direction of more organic and relaxed organization.
We are moving on to the final stage of the Octagon and making good progress on the other buildings. For the Octagon, we finished putting light straw clay insulation in every wall. This natural building technique is eco-friendly and cheap and involves mixing clay slip with straw and packing it in wall sections.
All of the students here agree that we are beyond blessed to be here to witness the transition of our surroundings to Fall. We have definetly been taking advantage of this season by taking sunrsie hikes, trips to local parks, backpacking trips and more!
Our community was brought closer together as we celebrated the transition from summer to fall. We gathered around the fire, made pizza in our cob oven, and honored the fall equinox. We had a small ceremony to give thanks to nature and all it has provided to us...
Have an in-depth look at select students' lives during this extraordinary semester. Read about their personal stories, what's challenging to them, and what they work on. What is it like to take a full course load off-grid, build your own cabin, and live in an intimate community? Mia can tell you more...
We have broken ground on our living spaces this past week. As a reminder, the living spaces that we are planning on adding to the farm include: Octagon Cabin for 5 people, Crones Cottage accessible for older visitors who may be in a wheelchair, tiny House for a couple, school bus with a kitchen and two beds, treehouse, art studio...
Full Newsletter
Hello adoring fans!
The entire Woodland Harvest Mountain Farm crew has safely made it to our new home and we are happy to announce that all of our travelers are officially COVID negative! As we settle into our experimental off grid bubble, we've...
At first glance, it may seem that an ultra-rustic experience living off the land—harvesting crops, tending to livestock, chopping wood, harvesting vegetables, using “humanure” composting toilets—is the antithesis of the life of an engineering student. And in a way, that’s exactly the point...
Full Article