From Each According to Their Ability
This week marks the second year of life on the farm. We've been amazed again and again by the generosity of this land. The reciprocity between the grazers and the hillside (which is springing up richer in nutrients than even last year) reminds us of the intimate ways in which members of the earth's community care for each other.
Perhaps it was this witness of generosity of the land that inspired a conversation at the dinner table a few months ago....and ended up with a new business model for the farm. We were sitting with a beautiful invitation from a church youth group to come up to the farm for a service weekend (it was a BLAST!!) and they asked us what we charge for something like that. Well. We had no idea! So Jonathan, in a flash of inspiration, offered a new model, which is actually an old model.
So here it is!
We've decided to offer our products and services according to this slogan "From each according to their ability to each according to their need" in order to participate in the building of a food system that allows access to beautiful and regenerative foods by every person. But Rachel, you might say, how does this actually work? Great question! We have a suggested range of prices that reflect different levels of engagement with the farm. For example:
1 dozen eggs
Free if you need them, and we would happily barter for other products or for labor
$5.00 covers the cost that we carry in order to maintain a laying flock
$8.00 covers our costs and adds enough overhead to work toward improvements for the chickens
4 Days Camping on the Hillside
Free if you need a place to stay for a few days, and we would happily barter for other products or labor
$20/night covers the cost that we carry in order to maintain a campsite
$40/night covers our costs and adds enough overhead to work toward improvements for the camp
We believe that everyone should have access to beautiful, regenerative, and nutritionally dense foods. We also believe that everyone has something to offer! That may be money, but it may be something else, and we want to support an exchange that values what we are offering and what others are bringing to the table.
We also believe that connection with the more-than-human community changes us. We want everyone to have an opportunity to be connected to the farm! Whether that means by buying a dozen eggs and enjoying them at home, or by staying for a few days and offering a donation that will enable us to build a run-in shelter or purchase livestock. Whatever it is, we are hoping that it is the start of a relationship with the land grounded in the knowledge that we all have something to share and that we are all in an intimate relationship of reciprocity with the Earth.
Questions? Please feel free to reach out through our "contact us" form! We're happy to work with you and connect you to our farm products, consulting for establishing your permaculture eden, mushroom growing set up, cannabis growing, or offer you an opportunity for retreat and rest at our hillside camp ground.