[bestwayfarms] Re: Betterway meeting?
- From: Kip Gardner <kipandbeth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: bestwayfarms@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2007 09:17:51 -0400
Dear Jean and Kim,
Greetings! Lots to reply to...
Keep fighting that basil going to seed! Cut off the seedheads
everytime you see them even starting! I'm still not entirely sure
what PHO is (please fill me in sometime.)
Mansfield is probably a fine area but I'm afraid I wouldn't be
able to go that far. I know I'm not as flexible on this as people
might like, but I have had to build my business up from nothing twice
(starting 10 years ago in Virginia, then starting 5 years ago here.)
It takes a long time, I'm happy with my current positions and,
importantly, I'm going to need to maintain this level of income for
some time for us (Kip and I) to be able to afford land and a home.
But it never hurts to be looking at land and compairing, looking at
land features, etc.
Thanks for the conference call offer. I've never done conference
calls. If there's a specific subject it would make sense for I'd be
willing to give it a try, but one thing I know about myself is that
I'm not a great phone communicator. I feel that seeing faces and/or
having time to structure thoughts, such as in an email, is helpful to
me. But I would be willing to try it. What is electronic whiteboarding?
I think it's interesting that you've found people have so much
resistance to doing something like this with people they don't know.
I'd be interested to know how they get to know people. I feel like we
are beginning to "know" you and Jean, Lee, Sarena, Jean A., and I
feel that common interest in community living is a better determiner
of success than necessarily a common interest or previous friendship.
The only way we are going to be able figure out what this might
cost is by us all doing some serious homework, perhaps invite Chris
Fox, a local strawbale/timber designer/builder, or someone else to
talk to us about bare essentials where land development is concerned
(costs for installing driveways, septic, wells, etc.) We even guess
until we know some of those costs. Then each family can add in their
own construction costs and we can think about how much land we need
and can afford. There is a lot to do.
A lot went on at Twin Oaks, some relevant to our process and
some not. I'll try to boil it down sometime.
Let's see what responses we get from other. Thanks for the reply.
Peace, Beth
On Sep 3, 2007, at 12:21 AM, Kim Cooper wrote:
Wow, what a great message.
Jean and I have been looking at farms circuitous to Mansifield.
There are a whole lot for sale. Some of them individual and some
of them OK for a group.l
I am very sorry I missed the recent tour of the Twin Oaks community
tour. I've heard some about it, especially regarding the camping
facilities. If for no other reason, this will be a very memorable
event in your lifetimes.
My basil is doing very well, still growing - no puree yet. I'm
going to keep it alive longer even though it is trying to go to
seed on me! I love fresh Basil in Vietnamese PHO (Not normall a
vegetarian dish, although I've had varieties that are vegetarian).
Mansfield, itself, is 33.68 miles from Wooster Center.
I can set up FREE conference calls for all of us (limit 96 callers)
to foster meetings closer together if there is an agenda and or a
speaker. Downside is the number is long distance, but with 2 cents
per minute ($1.60 per hour) it seems acceptable versus driving - in
regards to efficiency.
One question we have come up with is - trigger number.
An example - would we pull the trigger if Land and humble starter
cottage were $80,000. - - - Probably
If Land and Cottage were $150,000 - - - - - maybe.
Is this off base?
I think I'd want to personally 'manage' about 5 acres (that doesn't
mean managing by myself). At $8,000 per acre, that's $40,000.
Throw a Katrina Cottage on for another $40,000 and hope for some
electricity, water and waste treatment - this is agressive.
What are the parameters of decisive action? You folks all went
through this exercise before and some made decisions, and some did
not.
It will be a lifestyle change for all of us - probably for the better.
But two decision criteria have not been dilineated - by us as a group.
*Codification of an agreement, or even a semblance of a fuzzy
mission statement.
*Parameters of Investment (how much money?)
Would anyone be interested in e-mailing proposals on this, or
electronically whiteboarding, or a conference call prior to our
next meeting?
I've discussed this with MANY people and EVERYONE has the same
issue. EVERYONE who I talk to that want to do this are not
interested in our meetings because they only want to do this with
people they know.
Quite an interesting conundrum.
What did the Twin Oaks folks say? How about reviewing Twin Oaks
learning on a conference call?
I hope this didn't read negative, but e-mail is horrible in
portraying words that need to be later recanted and explained - - -
not tone or facial expression. However, e-mail is very quick to
reveal truths.
Kim
----- Original Message ----- From: "Kip Gardner"
<kipandbeth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bestwayfarms@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "Jean L Austin" <jaustin@xxxxxxxxxx>; "Michael Belmonte"
<jmichaelbelmonte@xxxxxxxx>; "Kim Cooper" <coop@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>;
"Kip and Beth Gardner" <kipandbeth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "Beth & Craig
Gordon" <bethkean@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "Sarena Johnstone"
<atwanabe@xxxxxxxxxxx>; "Rebecca Jones" <Rebecca_Jones@xxxxxxx>;
"Stuart Kunkle" <bythedeepwaters@xxxxxxxxx>; "Monique Theoret"
<moniquetheoret@xxxxxxxxx>; "Lee Wilberschied"
<lee_wilberschied@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, September 02, 2007 7:51 PM
Subject: [bestwayfarms] Betterway meeting?
Dear All,
'Tis the season for the harvest (fa la la la la, la la la
la) :-) Kip just made dinner on the grill. I've made gazpacho,
pesto, and applesauce today (mostly from our garden harvest) and
we found and picked some great wild grapes from a back lot near
us yesterday (I'm going to try to make jelly, wish me beginner's
luck!)
The Twin Oaks Communities Conference was wonderful. I wish
some others could have made it, but hopefully some of you will
feel inspired and be available next year. It's such a wonderful
chance to meet other seekers and others living in all kinds of
communities. We met one other couple in particular who are trying
to do something very similar to what we are but in North Carolina.
I have really tried to keep my fingers off the keyboard these
past couple of months and let the discussion go where it will.
I've also asked for suggestions about resuming meetings and
posted the responses. Kip and I have also had a few technical
difficulties, as we finally switched our home computer from dial-
up to DSL (YEA!)
So here it is, Labor Day weekend. I hope everyone is having a
good one. I am ready to start the ball rolling again, revising
the meeting format however we need to to be optimally successful
(I think Lee made some really good suggestions in her feedback
email earlier this summer.) Anyone else want to start meeting
again? If so, great! If not, please tell us so that we have an
accurate picture to work from.
Well, I have more basil to puree tonight and lots of apples
to prep (and don't even ask how many pots and pans to wash). I
hope the summer has been good to everyone.
Love and peace, Beth
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