Heart-Culture Farm Community

Mission: Cooperative Childraising, Sustainable Food Production

From www.ic.org/directory/heart-culture-farm-community/:

Located on an historical 1890's homestead on the West edge of the city of Eugene, Oregon, Heart-Culture Farm Community is committed to experiments in sustainability. Our setting, on the edge of the Fern Ridge Wetlands Wildlife Preserve, lends unique opportunities and challenges, as we work to listen to the land, encourage rare wetlands species to thrive, and learn to steward our livestock in a way that increases the health of our local ecosystems.

Much of our food is grown on-site, including fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs, and meats. Some long-term residents are experienced in traditional farm skills, including butchering and wildcrafting. We pasture our livestock and feed them organic and non-GMO as much as possible. Weston Price and traditional diet life-ways are an inspiration.

Heart-Culture is a family-oriented community, with primarily home-schooled children. The Continuum Concept, Attachment Parenting, Hand in Hand Parenting, and Waldorf have all influenced our community parenting style. Most babies and toddlers are raised diaper free (Elimination Communication), with extended breastfeeding and cooperative parenting as the norm.

We recognize the importance of both ecological and interpersonal sustainability. We are committed to personal and interpersonal growth. Each individual is responsible for their own growth path, with some group activities. Participation in mediation processes is mandatory. Our members' growth paths range from Re-Evaluation Co-Counseling, to Shamanism, to Polyamory. Everyone has personal challenges, and that's fine as long as we keep it moving. Emotional growth is key to sustainable communities, and living in community is, in itself, a part of our growth path.

All forms of loving relationships are welcome at Heart-Culture. Monogamy, Polyamory, hetero- and homo-sexuality, and celibacy are all potentially loving lifestyle/relationship options. We recognize the value of fluid relationship forms, and strive to make choices from our true selves instead of being confined to society's boxes. Some of our members are married and monogamous (both hetero- and homosexual); some are single parents, others have polyamorous relationships. Whatever we choose, we remain aware of the family-oriented nature of our community.

A service of the Data Commons Co-op. The project has been supported by Equal Exchange, the Cooperative Charitable Trust, the USDA, and many others - thank you! Tech volunteers over the years include: Benjamin Bradley with support from GAIA Host. Ben Mauer with support from Quilted. Paul Fitzpatrick. Ronin Tech Collective, Brattleboro Tech Collective, Sligo Computer Services. Jason Lemieux. Default map tiles courtesy of MapQuest. Default map data (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA.