Hickory Ridge

Mission: sustainable living in Appalachia

From www.ic.org/directory/hickory-ridge/:

Hickory Ridge Land Trust comprises 72 acres of ridge-top land and the wooded coves below, and a separate parcel of 70 acres of bottom-land several miles away. Both are in central West Virginia near Spencer, a town of 2400. The ridge-top land is divided into four leaseholds and a common area. All four of the leaseholds are already taken by families. The remaining leasehold has no cleared land currently but a large old garden spot could be readily cleared, and there is a small building left behind. The bottom-land parcel has an existing house in poor condition, and a creek running through it. It's overgrown with autumn olive. A small community has signe3d a lease for this land, so it looks like we have no available leaseholds at present.

While we on the ridge exist as separate households, it’s our intention to share some resources and trade produce. Reducing the use of fossil fuels, living in harmony with the Earth, and working for peace and social justice are values we share.

Our land has great views and nice woods, but (on the ridge-top) we don’t have a year-round stream. We do have wells, and average annual rainfall here is about 40 inches. We have four seasons, with a few small snowfalls in a typical winter, a long hot, humid summer, a colorful fall, and as for the Appalachian Spring, it inspired a symphony. The local area could never be described as progressive, unfortunately, and jobs are scarce. However, taxes and the cost of living are low, and building codes don't apply here.

One of our members was part of the original commune of 40 years ago. The second couple joined eight years ago, and a single man a couple of years ago. The fourth couple joined in spring of 2016. Our ages range from 36 to 75, plus the new 35-year-old, on the ridge; the people at the bottomland place, which we call the Sako land, are younger. Two households are grid-tied solar powered, two are off-grid. Moving toward collective self-sufficiency is a goal, so we seek people interested in projects like bee-keeping, mushroom growing, keeping dairy goats or other animals, alternative-energy production, etc. Seeking like-minded people prepared to build their own houses and develop agricultural projects. There is a one-time $1000 join fee; after that you pay your share of the property tax and cost of gravel for the road, around $400/year.

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.