Mission Statement

The Farm

It is our goal to preserve Turtle farm by creating a model of a diverse, sustainable cohousing community on a portion of our property. We will honor and respect the land and the living things on it and protect it from further development. Turtle Farm Cohousing Community (TFCC) has common ownership and sets direction for the use of the outlot. This relates not only to food production and dispersal, but also animal life, soil life, trees and plants, aesthetics and stewardship. The farming operation will not only model urban farming and preservation of farm ground in an urban setting, but also has the potential for educational and experiential outreach to the surrounding community. The farmer chosen by TFCC to manage the food and retail based aspects of the outlot will be in support of the mission of the TFCC as well as having the skills for managing and operating a diverse organic farm.

Living Together

TFCC life depends on the good will and participation of every member. Working, eating, creating, listening, trusting, learning, helping, playing, and celebrating together build relationships which are the foundations of community. We will share the daily tasks of our village, each contributing their particular talents and skills. We will share meals in the Common House on a schedule to be determined made from food that is as healthful, delicious, affordable, organic, and /or locally grown as possible. Our intention is that members of all ages, from different backgrounds, incomes, family configurations, abilities, and lifestyle choices, feel respected and empowered. We welcome the personal growth and social responsibility that living in community and sharing a farm can inspire.

Community and the Individual

We are creating a community in which members are connected, supported, useful and appreciated. We intend for the buildings and site to be developed in ways that promote both social mingling and privacy, safe space for children to play, human movement in preference to automobiles, inclusion of differently-abled people in homes and outdoor spaces, and visual beauty and harmony.

Children in Community

We seek to create an environment that is safe, supportive, and inspiring for our children, and that significantly involves them in community responsibilities, decisions, projects, and celebrations.

Governance

We self govern using a form of consensus decision making. (Such governance seeks objections as a way of improving a proposal and reaching an optimal solution.) We treat each other and communicate with each other in ways that reflect kindness, consideration, respect, openness, honesty, neighborliness, and non-violence.

Sustainable Living

We want our lives to have a restorative impact on the Earth and its people. We want to enhance the lives of our members and the health of our surrounding ecosystem. We want to consume less, share resources, reuse and recycle more, strive toward self-sufficiency, and innovatively utilize sustainable materials, technologies, and design strategies whenever possible.

We understand that our community is an ecosystem. Insofar as we are able, we will employ natural, sustainable principles to guide in the development of housing, energy, food supply, waste, soil and water systems. We will build environmentally responsible, energy-efficient housing, raise communal organic gardens as desired, and cluster our structures on a small portion of our land allowing the rest to remain a working, sustainable farm that nurtures the community and serves as a model for preserving farm ground.

Vision

To preserve Turtle Farm by creating a model of a diverse, sustainable, cohousing community.


Links

Cohousing.org

RDG Planning & Design

Turtle Farm CSA


Articles

Cohousing: what's so UU about it?


Contact Us

Angela Tedesco

Nancy Rambo