Frequently Asked Questions

Where is it?

Eden Valley is an existing Ranch that was once the site of a community back in the 1800's and is now a large open grassy valley that has 2 creeks flowing down the full length of the valley down either side of it. You can see why they named it Eden. We only need about 2,320 acres.

The Trees surrounding it are mixed hardwoods. There are Ranch Houses and Barns and wells and power systems and roads and reservoirs already there so it will make it a lot easier to get started than it would be if this were just bare land.

Eden is about 33 miles from the town of Willits in Mendocino County which is about a 3 hour drive from the Golden Gate Bridge.

What about Water

Water will be free as long as we use it wisely. There is a lot of rainfall in the winter time and very little in the summer.

We will have 2 large lakes, many creeks and springs, year around and seasonal sources of good clean natural untreated fresh water which flows down to us from the mountains and comes out in springs.

We will have a Community Water System that provides Free and Clean untreated water from these various sources and one that comes down from the Lake which we will ask for Water Rights to be granted us along with the land which should not be a problem since all that water would be flowing down to us anyway.

We are just going to be better off to pick it up at the Lake itself which is fed from a spring fed creek and that will be probably one of our best sources of water because this little lake is in a very out of the way place, and the water is captured in the lake not too far down from the spring, so it is probably a safe bet that most of that water is actually real wild magic mountain spring water.

That truly wild untreated magical mountain water will then be piped down and around the entire valley with plenty of pressure left intact so that every Homestead has a good 20 to 40 psi of water pressure.

Land and People

Each 3 acre homestead will be the equibalent of 200 feet wide in the middle and 653.4 feet long. In the center will be what we call a One Acre Living Circle which that is about 200 feet wide in the middle and 277 feet long.

That is where we will build our homes and keep our animals and grow our gardens and build our cabins and greenhouses and make our babies and everything related to the homestead party culture.

A graduating scale of Thirty Six Thousand Dollars and up Contribution Pledge will be the projected amount that will get you both the 3 acre Homestead and the 2 acre Farmsite, which is 5 acres on which you will build your own home.

You should be able to make a good living on that Farmsite in any number of ways. T has calculated your earnings just growing Garlic alone, in your spare time, on just one of those acres to be in excess of $20,000. a year.

Seniors may choose to do without the Farmsite and in that way they will be saving about one in five dollars across the board. $36,000. becomes only $28,800. with the Senior Discount.

And from that you can see that the cost of the Farmsite equates to being only $7,200 for two acres, which is only $3,600. per acre. Now how can that be explained as anything but a big fat giveaway? That is less than Ten cents a square foot! We just wanted to support farming in this way.

People will not be allowed to build any fences between homesteads and only green Living Fences like hedges or vines can be planted in between farmsites.

We do not own the land and we do not control the land. We have merely focused our good intentions upon Eden Valley as being the right place for this project.

Every place is the right place for something. Eden Valley is just the right place for an EcoVillage Community. We don't need to be able to control everything.

In fact we are even glad that nothing has been handed to us as a given thing because we have not been cultivating any sense of entitlement in relation to Eden Valley.

The Title for Eden Valley will be held as a not for profit association which has already been written up as a not for profit and the initial papers have been filed. We will all share equitably in the decision making process in many different ways.

We do not yet own the land. It is a bit too big for most groups of people to even begin to think they can handle but we are not afraid of a little challenge.

That is why we have just had to learn to think even bigger because we do believe that the right sized group of people really will be well suited to the re-inhabitation of this uniquely exceptional piece of land which is just perfect for an EcoVillage Community, and that would be something like 500 to 700 people.

Eventually we feel that the owners will be supportive of our efforts and they will choose to sell us this land at a reduced price.

We have worked out all the numbers, and we feel that the right people who have the right vision will be able to become the stewards of this whole uniquely situated valley.

We do have to ask the good people to have Faith in the Magic of Eden and to give up all resistance to common sense because that is what could hold us back.

All good things really will happen for good people who go about things in the right way, and even little things that seem to be an impassable obstacle will open up to support us. That is what we believe. And we expect the others to keep the faith.

We will usually have in excess of about 40 inches or more of rainfall per year which is plenty but that is in the winter months only and so we will have to be careful somewhat during the summer months when I think we should still have enough for 300 gallons per day per homestead.

We may even have another 30 million gallons of ground water which can be thought of as being like a long term water reserve that will always be there when we need it as long as we don't draw too deeply from it.

We may choose not to draw that much just so that we can keep that topped off just in case we ever need it.

Access?

Yes, there is good road access already but the road goes right up over the mountain when it should ideally go around the mountain like the water does. We are more like the water.

Hopefully we will be able to put a new road in that goes around the mountain instead of over the mountain as it is now.

That will give us closer access to Round Valley which is a good place to get a good look at what the country looks like for those who might want to make a drive up there but it will actually be more like a 40 mile drive to Willits. The difference is going to be in the drive which will then be a lot nicer.

Take a drive out 162 to Round Valley and stop at the view point and you will get a pretty good idea of this beautiful land that we call the Middle Fork of the Eel River Watershed.

This is where we are laying the groundwork for forming an Eco-Village Community right in the middle of the Middle Eel watershed where we have just recently helped to get some 53,000 acres of unprotected wilderness land into protection as the Yuki Protected Wilderness Area.

That huge block of newly protected lands runs right along one side of Eden Valley, interestingly enough, linking us up with an even larger block of Mendocino National Forest lands.

Bioregional Permaculture

We will have about 63 Homesteads and the Vegan Village which is the equivalent of another 18 Homesteads that will each have a population limit of 12 people per homestead which should keep us within a sustainable and workable population base.

That means that only 216 people will be allowed to live on the Vegan Village which will be 90 acres in itself.

That 90 acres comes from 18 times the same 5 acres that most of the rest of us will be enjoying.

We should have enough resources to comfortably support about 700 people on about 2,320 acres overall which is a comfortable one person for every 3 acres and that is a fairly well balanced and sustainable population for this kind of land with this much good farmland and water.

Eden will be a Sustainable EcoVillage Community that is about living in harmony with the natural world but with a close connection to the Earth, or Earthm, as a whole like the native peoples both here in the Americas and throughout the world have always lived, as part of Earthm, which is the name for the living spirit of the Earth, and all that lives here, which is what we hold high.

We will be living with a real deep connection to the Eel River Watershed and to the North Coast Eco-Region and to the Yuki Wilderness area, and to the Land that we call Eden in particular which we fell may have an important role to play both politically and ecologically, and that is what we could even call Bioregional Permaculture.

What about schools?

Eden is a learning based community, and Community Based Learning is now getting some recognition as a workable option for the obvious reasons and especially when it is within the context of a Sustainable EcoVillage Community.

We will make great use of the many existing courses and materials that are already now available to set our children free from the confines of the public school system until such time as the numbers of children merits the creation of various other learning possibilities.

How are decisions made?

We will use a Three Quarters Consensus Council that puts things into law when we have a Quorum of 9 people and at least 3 out of 4 present who are in consensus. Nothing is possible in that regard without at least 9 members of the Stewards Council being present.

First Things First

Each person, group or family unit that commits $1,500. towards being part of this community will have one member serve on the Council.

That can be sent in now and will go towards your part in this community and your 3 acre Homestead will be all but assured in advance for all practical purposes as well as the order number such as the first one who will get in for about $36,000. which is where it starts.

Later that will go up by Three Hundred Dollar increments every time someone buys in which is a less than one percent increase, for those who are slow to respond to the call for action.

In this way we will be able to reward those other firstlings who will gladly choose to be among the first to take the risk.

Those who step forward among the first 7 homestead units will be doing the greatest service to this project. Those who put their faith in Eden will be rewarded for that in this and many other ways.

Those who come later for whatever reason will still be getting a good deal because it really will have just that much more value at that point as we will already have begun to build this community.

As things progress the value of what people are joining really does go up, but you don't get to clean up on that by selling us out on that since everything here is being pledged to go only for the cause of the Greater Good, and is not considered to be of the highest honor just to be only for ones own personal welfare, or to put ones own self before the community.

But if you do have any problems or you do need some help, then you must first be willing to turn to your own people first. If you don't have any people, then you really should get some.

This might be one of the best ways of making it so that you do have your own people, and we don't just mean your own family members, but everybody in the entire community, as these are the people who could become your new people, because these are the people who care about the community.

But for that you will need to prove that you really want to be someone who can be counted on first. And this is one way you can begin to prove that, because you will need to earn the trust of the others, unless you want to rely on the self pity game.

Let's all say it in unison, I was a human transplant, and I will take no responsibility for my own choices and actions. That would be a great game to play someplace else, but not here on this planet, or even in Eden, since we all must take full responsibility for everything in Eden. We are all implicated in all things, not that we are to blame for all things.

Solar Power

Everything will be Eco-Logical, Solar, Hydro and Wind Energy, Natural Building, Passive Solar Homes, Gravity Flow Water, Composting and all grey water gets reused on the Homestead by being put into the ground to feed Trees and Gardens. Everything that comes from the Earth goes back to the Earth so that we will leave only a very minimal Eco-Logical Footprint.

What about Building Codes?

You may build one Passive Solar main home on the center of your Homestead up to 2,000 square feet. And you may also build a small cabin directly behind that up to 700 square feet. You may also build one other Passive Solar building like a Greenhouse or a Workshop, all within the One Acre Living Circle.

The rest of the land is to be left as we find it for the most part except for the planting of Native Trees to protect the natural quality of the land.

We also have agreements about things like that there not be any large shiny surfaces that would be visible across the valley, as a glare, and that we should use only Earth Tone Colors on the Homes like Tan colored fire resistant walls and Green fire resistant roofs.

Lawns will not be allowed, to conserve water, and to save land, but we do want have gardens all over the place, and the homesteads will need to be kept free from junk piles and with enough defensible space around it. We will have our own fire response crew and our own medical response people with hopefully, at least one doctor on the premises who will make housecalls.

How cold does it get?

It does get hot in the summer and it does get cold in the winter. Who knew?

We may even get a little snow down in the valley every now and then. But being nestled nicely up alongside a Mountainside we do have some protection from the prevailing winds.

The mountain pulls down some of the icy coldness of the spacey night skies and then that cold air flows right down into the Valley floor.

We will have some stone cold frosty mornings that will sometimes even extend on into April.

But we will still have an excellent growing season of about 5 months out of the year, and it is zone 8, and climbing. And even that can still be extended by greenhouses and taking advantage of microclimates, but we have to watch out for late frosts.

Eden Belongs to The Earth

Everything stays intact. We cannot allow Eden to become subject to market intrusions. That is why no one can be allowed to sell us all out for any of that funny money. That all belongs to the Earth. The people can enter, and the people can leave, but the land should always remain in place, fully paid off and with no debts hanging over it as much as possible.

We will then all have a good place to build our own Passive Solar Homes on and to use for life and to pass on down to our own children who are old enough to sign into a legally binding agreement. But you cannot sell that homestead because it is going to be treated like it was a part of the Earth, and it is not going to be treated like it was just property.

That all belongs to the Earth.

What will happen when you die or leave is that you will leave it to your children or other significant person who has been approved by the Council, or it will be left to the community which will manage it for the greater good. Everything that has been built or has been set in the ground remains in place.

Trailers and Buses may be tolerated for the first 3 years only. After that time they may have to be moved into the mobile home park.

Community Service?

We will make it possible for people to get to know each other a little better by doing things together once a week like working on the land, planting trees, working on building projects, helping people out who need some help building their homes.

Taking care of things that need to get done and building relationships will then walk hand in hand in Eden. How about expecting something like about 4 hours a week?

We will pay people who work for the community at a rate that will be the equivalent of ten dollars an hour. Those who do not do their community service work will then have to kick in that very same amount for each hour they may choose to blow us off on.

Will there be Animals?

We have a long history of living with animals and that humanura-animal bond will still be honored in Eden. But there do need to be some limits for ecological reasons and that comes down to about 700 pounds of animals per homestead in order to save the environment from overgrazing and to protect our clean water and wild lands and the surrounding woods and waters and other wildlife from too much environmental degradation.

Small Dogs like the Jack Russel Terriers, are recommended for those who must have a dog. But they must remain confined on the Homesteads, or they can be kept indoors or out on a leash. Cats must be controlled in the same way to protect the birds and wildlife around us. Animals must be well trained or they will be subject to exclusion. Who knew?

What is the Next Step?

This is how it works. First, somebody has to come up with a workable plan that is both inspired and beautiful. That has been done. The vision is clear. Then the right kind of people have to be able to fall into accordance with the plan. That is still in process. Then we can focus our sites on buying the land.

That is how it works, just like one two three. The reason we are not buying the land yet is because we are still on step two of the process. Each step has to be completed with the same integrity as the first one was.

Right now we need to begin the process of building up an adequate Resource Base before we can begin making decisions as a group that would effectively move us in the direction of buying the land, which is not a sure thing and we could lose this opportunity if we are not ready to move when the time comes to move, as a unified community.

Where is Eden Valley?

Eden Valley is in Mendocino County. It is for this reason that Eden has remained relatively untouched by modern development and has remained as unspoiled and as natural as it still is today. But it is an existing ranch with all the infrastructure in place that we could ever hope for. That will make things much easier for us to get started. We will have roads. We will have water systems. We will have barns, and lakes and ponds and many other farm buildings that could be used for temporary housing.

Kindly Speaking

We do have to ask people out of respect for the owners not to try to make any unauthorized contacts or visits as it could only jeopardize our good relations with the owners who are just very private ranch folks who value their privacy and who do not want to see any of these freaky hippy types coming around, so do not even go there.

There will come a time when we will make all the necessary arrangements to meet with the owners and to make our case for Economic Re-Localization.

We do not have an option on the land. But we do hope to see things open up very soon and we see ourselves becoming the happy and healthy Ecological Stewards of Eden Valley.

Who are We?

We do have a group of over 800 people currently in our email group on the web. And we have another two or three hundred in other forms such as through the mail, as people who write in and who have subscribed to The Eden Journal as well as through other communities and events where we have been actively involved for many years.

What is there now?

Eden is an existing ranch with quite a bit already in place in the way of houses, barns, ponds and various buildings, roads, wells, springs, reservoirs, water systems and mature Trees from around the world that have been planted many years ago.

Some of the roads may need to be changed. But that will help us all out a lot to be able to make use of what is already there. There may even be some power and water systems already in place. This is not like it would be if we were starting with vacant land.

There is a nice big fat central shady area near the ranch buildings which has Trees and the creek and a pond and some of those buildings we may be able to put to some good use such as for housing visitors. That will be called The Village.

We will make that area where the old ranch is into our Community use area which we have been calling The Village and where visitors and such will be welcome to come and enjoy some of our good ole country hospitality Eden style.

Buying the land

The big surprise for most people is that large spreads of land like this are almost never going to be bought and sold in the usual way. you won't ever find anything like this ever listed in the classified ads.

What I believe you should do if you are serious about buying land for a community is to make a very serious hunt for the land you want to use and then you get your people lined up like we are doing here and then you take your offer to the owners in that order.

You do not need to even bother to go to some realtors out of the newspaper and expect anything but the worst of what they need to unload on you.

On the other hand we have to have our finances in order when we do get a chance to talk turkey, or they could become quite hardened off to the idea.

There is a natural order of priorities.

It is best for us all to learn to work very quietly towards our goals within the existing orders, until the time is just right and we are well enough prepared to show up ready to sign the papers and follow through with everything immediately.

T happens to know about a few things about land like this which is reflected in the fact that it was T himself who first rediscovered Eden in the first place.

Big land owners don't like to be put off or made to wait so no one is to ever interfere in the fragile relationships we have begun to form with them.

We do have an official spokesperson for these reasons. His name is T. He is the organizer of this Project. Have some respect for the existing order. All issues go through T and some of the others first at the meetings.

Don't even think for one minute that it would be just fine to drop by anytime and take a look at the place as that kind of interference could endanger this entire project.

Some folks don't like the idea of a lot of strange people coming around uninvited like they had a right to go snooping around anywhere they might like to and what's worse is that they might take it badly which would only hurt our chances which are otherwise only about 20-20 as it is.

Please respect the autonomy of Eden. It is not open to the public.

Never just show up uninvited. Not even at T's own place. You always have to go through the proper channels.

We are currently still building towards that point.

We should almost all have some of the normal skills and interests in our own lives, with some people having the normal amounts of personal savings, with their own land, homes, or other properties, or with pensions lined up, or retirement accounts, and everybody should have social security benefits lined up, for their later years, since we are all expected to be coming from being mostly productive people, who can pay their own way, because they have been working and saving and building up their skills over a lifetime, in many cases, just to create something of real value that could go over into something for the greater good.

Now it becomes clear why we have been doing all that hard work. This is where a lot of the money is going to be coming from. These are the eco-nomic resources that enough of us must have, in order to be able to put that to work for the greater eco-logical good. In return for our many efforts we will all be well situated for life.

The more constructive people, who have some net worth, will probably be selling their old homes, and other properties to be able to buy into Eden, and to build a new home with, which is what people normally do when they buy or build a new home.

This might sound like a greedy self centric set of motivations, but that actually does work pretty well. People do need to know they are going to get something, like a place where they can build a home or something, and so we do have to continue to support this kind of self centric behavior, which is a very healthy thing.

But how does this help the community? This does help the community. We all share in the value of that solar powered house. We all will share in the value of that productive mini-farm. This will providing housing. and this will provide food, and this will support our micro-economy.

We want people to have the perfect place ot live among good neighbors, who are all connected up, as land stewards, instead of the community being fragmented up and the people locked into the anonymous isolation zone.

I personally own more than just a few acres in the beautiful wine country area around Glen Ellen in Sonoma County. My name is T. I am a cowboy, a land owner, and a community organizer. I have more than just a few acres of land in the very desireable Sonoma County wine country area, that is right in the middle of some beautiful country and the nearest little town is the really cool old fashioned little town of Glen Ellen, where they press their own olive oil, no less, and make their own wine, which is some of the very best in all the world, and this is one town which has no chain stores of any kind.

That is something that I would like to offer up, as a partial donation, for some kind of community use, and that is to be left that way forever, as it will be left as a not for profit community organization of some kind, and that is never to be sold, and that is probably worth quite a lot, in its mostly wildly forested condition that it is in right now, with a lot of tall trees, as it sits right in the middle of a larger solid block of forest.

The nearest neighbors are about a quarter of a mile away. this is the way I live the way many people will be living in Eden, off the grid on Solar Power, with a small garden, and composting toilets.

I would like to turn over this land for our own community use purposes, as my contribution towards the greater good.

This is a huge undertaking and a lifetime of success awaits us for those who are willing to proceed with care and take One Step at a Time, don't you know.

I have not laid Eden Valley open for anyone to look at or to even set foot on the uncompromised lands of Eden without written permission, and you can take that to court, sport.

Eden is private property. Please stay far away until such time as we have acquired the land at which time you will all be invited.

How much will it cost?

It will cost from $28,800 to $36,000 and up for those among the first 31 homesteaders using the Seniors Discount or from $36,000. to $45,000.per homestead family for the first 31 homesteaders who will want to have the 2 acre farmsite too along with the 3 acre homesteads, which will then total up to 5 acres.

After that it goes up a little bit at a time, by the same little bitty amounts.

If we have chosen to reward those in this way who will make the commitment earlier on by giving them a slight break on an already sweet deal that is because the early support is worth something.

Later on we won't even need to worry about it, but there really is a significant risk involved in the early stages the way some people see it, and so they might choose to remain seated on the sidelines until they feel secure enough to move forward. That is why a lot of people are still holding back.

This will stimulate the project coming together faster and it rewards those who will take a chance early on in the support of this project.

All that money comes right back to each of us without exception and for some people it may come back 3 times over.

This will support and stimulate the decision making process of people who otherwise might choose to wait and see what the other people are going to do.

This will reward those folks who have enough faith and love for what it is that we are doing that they are willing to count themselves among the first to become members of the Stewards Council which alone can make the decision to buy the land and to proceed with this project. We need more people to join the Stewards Council. And the way that you can do that is to put $1,500. on the table, just to support our work and to begin some kind of a Seed Fund, and then you will be among those who are the Stakeholders and the Stakeholders are the committed homesteaders who are the core decision making people.

How old are the people?

Eden is a Multi-Generational Community. We are people of all ages. We are a Child Centered Community. Everything is planned here to stimulate the next generations desire to continue on with the work that we have begun just one small part of which is breeding and reseeding. We don't see people as old people or as young people. But we do have to at least try to look at each person or family groups ability to provide for themselves one way or the other so we don't have a lot of false starts, like we saw in the media centric and political driven bailout happy America, which is what caused the sub-prime mortgage crisis, when they tried to bail a lot of people out before their time had come, because in America we didn't know there was a time for anything and that you would have to earn it before you could burn it, and so many of these new people were just not yet ready for the responsibilities involved with real home ownership, and that means paying off everything you owe is first and foremost here in Eden, where all debts must be paid, even if you do reneg and walk away. That Pledge is like a sacred oath. All the money that has been earmarked for the project, including all the Contribute, stays in Eden, for the most part, with few exceptions, but those will have to be determined in Council, on a case by case basis.

This way the Children of Eden will inherit the homesteads and the entire community as all paid off, and that is very easy to maintain and is always going to be ready for all to enjoy instead of always having to start from scratch again every generation like we have been doing. That is why we say that Eden is extremely progressive. If green is the new black, then we are the Dark Greens. We are the new change makers.

Everything we do here is for the Children of The Earth and it might even be true that Eden is the Earth. We do good things for good people who love the Earth, or Earthm.

All good people will be welcomed here. Everyone is seen as having their own personal perspectives, most of which will be more Earth Centered, Child Centered and Womens Centered.

What we mean by the new Womens Centric perspective could be said to be that the solutions are naturally more human scale and local and that we are all family and it's about working within the natural relationships like the people we know who are doing good things in the local community and to work with what we have and that Social Justice needs to be seen in terms of the Human Scale Communities and brought back home again, where it belongs, on an individual basis, using both Truth and Love as our ruling principles, and not just one or the other as it has been in the past.

The more traditional perspectives of dominator culture in contrast might be to have the over bloated central government extract a lot of money from the people just so they can drop the big one on the bad guys fast even if that means putting an end to All Life on Earth, as long as we win.

That is a zero sum game that has left the Love component completely out of the game, and that has merely plugged information and technology together out of need and greed, and that need which is catered to so often, is just coming from a need to stay in office. But information alone does not make a home, and need most certainly does not make any kind of a home. It could also refer to cutting down the Amazon rainforest for money and then buying votes with that money by acting like the generous one who wants to buy a disposable plastic home for everybody. We don't do that here. We don't bail people out. We don't pay them to play. We don't buy their votes. And we don't tell them whatever they want to hear. That would not be in keeping with the Truth Spirit of Eden which is beyond paradise.

How will decisions be made?

Decisions will have to be made by a Three Quarters Consensus of all the homesteaders, and some of the most committed among the others, which we could have as just one vote from each homestead, to begin with, which could be how the Stewards Council works, or it could be that everyone and anyone in the whole community who shows up at more than two meetings in a row, can then throw some weight around at that third meeting, even if they are not one of the Land Stewards. In that way others can be included who have put something into the workings of the council, which is mostly done simply by being there, because there is nothing worse than having to deal with people who are not even knowledgeable about the recent developments, and no the people cannot expect to be kept informed, as that is there responsibility, to be there most every time. But the people who do not show up regularly, and are not one of the land stewards, probably should not be given too much attention, since you have to earn a place among the respected land stewards of Eden. That is what we mean by a Three Quarters Consensus Democracy. Let us know how you feel about this whole thing now, or you really will have very little to say about it later, gator. the same thing is true about the meetings. If you don't show up you will not be kept informed. And everyone has to bring something to the meeting, instead of always expecting to get something, since that attitude of self entitlement is fit only for a paying customer.

Sustainable Micro-Economy?

We will have two main sectors of the micro-economy that jobs will come from, the public sector will be jobs created by the community farm and a wide variety of other things. And that will be just one part of the Micro-Economy.

The other half will come from the private sector, and the natural jobs that we each may create with each other in making things and on our mini-farms and self created work that come from individual and collective resourcefulness.

Relocalization

We will build our own passive solar homes for the most part although there may be some who choose to have their homes designed and built for them by competent builders within the community.

And that will create even more jobs and flowing money for all to share when you hire the people that you know right there in Eden. And it is nice to know where your food really comes from.

There will be those who will take on every kind of work so that all of it is done by our own people as much as possible so the money stays here in Eden circulating around and around forever and that too will become more and more valuable as time goes on.

Towards that end, we may have some different kinds of money in Eden like Eden Hours and Mendo Greens. This is what will make Eden largely self financing. We don't need to depend upon grant money from anybody.

We know we already have the money just like a Tree who doesn't need the money because this whole project works with the ordinary money a lot of people have in sufficient levels to build this community and it will continue to just flow like a river if we manage our resources wisely. And now all we have to do is to begin to put it to work for us instead of watching it all evaporate into thin air.

What about the Land?

Eden will be 2,320 acres backed right up against what is now the Yuki Wilderness Area which is a huge 53,000 acre block of land among others that extends right up into Mendocino National Forest which is just a few miles away. We are going to be well positioned being right up snug against that.

And that will make us one of the largest EcoVillages in the world. But that is not even counting all the lands that surround us which is a great resource base for hiking and trekking and outdoors adventures of all kinds. Out of that 2,320 acres, the Ancient Valley lakes and woodlands will be well over 500 acres. And that will all be protected forever.

But there will also be a fairly large influx of visitors and interns and trainees coming to learn about Permaculture, Solar Energy, Natural Building, Small Farming and any number of things we will have to offer.

This not only allows us to make some new friends and maybe just a little money but it also ensures us of a steady supply of the new energy that will keep us alive and well for thousands of years. We can also offer other things to support the Right Livelihood of the entire community. Everyone should get trained in Permaculture.

Self Sustainable at any age

You are never going to be seen as being too old for anything in Eden. We don't believe in forcible retirement. But those who, like some seniors don't really want to do any real farming may choose to get in for very little using the Senior Discount Contribution Pledge.

What you get for that is a 3 acre Homestead and the right to build a house and a cabin on that so it is still more than enough for most people who don't really need the 2 acre Farm-Site which would ideally go with every homestead.

And you can rent the cabin out to bring in a little cash flow which is all you ever will need in Eden to cover maintenance and a few minor expenses. You can still grow a lot of food right there on your homestead.

Is there enough water?

We will have creeks and springs and wells and there are two lakes out in Ancient Valley that are about 15 and 35 acres.

There will be a Community Water system bringing clean fresh untreated natural water to every homestead in Eden that comes right down the mountain from Brushy Lake, the spring fed lake that sits up high on the mountain, and the Vegan Village will just have to fend for itself on what little dribbles out of the two lakes.

Water will be free in Eden. But that doesn't mean that we can afford to waste it, not year around, and so we will have to keep an eye on all water resources during the summertime months when we may have to ask people not to use that much water so all plantings and irrigation systems must be considered carefully.

Drip irrigation is best for surface plantings.

Deep rooted Vines and Trees will probably be able to tap into the ground water table quite nicely once they have gotten well enough established and so they may not need much in the way of any further irrigation after the first few years.

Most plantings around the homesteads will have to be drought tolerant or native plant species that will not need much.

What is Next?

We need to begin to put some idea together as to where we stand in terms of our tremendous collective economic and Eco-Logical power to change the world.

We do need to know who has got the True Spirit and what they have to put into the Permaculture Credit Union which is earmarked for Eden by putting the name Eden in the business or association area of the application form box.

That just shows that you are associated with this emerging new project when you open your account, not that you have transferred that money into the Eden Account yet which is account number 385 if you want to make a direct contribution.

Why you open an account that money is in your own account in your name and your privacy is fully protected by them even to the point that we will not even know who has what unless you tell us something like, you just deposited $36,000 into your account so you want us to know that you are onboard here and ready to go at the drop of a hat, without actually losing control of that money, which is important for some people.

We will then hopefully be able to determine how much in total there is in all the accounts that are voluntarily self connected with Eden in this way as a whole, which will give us some idea of how far we still need to go.

Eden is a not for profit Association. Our account with the PCU is number 385. Anyone may deposit anything directly into that account who really does feel the urge to merge.

We will not be able to do anything with any of the money that is put into your own account until you decide to make a neat little transfer of say $1,500. over to the actual Eden Project Account in order to join in with those who are already now on the Council and who will be among the very first decision makers in this community.

One person has kicked in the first $1,500. so far. And that puts that person in line for being among those who have the highest priority in the natural order of arrivals, and so they may save quite a lot of money by doing that in the long run.

There is a slight advantage there that others can claim as well, by being among the first 12 to kick in their first $1,500. towards their Pledge, which may save you thousands of dollars in the long run.

We are asking people to get started on that now, opening up your new account with the Permaculture Credit Union, and saving up whatever you can for your own real place in Eden and to be able to make your Fair Share Contribution of $1,500 which will put you up on the Stewards Council like a genius in the natural order of your arrival.

That will save you money later on because of the importance of the order of arrivals on the Stewards Council which has a lot to do with how much your equitable Contribution Pledge will be.

The Voice of the Feminine

Learning from nature is just one small part of what could be considered to be part of the new ideal of the feminine spirit and not just to learn how to exploit having it or controlling it which is all we see going on today.

It is time now to hear the feminine side for a change and to become a real part of the Earths desire to normalize relations now, and to resolve all conflicts now and to put our roots back down into the Earth and into our Communities.

Eden is not only a fine and wonderful part of nature, it is also a beautiful extension of nature through cooperation and collaboration.

Women will be expected to play more of a leadership role in Eden for all these reasons, as part of the Mothers and Brothers program.

We are actually making a whole new series of great big fat beginnings that will start right here in Eden to change the world and to Save the Earth. This is just the beginnings. But this should be enough to get the right people started on their way towards a better life in Eden.

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