Latest News

Spring has sprung and the trees on the land are showing off their new finery--ivory blossoms, pale green leaves, yellowish leaves unfurling, and the constant background color of the conifers.   The sheep have produced 14 lambs, doubling the size of the flock for now, and they form a river of wool on the hoof as they move in an excited eddying stream from trampled-and-eaten grass to fresh new grass every day or two.  Some of us helped Jens care for a few lambs who needed nursing help over the last few weeks, but he is still the best Ovine Lactation Counselor among us.  

 

After a weirdly mild winter and an unsettled early spring, we are finally getting a seasonal mix of warm days, drizzle, rain, sun, and cloudy skies.  Many of us are sprouting seeds and putting in gardens--although we had a (last?) frost in early May.  The local groundhogs must surely be looking forward to the gardens of August...

 

Some of us have been involved lately in MoveOn.org's 99% Spring movement, fostering nonviolent actions in local communities.  In April QIV-C members hosted a 99% Spring training here, which was attended by about 30 people, and an ongoing local group includes some of us.  

Our farm intern Sky, who has been a great addition to our community, departs mid-May (leaving behind the beginnings of a cob oven!) to cook for the Co-Cycle project, a summer cross-country bike tour of cooperatives along the northern United States, organized by college students in honor of the 2012 International Year of Cooperatives.  We will miss her!  Later in the summer we will host two founders of The Transitioner for short residencies.  The Transitioner does research and development on collective intelligence, wisdom, and consciousness, with the goal of creating new technologies and methodologies that will improve the decision-making capacity of humanity and its organizations. We enjoy the new personalities and perspectives of our visitors!

(read earlier news)

Who we are 

We are currently a community of six member households and two families interested in membership, living close to the land on 135 acres of mixed woodland and pasture.  We range in age from infant to 60s, with 14 adults and 13 children. We strive to live spirit-focused lives that are simple, sustainable, and joyful, benefitting from and enjoying our close connections with each other and the land. We don't all need to identify explicitly as Quaker.  We welcome diversity of all sorts. (More about us)

Where we are

We are in the gorgeous Hudson Valley of upstate New York (2.5 hours from NYC/Boston, 10 minutes from our local Quaker Meeting), in the foothills of the Berkshires.  

How we live

We are thriving in a range of green homes such as strawbale, slip and chip timberframe, stickbuilt, passive solar; many of us built our own.  Many of us farm our land organically, raise chickens and sheep and other livestock, and produce piles of pesto, and we also support several local farms.  We use Quaker processes in our self-government, including consensus that seeks God's will, discernment, and the clearness process, and we value equality, diversity of experience and viewpoints, and deep listening. We come together around five guiding intentions: 

Our Five Intentions

We believe community can be a means to advance the following five intentions:

1. To increase the mindfulness, spiritual focus and God-centeredness of our lives by finding and living near others who share these goals and thus will reinforce, on a daily basis, our desire to live in worship.

2. To strengthen our family life both by creating a "village" setting in which to raise our and others' children, and by caring for our elders. This includes an emphasis on leaving behind cultural obstacles that interfere with providing the time and energy that healthy family life requires.

3. To examine carefully our participation in the national/international consumer economy and begin to build the critical mass necessary for viable business networks and sources of goods and services more appropriate to our Quaker testimonies.

4. To focus on a lifestyle that is environmentally sound and that attempts to give back to our planet as much as is taken from it.

5. To include a good measure of joy, fun, outreach, and service in our lives as we strive to meet the first four objectives.

We believe that our communities' success in achieving these five intentions will be aided by memberships diverse in race, age, ethnicity, sexual preference, and economic situations, and therefore it is our aim to gather communities whose members are diverse in these ways as well as others.

If you have questions about QIV-C and would like to find out more or visit us, please e-mail qiv-c@qivp .org or call Spee Braun at 518-392-0891 (between 9 and 9 please).