[dahVeed Montané]

I recently taught a PDC (permaculture design course) class on Land Tenure and the book we used as a guide for the class suggested a community have at least 80% common ownership and the rest be for tiny homes and co-housing type arrangements. After having recently read all 10 of the RCS, I realized this is backwards and that there should be less than 20% common area. I told the class this and also recommended we change the aim of our permaculture organization that put on the PDC to promoting minimum hectare properties for households instead of promoting eco-villages, which they agreed.

Each couple able to bear children needs AT LEAST one hectare. That is the MINIMUM that Anastasia recommends. She mentions 5 acres a couple of times, so I think there is some ideal around that size that will allow for possible future division for a child’s hectare with their spouse. I also think that the extra land will be useful to trade and barter surplus produce.

In my experience, many older people who feel past their childbearing years do not even dare to wish for land of this size. It’s best for us to encourage younger people, even up into “middle age”, to read the RCS and work on finding their land to create a Space of Love.

• This reply was modified 5 months, 3 weeks ago by  dahVeed Montané.

[Michelle Maier]

I think David’s suggestions are spot-on.

There are a myriad practical considerations to keep in mind.

Not everyone is as productive. Price’s Law observes that the square root of any given population produces half the value. Keeping this in mind, a designer would obviously NOT want a huge amount of communal space where unproductive ideas inevitably sabotage and drive out productive genius. Productive genius needs to have plentiful and exclusive resources- ie, those who are productive need a means of getting or being given, more land or having the ability to have exclusive use of more land.

You can get general (or average) numbers from homesteaders or sustenance farmers in the area. It will vary vastly based on location. Around here, an average farm of 10 acres can feed 12 families completely. Which means that those 11 additional families being fed represents income and not merely sustenance. That is average. A genius producer could at least double or treble that.

This goes for intellectual and structural resources as well. So a genius marketer should have exclusive control over the marketing and not have to deal with others opinions or control over the matter.

So, a designer would have to take a dynamic and changeable approach to structuring any larger community of Kin’s Domains. I obviously don’t know exactly what that would look like, but I am keen to see something based on mutual benefit and yet allow for maximum freedom of creativity and productivity.

This is of course if you want a thriving community with plentiful resources and creative genius to flourish.

[Anne Putnam]

I know a lot of people starting homestead and here in Michigan we have what is called a Tribe….but are very spaced out…. we do barter with each other, but many are doing the same type of thing and more diversity would be needed to actually develop a community. If you have heard of “the anyone can farm experience”….most of their focus does seem on small farm animal production, butchering, but they also do herbs, gardening, soil improvement (biochar), forging, bee keeping, first aid and other courses via their Tribe day to help educate others from all over Michigan and other states. I could see these being the start of community mentoring that can develop in each tribe member’s local community.

your questions: What do you think a good settler qualities and skills must be to be part of a settlement? What kind contributions being monetary or skill sets must a settler have? Just like Anastasia says we need all type of qualities, everyone has been developing a skill set that can bring creativity and what is needed for such a time as this, if they are being called, they are needed. I do not think there are any necessary skill requirements, everyone can learn any skill – so maybe it is just their desire.

On the land aspect… we have 17 acres, and eeding two horses, a donkey and a few cows (beef and dairy cows), with the current practices of hay cutting, etc – this is sufficient and almost not enough. For us to support a few other families with our dairy and some beef we also need to cut an additional 15 acres of hay. Beef won’t be a thing of the future and perhaps dairy either, but it is currently part of our culture. And raising your own cows is much different than large production, because each one gets love and care – I talk to them all daily. They seem to know their purpose and our dairy cows love being milked. Raw dairy is also very healing. And like Anastasia did state that it may not be this generation but it will eventually go away. And where are these animals to go if we don’t care for them? We cannot expect an immediate change for everyone. So this is part of where I struggle on the one hectare size. I have been nurturing our fields and seeing an increase in hay production, but do not think someone could keep a couple horses on 2.5 acres (they are happier with another horse) plus their garden, pond, etc. There is going to be a lot of improvement that needs made with how we do pastures (not just “grass”), this is all going to take time. So right now, at least in America because of our current lifestyles I see these domains as larger, and as we adjust and improve the land to be able to support what we want on smaller acreage then they will be divided giving parts to our children and children’s children. That’s my thoughts….