Yes, you heard right! Edna Lu has found her forever parking spot on Talking Horse Ranch on San Juan Island, WA, where we’ve been land stewards for the past 4 years.
And now we have the opportunity to purchase part of this magical 120-acre farm!
BUT the timeframe is tight. We have less than 2 months to raise $800,000. We have until the end of the year to reach the ultimate goal of $1.5 million.
The San Juan County Conservation Land Bank is purchasing all 120 acres, but don’t want the 40 acre parcel with all the infrastructure. They are requesting proposals for someone to purchase this parcel — WE WANT TO BE THAT SOMEONE! Especially since we are already farming and caretaking it, and have been preparing the land for its next iteration for the pst 4 years.
We are submitting a proposal to the Land Bank in order to preserve this farm in perpetuity. They are putting their 80 acres into conservation and allowing public access through trails and agricultural leases. Independently, Ally and I are forming a non-profit regenerative farming land trust to purchase the first 40-acre parcel, where all the farm infrastructure sits. This land trust will keep this parcel in agriculture forever. It will also allow us, and 3 more yet-to-come houses, to be privately owned and affordable through 99-year leases.
We are creating CAMAS COMMONS, a regenerative faming land trust for making farming more affordable!
But we need your help. We are raising $1.5 million dollars to make the hardest part of this vision come alive — land acquisition. Because our vision aligns with the Land Bank’s mandate, they are likely to work with us on the price, but we need to be able to come to the table with a sizable amount.
Will you help us make this vision a reality?
We need angel donors.
All donations are welcome, from smaller dollar to larger legacy donations, and whatever unique skills and gifts that could help bring this dream into reality.
All donations are tax deductible!
IF ANYTHING, we have 50+ farm animals (a beloved dairy goat herd, and a laying hen flock) that will be displaced mid-winter if we do not reach our goal. This isn’t just any goat herd. Ally has been training her goats to be therapeutic, and it shows on the faces of all the people who have come so spend time with them.
Your donations will secure their permanent home with us.
The Backstory
For more than a decade the Free Tea Bus traveled the country, offering free tea as a community building project, with a philosophy that considers The Gift as the primary way that humans create, maintain, and deepen bonds with one another (i.e. community building).
This journey brought myself (Guisepi), Edna Lu the Tea Bus, and eventually my now wife Ally, across the country, to city streets, farms and homesteads, surf spots, trailheads, farmers markets, events, intentional communities, and more. Directly, we touched 10’s of thousands of people. Indirectly, through articles, blogs, documentaries, radio programs, and people being inspired to create their own money-free sharing projects, we touched more than a million.
“Wait, but doesn’t you traveling around defeat the purpose of building community for yourselves?”
Yes, ironically I have had to give up some of my own community in order to be a messenger about community.
But that rambling chapter has come to an end. Nearly 8 years ago, Ally, Edna and I ended up where I grew up on San Juan Island, WA. For years, the conversations about intentional community, permaculture, and land connection had been ever present. I reflected deeply on what our journey had meant, where I stood in the world, how I wanted the next chapter to go, and how I might continue to be of service. And now, Ally and I truly felt in our heart of hearts that land connection is where our future lay.
So we tried, but failed, to acquire land in a more traditional way. But something new is afoot that encompasses the magic of the Tea Bus.
Finding Home
Nearly 4 years ago, weary in our search for home, we arrived on Talking Horse Ranch, the place Ally lived when we first fell in love 14 years ago. We were happy to be on such magical land. It has 70 acres of forest, and 50 acres of pasture. The “mountain” hosts a lookout of Mount Baker and acts as a place of refuge. The seasonal creek feeds three ponds. Another pond is home to hundreds of bass. The Big Barn is 13,000 square feet of usable space, with animal stalls, a workshop slab, and more. Our house is pentagon, and most of the buildings have pyramids on the roofs — a holdover from the days when the farm was developed by a follower of the channeled energetic being and spiritual leader Ramtha and the alleged “talking horse”.
The Octagon Barn has become the home of Ally’s animal midwifery practice — housing her animal apothecary, hay storage, milking parlor, and more. I have been able to transform a decrepit old shed into a wonderfully salvaged workshop, half powered by the sun, and half powered by a collection of vintage and antique human powered tools (think: hand crank drill press, treadle scroll saw, pedal powered lathe, etc.). Even though much of the infrastructure is past its prime, it’s a lovely place to be.
A New Dream is Born… How I became an Accidental Farmer (and LOVE it)
During the past 4 years, we have learned the ins and outs of the farm, grown a flock of chickens, a herd of goats, and had a pig co-op last year. We’ve planted 16 fruit and nut trees, cleaned out a destroyed garden, helped clean up the land, managed an aging farmer, grown things, and picked up slack where we could. We’ve had live music, petting zoos, seasonal celebrations, weekly Family Dinners, and so much more. Our food rescue program itself has saved over 40,000 pounds of “waste” produce from the landfill and turned it into animal food and rich compost. Three years ago, we hosted a weeklong wedding campout, where we got married with enormous support from our community.
We’ve also had deaths and sorrow, and managed to learn alongside the land what our place is in this ecological community.
And Edna, sweet Edna, has found a nice spot to live — right in our front yard, near the stage and farm store we recently opened, where she can be honored and even open her doors on occasion for a free tea party. Currently, she houses my mentee, Jacksun. He’s treating her well, except for the occasional coffee making. (What sacrilege!). He opens her up for our events, and serves tea with his own flair — The teapot has been passed!
This Land is Meant to be Shared, and I want to see your vision of community come true...
…said the farm owner when he told us he was selling the farm
He had decided to sell the land to the Land Bank, and with their desire to not own any infrastructure, he was sure we would be able to buy the first 40-acres from them. It was a no-brainer.
And here we are — on the brink of making this vision a reality. Wow!
We never accepted even $1 while serving 10’s of thousands of cups of tea, so now we are humbly asking if you can support the next dream, the legacy that we can leave to the generations that come after us, to help us take this land out of the speculative real estate market, and put it into something more.
We’ve begun the trail. Help us blaze it.
Sincerely,
Guisepi, Ally, and Edna.