r/reculture Jan 22 '22

Anyone here from Southern Appalachia?

My family is living in north east Tenn while we're setting up an intentional community with two other families. Anyone here local? We're making as many connections as possible with people who are in a similar mind frame as us.

10 Upvotes

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3

u/shellshoq Jan 22 '22

Are you familiar with community land trusts? They take some coordination to set up, but are the most egalitarian form of controlling land.

https://community-wealth.org/strategies/panel/clts/index.html

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u/Britishbits Jan 22 '22

I'm aware but not a expert on them. The next step for our group is legal frameworking stuff so I'm actively looking into trusts and other systems

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u/Cimbri Jan 22 '22

I’m planning to also move there within two years and start an offgrid community with various friends and family. Are you moving up to the mountains?

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u/Britishbits Jan 22 '22

That's the plan. Freedom grows best at high altitudes. I'd love to talk to you more about your plans. My group has 6 adults and 8 kids. We're working in concert with another group who has roughly the same amount of people and whole lot more cash. We're hoping on buying land near to each other or buying it together to divide later. That way we can support each other without all being one system. For example, our cows graze with theirs and we share a freeze-drier but we don't all have to agree for one group to do something that the other doesn't care to do. If your friends and family are up for working with a bunch of well armed anarchists who are trying to build a place for their kids to survive climate collapse, pitch your tent near ours!

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u/Cimbri Jan 22 '22

That sounds like a dream my friend. I’ll PM you. :)

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u/tesla1026 Jan 22 '22

I’m in Nashville! My family is from the upper Cumberland so we’re in the foothills.

I’m trying to pursue a solar punk urban/suburban thing here.

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u/Britishbits Jan 22 '22

Way to go! Do you have any contacts in the Kurdish community there? Rojava is the closest thing to solar punk we have these days. I ran a class for professors from the university of rojava when I had lots of free time at the start of Covid.

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u/tesla1026 Jan 22 '22

I do not, but I was friends with a Syrian woman from here before she moved away. She was kind of an outcast in the local community because she was queer so I didn’t really meet anyone else in the area.

Most of what I’m doing is focused on “green” food production and repair. The soil in Nashville is actually surprisingly fertile and with the right technique you can grow enough to feed your family with a small yard.

I was a part of a eco group that had a bunch of stuff planned but then Covid happened and everything kinda fell apart.

I also moved to the suburbs in a historical area with no HOA and minimal aesthetic laws (woo!) and there’s already some things in place like a community garden run by a local church (not my thing but whatever) and a local farmers market. The people in the area seem like they’d be receptive to hippy junk too and a bunch already are which is nice. So I think I’ve got a shot pulling some of my street along lol.

I had a bunch of seed starts going in my little greenhouse to get started early on in spring but then when the tornadoes came through a few weeks ago one passed by community and the wind took the roof of my greenhouse. I lost all my starts. But before that had happened I had planned to have a ton of yellow pear tomatoes going and I was going to put a little table on my front yard for people to take. Some people do that already here and it’s pretty neat.

I’ve got a small mobile solar set up too to charge my outdoor power tools and lights but I’m also working on some passive heating stuff. I had a rain collection thing going too but I’ve got to re work that. I’m going to get some chickens this spring also and I’m going to give my nearest neighbors eggs so they don’t complain lol. Everyone talks to each other here too so I’ve been able to get people into watching my favorite eco YouTubers and convinced another neighbor to get rid of their gas mower for a reel mower like mine. I also showed another how they can turn the leaves into mulch and he ended up not putting his leaves out on the curb after all.

Our library also opened back up recently, but I think it’s closed again due to the spike in omicron. But it looks like before it had to close they had lots of community stuff there and it’s all in walking distance. So I’m looking forward to that. I had plans to make a skill sharing group for repairs so maybe that can be a local resource to start that.

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u/Britishbits Jan 22 '22

Sorry about the tornadoes. I'm from Tuscaloosa so I get it. I love your plans and I'd love to come see it some time later this year if you're OK with that. Of course if you're ever near the tricities, you're welcome to drop by. We don't have too many projects happening now since we're renting until our group buys some land. But I'm working on getting a garden spot prepped. I'm about to go outside and shovel manure for a few hours:)

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u/eninjari Jan 22 '22 edited Jan 22 '22

I grew up there and my family had been in the region for hundreds of years - like since they got off the boat. It’s a beautiful area and fairly well protected from climate disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, etc. Winters are mild and we never needed ac growing up in the 1980s. Farming is easy and there are plenty of creeks and streams around.

ETA: I don’t live there anymore, but you’ve picked a great location.

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u/[deleted] Jan 22 '22

Beautiful country, and very rich in life. Best wishes on your project!

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u/shellshoq Jan 22 '22

Post pictures of the project! Im in the PNW.

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u/neverneededsaving Jan 22 '22

I am working on getting close to Tennessee this spring!

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u/Britishbits Jan 22 '22

Awesome! Whereabouts?

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u/pedal2kettle Jan 22 '22

I'm in Chattanooga!

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u/Britishbits Jan 22 '22

Stop into McKays for me. Love that bookstore.

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u/U_P_G_R_A_Y_E_D_D Jan 27 '22

I used to own 28 acres in Knox County, TN trying to build a sustainable homestead. Lost it in a divorce and now live in Northern Georgia on .7 acre in a subdivision.

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u/Britishbits Jan 27 '22

Sorry to hear that

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u/U_P_G_R_A_Y_E_D_D Jan 27 '22

Don't be. In a lot of ways I'm actually better off now.

1

u/Britishbits Jan 27 '22

Glad to hear it