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Mountain Jewel

Center for Earth Connection

  • Food Forest,  Gardening,  Homestead,  Perennial Agriculture

    Why We’ve Chosen Perennial Agriculture

    March 22, 2020 /

    Why Perennial Agriculture? You hear us talk about perennials, edible landscapes and food forests a lot. Why have we chosen to focus on perennial agriculture? Through this missive I hope to clarify our motivations.

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Mountain Jewel is an off grid land project that lives into the question of how humans can align with Place through food forests, adaptation gardening, appropriate technology and natural building with local materials. It was established in 2016 in the heart of the Ozarks of South Central Missouri.

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center for earth connection
💎 Ozarks natural building
& seed saving
Next clay play days are May 24/25. We’re having Next clay play days are May 24/25. We’re having a weekend affair! So come camp and get muddy at Mountain Jewel. We’ll be working on making earthen plasters from local clay and applying leveling coats to the straw bale house! A great opportunity to learn these skills. The next opportunity will be a paid multi day comprehensive workshop (!) in June so this may be the last free community day available for a while. Get it while it’s hot! Inquire within for details and please RSVP so I can get a head count. Look forward to seeing you! 💚
all beings are blossoms blossoming in a blossomin all beings are blossoms blossoming in a blossoming universe Baker Creek Spring Planting Festival ‘25 was a rooted day of sowing seeds of community, resilience, inspiration, joy and gathering these fruits from past plantings. It was really fun and energizing to speak alongside long time mentor and seed-spiration Joseph Lofthouse who also visited Mountain Jewel today. Heart’s full. Grateful to everyone who came out and connections with friends old and new 💚🌿 Time to gather; the time is ripe to Dream collective resilience into reality.
I had a dream one night when I was living in the m I had a dream one night when I was living in the mountains of Appalachia in 2013 (second photo from that year.) On the side of a spring filled mountain dwelling on Pat Tompkins’ land, I dreamt I was on a route familiar to my childhood self as it was somewhere we passed on the way to school, soccer and my parent’s work. This time, we stopped on the side of the road and I went off the beaten path alone into the woods where I had an encounter with a lynx. I have never met a lynx in waking life, and this one was exaggerated with antennae like ear tufts that stretched high beyond the body. I wasn’t afraid as we stared at each other, but I knew it had given me something. Something to bring back to waking life. Some dreams gestate within us as the messages take shape, working in us perhaps for years. There have been many such instances in my life, in awake and dream time, encounters with what is raw & wild in nature where I have received transmissions. I took to forest living in the Ozarks in winter of 2015/16 to court the wild edge of life asking questions about what it means to be a human committing to place in a time of great mobility, seeking to forge local sustenance and connections within a globalized economy. When I lived in the Bay last year, I sought perspective and I realized I had developed a lens- a lens of earth connection that travels with me wherever I go. Within that realization, I love to share the wild heartbeat I have cultivated. In these times of humans tapping into AI amalgamated voices, I commit to an authentic soul expression and am maintaining connection with that and bringing that self forth. I feel it is time to share what has been forged in the quiet orientation of observation. To come forth from the woods and offer the gifts. 💚
The energy is still settling from the clay play da The energy is still settling from the clay play day last Saturday, as the clay slip & earthen plaster we put up is drying well even amidst all this rain. So many sweet moments of presence, stimulating conversation, fun, bonding, engaging in the joy of learning and building something with meaning and purpose. I am grateful to everyone who came out and made it such a spectacular weekend. It was an incredible way to kick off the plaster season! Next one in a couple weeks (planning either May 17/18 or 24/25) and I think we’ll make it a weekend affair as having people camp was so fun. Let me know in the comments which weekend is better for you if you’d like to come for one day or both 💚💥 #manyhandsmakelightwork 💫
For years I’ve had a direct draw from the well p For years I’ve had a direct draw from the well pump (connected to the solar system) and every time I (or someone else) has wanted water, we have to turn the well on. It’s been confusing for folks who are used to just pulling the handle up or down on a hydrant for automatic water. This year one of my goals is making the systems here as easy to use, resilient and streamlined as possible. I’m also getting things finished, stamped and put out of mind. Super grateful to Chris Incorvia (see pic of his business card for deets) who came in with his incredibly diverse skill set and finished out this truly complex off grid water set up. It pulls from a 250 ft deep well pump into a 1000 gallon underground cistern with float valves that control when the well pump turns on, then is pressurized via a pressure tank to the outlet. A transfer switch operates all of this in a really tight and clean setup, and also has an option to turn the whole system off (so it’s not always going automatically when it dips below the float valve) and can operate directly pumping the well. Hit him up if you need an alternative set up completed thoroughly and well. Next we’re onto upgrading the solar system here, getting it to and wiring the straw bale house. I tidied up a few finishing touches on the well house, and we call this project complete! I’ll also use this space to store emergency supplies as it’s in a central location, so if you come here, know that. Grateful for the crisp Ozark water, the well and this complete system 💙💦 🐸
Stoked to have a dialogue alongside Joseph about o Stoked to have a dialogue alongside Joseph about our relationships with seeds, especially within the context of community. He transformed my concept of seed saving years ago and I’m honored to share in tandem with him! The communal tending and holding of seeds is one of the most radical yet simple inheritances we can carry forward for resilience, wholeness & sustainability. 💥🌿🌞
beneficious spring greetings community far & wide. beneficious spring greetings community far & wide. i cordially invite you for a clay•play•day Saturday April 26th from 11am to eventide at Mountain Jewel land project in Ozark County, MO. we will be getting muddy rubbing clay slip into the straw bale house, preparing materials & plastering with an earthen mix made on site. come play with the uplifting clay, learn & gather. friends of friends welcome! ✨ after the clay•play we’ll have a sauna, potluck and bonfire in honor of Spring.🌿 bring a potluck dish to share, utensils, a towel & bathing suit (if desired) for the sauna. sweat after we play, then eat. bring an offering for the fire (as well as firewood if you have some) ~ could be something you want to release (including an act of forgiveness or a letting go), an ancestral offering, or an intention you’d like to set for yourself, humanity, the earth. RSVP & ask for directions if needed. camping available ⭐️ 🌎 communication desired 🫶🏼
Channeling the mud dauber this spring who carries Channeling the mud dauber this spring who carries load by load to build their earthen vessel. Bale by bale & notch by notch & each load of clay and earthen plaster at a time. I have started setting bales on the second floor! Will be having ClayPlayDays & perhaps some workshops this year so stay tuned. Reach out if you’d like to come through and stay for a week+ to more intimately learn & enjoy this earth based lifestyle for a stint. Opportunities abound 💚🌿✨
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