New Homestead in Paonia, CO

Last winter, we moved to Paonia, Colorado, in search of land in the North Fork Valley, said to be home of the highest density of organic farms in the country.  Serendipitously, a caretaking position opened up on 48 acres of south sloping land overlooking the town, and we were accepted as the new land stewards.  We have been working with the owner to buy into the property as tenants in common, and felt optimistically confident enough to have a garden there, and beginning in July, to build a small (15' x 10') cabin with a half - height second floor for sleeping and office. 

The cabin was constructed using light straw-clay infill walls, earthen plastered floor, earthen plastered walls inside and out, and will have an attached greenhouse on the south side (hopefully by February in time to start seedlings in).  It is a passive solar design with heat provided by a large, old wood cookstove and electricity from a 600 watt solar electric array now mounted on the roof.  We also have two dairy goats here, one in milk and one a youngster, and raised 38 meat chickens, 2 guinea fowl, and kept another three chickens (two hens and a rooster) for eggs, all in homemade moveable shelters in the pasture over the summer.

With the cabin finally livable in late October, just in time as the weather turned cold, we turned our attention to constructing a small barn for the goats to winter over in.  As of this entry, we're still working on the barn, but it's coming out nicely, and the goats seem to like it.

Life is funny.  We thought we were done moving when we settled in Pagosa Springs, but Paonia really pulled, and here we are.  This past year we were both able to find enough work to pay the bills, Linc doing some engineering in Grand Junction, and Jeanne part time PT work in Delta as well as work in the spring and early summer at a local goat dairy, caring for around 100 newborn goat kids, one of whom (Eggplant!) now lives here with us.  Our hope is to eventually be able to make a living here in Paonia, preferably from the land we are living on, and to gradually make this place, currently a somewhat barren old hayfield, into a place of perennial abundance and diversity for ourselves, our neighbors and community, the creatures that we share this place with, and for those that will live here in the future.  There is a lot on our plate these days and that feels good.