We are forming a small urban community 20 miles south of San Francisco in two 4-unit apartment buildings facing the lagoon between San Mateo and Foster City. We are seeking other "families" and individuals to share in some form of a cooperative or partnership--something between intentional community and cohousing with many of the values of an ecovillage. We hope to share some meals, gardening, and other interests. There are fruit trees and organic gardens. We enjoy the view from our spa, deck, and dock. This location is wonderful: lots of birds, sunrise over the water, access to a bike path a 1/2 block away, large park with playground, tennis courts, etc., one-two blocks away, other recreational opportunities nearby with the city amenities of proximity to freeway and public transportation including express buses to downtown San Francisco and to the San Francisco Airport. This gives us a connection to the BART extension. Caltrain is a little over a mile away.



Agriculture



Organic Gardening has been a primary focus on this site since the beginning of its formation. Our gardens have been through many transformations and a description of the process can be found on the historical earlier version of this site. We have studied a variety of organic/sustainable gardening techniques over the years. We explored the use of Permaculture and have also been very interested in Biodynamic Agriculture. Penny Livingston of the Permaculture Institute of Northern California brought her Introduction to Permaculture workshop to us in March 1998 to provide information to local folks about how to apply these principles to an urban backyard and began our gardening process. In January 2004, we completed an extended Urban Permaculture Course and were certified as permaculture designers. We also have an interest and some training in biointensive methods. Brian has studied mycology and we even have some mushrooms growing in our garden. His recent studies have furthered what we originally learned when studying biointensive gardening. "To grow healthy, productive plants you need healthy, productive soil. It is the organisms in the soil that provide the food plants need, in the form they need, when they need it," says Dr. Elaine Ingham from the Soil FoodWeb. We have incorporated what we learned from Dr Ingham in forming our new business, a mobile compost tea center called Communi-tea. Being involved with that business is also a possibility for community members.



Values:



Some Cohousing communities are more values based than others. The smaller the group is, the more we feel it needs to share values. Many of our values can be summed up in the concept of sustainability. We have been involved with a local planning group called Sustainable San Mateo County. We have been nominated for a sutainability award by the Green Party of San Mateo. I am impressed by the Environmental Values Policy Statement of the forming East Bay Cohousing. Another excellent description of the values we espouse can be found on the pages of the Global Ecovillage Network. Some of the strong values we hold that we would like to see "grow" on this site include: growing some of our own food; supporting local organic farmers in farmers` markets or in a CSA; reduce, reuse, recycle; avoiding buying food and other items that contribute to the destruction of local economies and the environment; and consensus decision making. We want to share time in the garden and at the dinner table with the people we live with.... in a non-smoking environment.