Okay, so what I would like to see for this thread would be tips and ideas to make communal living effective, like yurt/hut/tepee layouts/ideas for winter living, bathing structures, tools to keep on hand, best way to keep crops or cattle, things to sell to help further the commune... ect. We all have ideas, yours may be just the idea someone else has been looking for.
A couple of suggestions: When purchasing supplies, try to purchase in bulk. If it will keep for two years, try to purchase up to that amount, especial if it is on sale. Bulk purchasing is almost always cheaper. However, you don't want anything that may spoil, as it is a waste of money then. If you are gardening, and keeping produce for future months, make sure you have a good storage facility and use proper preparations. Onions and potatoes are two things that you want to dig up and let sit on the ground for a day or two, before putting into storage. Canning and freezing some products will also help extend the life of your fresh produce. Bottom line, make sure you have a large storage space at the proper temperature. If you can share buildings, it is simpler for any construction projects. Just be sure to keep safety and ease of access in mind. you don't really want a hallway that is 300 ft long. I suggest trying to keep most of your modern luxuries. It is nice to be able to sit at your computer and surf the net without having to leave your compound. I would include your local utilities with this as well. It is nice if you can live "off-grid", but if your supply runs out, you may run the risk of losing any of your stores that require power for operation. Staying connected to the grid allows you a back up supply. It also would allow you to possibly sell green energy to the grid, with the potential of making money. This is not always feasible though, due to location. You really need to be sure that you can get along well with everybody in your group. Depending upon how much you are sharing, you may get on each others nerves after a while. Tip: Ask yourself if you would marry the person, this may seem like a bit much, but will effectively be partnered with this person. I am not saying that you should expect any intimate relations, just the fact that you would be sharing a lot of things.
it is likely to be just me and my goat for a while.... but I won't live that far from someone with power and modern amenities, or from town.
My future neighbors are my current landlords, who will be buying my future land... And donating to me. They will be AWESOME neighbors.
