The GGC group led by Helen Prussian going by some of the single family and duplex units in the housing area of the 270 acres that make up Cobb Hill.
Twenty people from the garden club had the privilege of touring Cobb Hill Cohousing with Helen Prussian, one of the 50 residents and an enthusiastic proponent of the sustainable lifestyle there.
We learned from Helen that living in the community requires a lot of work. Residents take turns with chores like gathering wood and feeding the garn (incinerator), hauling manure, and collecting eggs from their 48 chickens. In addition to those chores, once a month Cobb Hill holds a 'work day' where all the residents join in to take care of the common areas. The 'work days' are open to the public and a nice way for prospective buyers to chip in and get a feel for the people and their way of life. Helen's nickname in the community is "The Nudger" for her diplomatic way of getting people going. Helen and other residents we chatted with are justifiably proud of what they have accomplished together.
Helen guided us all around the farm and even led us through her home to see the beautiful view and check out her composting toilet. We learned why everything grows so well there with all the composting steps over multiple years before becoming the loam that is spread in the flower gardens.
Helen is a co-owner of Hillside Herbs & Flowers and gave us the opportunity to pick flowers from her gardens full of gorgeous flowers she had grown from seeds. Helen showed us which should be picked as buds and which after they bloom. She taught little tricks like shaking the zinnias and only picking those that have stiff stems.
Some of us met for lunch just down the road and brought our jars of flowers to learn more from Helen on how to keep the cut flowers fresh. Helen explained how to stop bacterial growth by cutting all the greens that will touch the water and by adding lemon juice and bleach. She recommended adding sugar to the water to feed the flowers, changing the water every day or two, and cutting a bit off the bottom (at a slant) each time. Our flower festooned table was the envy of the Harpoon Brewery beer garden customers!
The pictures below show more of the tour. Go to www.cobbhill.org to learn even more about Cobb Hill. I know you'll be impressed.
Thank you Helen for a great tour!
We learned from Helen that living in the community requires a lot of work. Residents take turns with chores like gathering wood and feeding the garn (incinerator), hauling manure, and collecting eggs from their 48 chickens. In addition to those chores, once a month Cobb Hill holds a 'work day' where all the residents join in to take care of the common areas. The 'work days' are open to the public and a nice way for prospective buyers to chip in and get a feel for the people and their way of life. Helen's nickname in the community is "The Nudger" for her diplomatic way of getting people going. Helen and other residents we chatted with are justifiably proud of what they have accomplished together.
Helen guided us all around the farm and even led us through her home to see the beautiful view and check out her composting toilet. We learned why everything grows so well there with all the composting steps over multiple years before becoming the loam that is spread in the flower gardens.
Helen is a co-owner of Hillside Herbs & Flowers and gave us the opportunity to pick flowers from her gardens full of gorgeous flowers she had grown from seeds. Helen showed us which should be picked as buds and which after they bloom. She taught little tricks like shaking the zinnias and only picking those that have stiff stems.
Some of us met for lunch just down the road and brought our jars of flowers to learn more from Helen on how to keep the cut flowers fresh. Helen explained how to stop bacterial growth by cutting all the greens that will touch the water and by adding lemon juice and bleach. She recommended adding sugar to the water to feed the flowers, changing the water every day or two, and cutting a bit off the bottom (at a slant) each time. Our flower festooned table was the envy of the Harpoon Brewery beer garden customers!
The pictures below show more of the tour. Go to www.cobbhill.org to learn even more about Cobb Hill. I know you'll be impressed.
Thank you Helen for a great tour!
Helen explains the philosophy of sustainable living at Cobb Hill.
Before winter arrives, this building will be full of fire wood with only a narrow path leading to the garns. Helen called the building 'The Heart and Soul" of Cobb Hill because it provides heat and hot water for all the homes throughout the cold months.
Helen shows how the garn works--incinerating the wood up to 200 degrees leaving almost no creosote after the process. As Beth Truax remarked "Garn it all!."
Helen told us about the amazing Cobb Hill resident Jesse who made this communal oven for residents to bake bread. It's also used for community pizza parties. If folks like mushrooms on their pizza, Jesse has that covered too with a whole shiitake mushroom growing process a few steps away.
Helen explaining the composting process at the manure pit.
Everyone has garden beds. Helen grew these beauties from seeds.
Enormous red amaranth
Zinnia and sunflowers flourish here.
The cows were indoors but here's a picture I took from an earlier visit to Cobb Hill.
Their 50 cows provide the milk that is used to make Cobb Hill Cheese which is available to purchase in the farm stand.
In the cheese cave
Gabriel, Evelyn, Marty, Susan, Michele, Bob, Marcia, Maria, Jackie, Toni, Sharon, Beth, Karin, Ines, Warren, Jennifer, Sue, Jim, and Helen
Toni, Nancy, Beth, Bob, Sue, Jim, and Helen--who gave us a lesson on arranging cut flowers.