I have been meaning to share a few photos from our visit to the Northern Sun Co-op in Manitoba. Jordan, Jody and I stopped by the community one morning. We drove up and met Henry, a retired school bus driver who had been living there for three years. Not knowing that we were coming he dropped whatever he was doing and took us on a hour long whirl wind tour of the community. They must have an open house policy because Henry brought us to each person's house and despite not knowing that we were coming, we were received with a big smile and were welcomed inside to check out their homes. The community is completely off the grid. It was founded in 1983 and from what I can recall there are around 16 dwellings on the property. 10 are families houses and the rest are guest houses and community buildings. Each house had their own plot of land with gardens, animals: chickens, goats, rabbits etc. Each house was equipped with wood stoves and small solar panels. Some of the more recent houses have a walk-in-fridge which is simply regulated by capturing and storing the cool night air. It is truly amazing how they live. Each member pays $200 a year to be a part of the community and from what I understood, because the cost of housing is so cheap, and they don't pay for any electricity, oil etc, and grow most of their own food. Also, it seemed as though no one worked 'real' jobs for more than a few days each week- I guess just enough to pay for their vehicles and other miscellaneous life expenses. One member was telling me that he worked at a lumber yard in exchange for building materials for his house. I was so in awe that I could hardly think of any questions to ask so I don't know many more details about their way of life, but it would be really interesting to stay there for a while and experience it. Definitely inspiration for wink world.
A 12 X 12 guest house.
Huge gardens! all hand watered.
Each house had their own water pump like this. It was made out of a windshield wiper motor, a 2x4, PVC, and door hinge.
Community kitchen.
A young couple lived in this tent while building their house.
Note the hay bale holder railing.
The community kitchen ceiling.
This house was not apart of the community, but we did see it in Manitoba. Really strange. Why not make a house look like two tipis?
