November at Belfast Cohousing and Ecovillage
This time last year we were renting a drafty old house heated by a cantankerous oil furnace that would invariably kick on loudly in the middle of the night. The curtains swayed near the “closed” windows, and I had a love-hate relationship with the (so-warm-under-my-feet and filled with years of who-knows-what-and-probably-lead-paint) wall-to-wall carpeting. We’ve been living in our GO Logic-built cohousing home for nearly nine months now; it is the 12th of November in Maine – the frost has turned my basil black and sent us scurrying to winterize our chicken coop – and we still have not needed to turn on the heat. (!) Here in cohousing, another neighborhood house is finished and a family of tall and short friends has moved in; our kids have happily accepted that the new normal is a play date living a three second dash across the pedestrian path. The tomato plants in the raised beds in our yard finally gave it up for the year, but the CSA farm in the field down the hill is still filling baskets every week with turnips and kale and carrots and cabbage (who knew that a four year old would ask for thirds on sauerkraut?). The big machines are back on site, to the utter, shrieking delight of the resident one-year-old, this time to dig the deep hole for our Common House basement. The construction site is turning more into a neighborhood every week, the homes are snug and cozy, and we are really truly finally building the heart of our community. It is wonderful to experience the progress as it happens! 
The beautiful summer gardens of Nessa and Christoph at Belfast Cohousing. – Nessa Dertnig is a resident of the Belfast Cohousing and Ecovillage, along with her two children and her husband Christoph, who is a Lead Carpenter and the IT Manager at GO Logic. You can read more blog posts about our Belfast Cohousing and Ecovillage project here.
