PRIDE GUIDE 1997 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE A-9
On 85 acres, a new women's land collective is born
by Doreen Cudnik
Nashville, Ohio-Lesbians living in the Cleveland area have most likely heard of "Berkshire House" on that street in Cleveland Heights. Over the years, it has been the site of many memorable women's parties. It is a place where radically feminist ideas are commonly shared and given life. Many different women have lived at Berkshire House at one time or another, experiencing everyday the unique joys and challenges of communal living.
It was this woman-centered spirit of collective living that inspired Berkshire resident Sally Tatnall to act when an opportunity presented itself.
During a 1995 visit to Kimbilio Farm, an established women's land community in Holmes County, Tatnall noticed
asked, "Who are you women? What are you going to do with that property? They thought we were all rich girls."
The birth of Egg Moon Farm
When all was said and done, the women's land collective ended up with 85 acres of hilly farmland that includes a wooded stream bed and an artesian well. They plan to use the land to create "a place where women can work and play and build community."
They have planted trees, camped on the land, made a wildflower field, and leased some of it to a neighbor for organic farming. They hold regular meetings to work through decisions on everything from getting liability insurance to planning a one-year anniversary celebration, which they held on the land in October 1996. They have
that the land directly across LAND FEST compiled a mailing list and
Township Road 501 from
Kimbilio was for sale. Being the kind of woman whose natural inclination is to believe that anything is possible, Tatnall wasted no time calling other women she knew and getting them excited about the possibilities of purchasing the land.
As a result of that effort, about 50 women, mostly from the
Cleveland area, formed a Q/
women's land collective. With a vision of creating a community
created a newsletter that is sent to women interested in joining the collective. And they came up with a name for the land: Egg Moon Farm.
According to Sue Bennett, one of the collective members and past coowner of Gifts of Athena feminist bookstore in Cleveland, the name Egg Moon Farm came from "the shape
SUMMER SOLSTICE of the moon the first night
free from hierarchy where all SUMMER SOLSTICE
KIMBILIO FARM. EGG MOON FARM 1997
women would be empowered and valued, the women Tatnall gathered were able to raise $30,000. Ten women from the group were then chosen to represent the collective at an auction of the land.
The bidding starts
Chris Hayward of Kimbilio Farms was appointed spokesperson for the group, since she had prior experience at a land auction. Being the owner of Kimbilio, she was also a familiar face to others who were there to bid on the land, some of them Amish farmers.
Hayward explained that the land was divided into parcels, and people bidding have already looked at the property and decided which parcels they would like to purchase.
"The auctioneer comes and sets up his tent," Hayward said. "There were about 160 acres divided into roughly ten parcels. The bidding starts and everyone just jumps in.
While Hayward followed the bidding process, others in the group were frantically doing the math to see what they could afford. Hayward explained that if bidding went up to $3,000 an acre for a particular parcel, and it was a tenacre parcel, "we could conceivably spend everything we had on just that one parcel.”
The women did miss out on one parcel they really wanted, which is situated directly across the road from Kimbilio Farm. They also had a bit of a scare when they acquired two parcels but were missing the piece that joined them together.
"When we finally got that parcel in the middle, a hoot when up," Hayward said. "Some of the women cried. People came up to us and
we camped on the land."
"We also liked the symbolism with the egg and ovum, representing birth. This is a project that is being born," Bennett said.
LandFest weekend
As a way to invite other women to become members of the collective, Egg Moon Farm and Kimbilio Farm will present LandFest 97, from June 20-22. The event is for women 16 years of age or older interested in finding out more about the land and the collective.
The weekend will include music, tours of the land, women-centered workshops, and camping. One cooked meal will be provided each day by Kimbilio Farm. Simple lunch foods, like fruit, peanut butter and breads will also be available. Drinking water will be provided, but as there is no electricity or running water on the land, women are encouraged to bring solar showers, and anything else needed to make it through a primitive camping experience.
The festival will not be equipped to include children, although the collective is in the process of conducting a survey that will address the needs of children and caregivers, and help them plan for future events. Also, no pets will be permitted during Land Fest except for working dogs.
LandFest is the first event that will be open to anyone, but it is also for women already involved in the collective who have not yet been to the land.
"We had in our minds a very ‘mini-Michigan' with a focus on the land itself," Hayward said. "The women involved with the land
Women from the collective celebrate their first-year anniversary on the land.
project will never come up with a vision for the land unless they spend time on it. At this point, some of the women involved with Egg Moon Farm have not even been down there. except maybe once to walk around. Less that a dozen women have actually camped there. This LandFest is a vision of getting people on the land, a way to ignite that creative energy.”
Creating a safe, nurturing space
The collective is open to any woman willing to make a commitment to the land and the group. This commitment can take any form— perhaps contributing skills, tools, work shifts,
monthly payments, or a lump sum payment toward a building project. The primary goal of the collective is to create a safe, nurturing space for women. "Each of us has a different vision of what that will be," they said.
Some women eventually would like to live on the land and make their living there. Others see at as a place for healing and solitude. Whatever each individual woman's needs are, the collective believes there is "love, land, and resources enough to meet every collective woman's needs."
"Every day, at every meeting, during every visit to the land, we are inventing women's Continued on page A-13
How to get to LandFest
LandFest is in western Holmes County, about midway between Columbus and Akron. From Cleveland:
Take Interstate 77 to the Ohio 21 exit near Akron. Take Ohio 21 south to Ohio 585 (Wooster exit). Follow Ohio 585 to the Ohio 3 South bypass just before Wooster. Take Ohio 3 around Wooster and south to Ohio 226, marked Shreve. Follow Ohio 226 through Shreve. South of Shreve, take Ohio 514 (don't curve right on 226). Take Ohio 514 to Nashville.
In Nashville, turn left on Ohio 39/60 and follow it 1.3 miles to Township Road 501. Turn right. This is a gravel road between a brown house and a white barn. Kimbilio is 3/4 mile on ' the right, number 6047.
From Cleveland via Interstate 71: Get off 1-71 onto Ohio 83 South, to Wooster. Just north of Wooster, get on the Ohio 3 bypass, and follow above directions from Ohio 3 on to Nashville.
From Akron and Youngstown:
Take Interstate 76 west to Ohio 21, go south on 21 and follow the directions from Cleveland above.
From Columbus and Cincinnati
Follow Interstate 71 north to Ohio 97 east, Bellville exit. Follow Ohio 97 east to Ohio 3. Take Ohio 3 north to Loudonville, turn right, and follow Ohio 39/60 east to Nashville. Continue on 39/60 past Nashville for 1.3 miles and turn right on Township Rd. 501. This is a gravel road between a brown house and a white barn. Kimbilio is 3⁄4 mile on the right, number 6047.
Alternatively, just take Ohio 3, (Cleveland Ave. and Westerville Rd.) all the way north from Columbus to Loudonville, and follow directions above.
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