So it seems summer has brought me to O.U.R. eco-village on Vancouver Island, a permaculture demonstration site near Shawnigan Lake. It’s been really cool to see how things have changed here since my last visit four years ago. There’s a hustle and bustle about the place that make it feel more like a village and less like a farm. There are about 40 people on-site for the summer – made up of volunteers, interns, and permanent residents. As a volunteer I’ve spent my time here helping out with assorted odd-jobs, including set-up for a marimba festival, garden work, planting, harvesting, natural building, and filling in as the village receptionist.
The Village Garden
The structures in the village are an eclectic mix of natural building styles. Most notably there are beautiful smooth contoured cob buildings made of clay, sand, and straw. Slanted green roofs covered in plants give the structures an earthy, hobbit-home appeal. Several new buildings are in the works, including a commons area that will aim to comply with the Living Building Challenge. The idea is to use only natural or reclaimed materials to build the most sustainable building possible.
Exemplary Cob
For many of the residents the living conditions are rustic – most temporary residents are camping, there are outdoor showers, composting toilets, plus an outdoor kitchen and communal dining area where meals are eaten together. Much of the food comes from a colourful garden that has recently been supplying a steady stream of fresh salad greens, zucchini, peas, and raspberries. There are also the usual barnyard suspects, including a cow, pigs, sheep, chickens, plus a 3-legged dog and a cat named Chairman Miaow.
Most importantly, the real draw here is community. The village seems to attract kind, ambitious, long-term thinkers of all ages - it’s a great group of people and there’s a genuine openness and acceptance of anyone who passes through. Since I first visited the eco-village, I’ve always made a point of seeking out places like this that offer instant community. Several of the current residents are from my home province, so with my arrival the joke is that it has become a refugee camp for Albertans. I’m not sure what we’re fleeing though, it’s more like we’ve all been pulled here to build something more meaningful.
Garlic Harvest
I wonder how many people know that places like this exist, and if they do, what kind of mis-conceptions they have. It’s certainly not a hippy commune that is trying to isolate itself from mainstream society. Instead, the mission of the village is to educate, inspire, and transform by co-creating a thriving learning community. The idea is to show as many people as possible that experimenting with sustainability is both rewarding and fun. Sure, I occasionally miss some of the creature comforts like a bed and proper washroom, but life is good here, it will be hard to pull myself away…
