Sandhill Farm has been in a state of transition for the last few years. As of 2019, we are restructuring to provide private dwellings for family units and greater personal autonomy while also still collectively stewarding the land and infrastructure, held by a nonprofit. Read more about Sandhill’s history.
Currently, we are 5 adults, an 11-year-old, and a 2-year-old living together on 168 acres in rural northeast Missouri. We have two family units living in separate households with some personal and financial autonomy (such as vehicles, groceries, entertainment, healthcare, and part-time jobs).
All houses, barns, and other infrastructure; land, farm animals, and farm equipment are shared in commons with the members. The land includes gardens, orchards, woods, cropland, ponds, bee yards, chickens, sheep, and pasture. We collectively generate some income for the farm while also maintaining personal part-time jobs. We like to keep our lifestyle simple and healthy. We tend to work hard and get satisfaction from providing for ourselves as much as we can while maintaining close ties with neighbors, friends, and other communities. Maintaining the houses, animals and land requires a focused & strong work ethic and a love for a homesteading lifestyle.
We enjoy regular celebrations and social occasions, including weekly dinners with Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, a 20+ year-old ecovillage, and Red Earth Farms, a 10+ year-old land trust community, both just three miles away. We are also friends with the folks at Bear Creek Land Trust and their local community of sustainable farmers in the LaPlata area, about 35 miles away.
Sandhill is active in the communities, organics and political resistance movements. Core values include cooperation, nonviolence, understanding and combatting systems of oppression – personally and systemically, honesty, good communication and sustainable land stewardship.
We hold weekly meetings as a group and gather for dinner twice a week. We make major decisions by consensus and strive to balance pulling together with supporting individual choices and idiosyncrasies.
We are open to new members! We are particularly interested in families with children but all are welcome to reach out. Our process is slow, as we want to make sure of a good fit before we make any commitment. A visit for 1-2 weeks can be arranged during the growing season.
We are also seeking a seasonal intern for the 2020 season. If you are interested in learning more about homesteading skills, gardening, forestry, carpentry, and also enjoy the presence of children please contact us!
Go to the Internships & Visiting page for more details.