Diana's In-Depth Tour of Earthaven

2009 dates to be announced
Diana Leafe Christian and Earthaven Members

In this day-long, in-depth tour of Earthaven Ecovillage, where Diana lives, you’ll meet visionary, inspired ecovillagers who will show you their neighborhoods, homesites, passive-solar dwellings, cottage industries, and sustainable agriculture projects. You’ll find examples of applied permaculture design in each of these projects and throughout the village.

“Diana's Tour was absolutely worthwhile—worth every penny. I learned so much!” 
—David  Daffin, Tyler, Texas

“Diana’s Tour of Earthaven was a watershed moment in my life. The ideas that I knew to be true on an intellectual level in my mind finally emerged in my gut, and in my heart.”
—Michael Kane, former Staff Writer, FromTheWilderness.com,  New York, New York

You’ll find living demonstrations of:

Ecological Sustainability—why people start an ecovillage.

You’ll meet creative, high-energy people who’ll show you their natural-built structures of earthen materials (clay-straw, chipslip, cob, strawbale, timberframing, earthen plasters) as well as “green-built” structures, off-grid power, roofwater catchment, graywater recycling, constructed wetlands, composting toilets, and more:
      • Village Terraces Neighborhood  • Bellavia Neighborhood
      • Leela House   • The Stone’s Earthship
      • The springs and wells of neighborhood Water Districts
      • Earthaven’s off-grid power, including the micro-hydro system

Economic Sustainability—how people maintain an ecovillage and help it thrive.

        You’ll meet inspired, visionary entrepreneurs who will show you their eco-friendly businesses and sustainable agriculture projects:
      • Gateway Field (as featured in FromtheWilderness.com)
      • Yellowroot Farm CSA    • Useful Plants Nursery
      • Southeast Women’s Herbal Conference
      • Road Warrior Construction (featured on TV show “Invention Nation")
      • Income sources for capital and operational budgets; membership costs
   
Social, Cultural, and Spiritual Sustainability—how people maintain and enjoy ecovillage life.

        You’ll meet “social entrepreneurs” who help Earthaven members meet their needs for support, connection, camaraderie, and fun:
      • Trading Post Store   • The Peace Garden   • The Care Team
      • Tuesday Night Cookouts   • Classes and workshops
      • The Forest Children’s Program   • Parenting at Earthaven
      • Earthaven’s decision-making and governance
      • Culture’s Edge Educational Nonprofit 

The tour involves a lot of walking. We’ll provide shuttle service to get to an uphill neighborhood. We ask people to wear comfortable walking shoes, and bring a hat and bottled water — the water is important.

“It was great ... extremely interesting and time well spent. . . . I really liked everyone I met. Fabulous people all!”
—Mike Switzer, Clarksville, Virginia

“Diana's tour was extremely valuable for me. What impressed me most was not only the significant physical manifestation of community infrastructure and abundant village life, but the dedication and commitment of the people — the commitment to find more sustainable, more compassionate human settlements, and actually do it.”
—Howie Geib, Buford, Georgia

The tour is sponsored and hosted by Diana, rather than by Earthaven, with a lot of help from her friends.

Earthaven offers a regular 2-hour tour every Saturday at 10:00 am for a fee of $10 per person. Sometimes there is the option, at an additional fee, to visit specific Earthaven members’ homesites in the afternoon. Private tours can also be arranged on other days with Earthaven’s regular tour guides.

If you attend Diana’s tour, you may also choose to stay the whole weekend of September 13-14 and take part in other Earthaven activities: a Sunday morning tour of the Hobbit House, and Earthaven’s Council meeting on Sunday afternoon (starting at 2:00 pm) where you’ll be welcome to sit in.

Overnight accommodations are available for a modest fee in Earthaven’s campground as well as in motels and hotels in the town of Black Mountain, a half-hour away. Email for details on these local accommodations.