Elderberry CoHousing: A Tour of the Winter Woods

A beautiful, crisp morning today, and several Elderberry folks were planning to help me lay the pipes for the in-floor heating in my house, which is currently under construction. But, alas, the contractors didn't finish the foundation work so I was left with a free day - perfect for a long walk in the woods. I decided to take the camera and share some photos of the beauty that surrounds us here at Elderberry.

We hope that those who are interested in Elderberry will fall in love with the community (the people!) but it doesn't hurt that we live in a beautiful place, and we haven't shared much of that on the blog thus far. Elderberry is adjacent to Potluck Community Farm, a 25 year old intergenerational community. We share several things between these sister communities - Potluck Farm uses the Elderberry common house, and Elderberry uses Potluck equipment (the tractor, most notably!) and 130 acres of beautiful woods and trails. In addition, the two communities jointly own a 12 acre parcel we call Bella Vista, named for the lovely view. There are several people in the community who walk these trails daily, either on their own or with others (and their dogs). It's a wonderful, peaceful and secluded area with plenty of waterways, wildlife and wildflowers. Enjoy the tour!

The creek along the S-Curve trail runs over several rock formations - the sound of water over rocks is so peaceful

The creek along the Sacred Circle trail was so named because there is a stone circle that pre-dates our 25 year history on the land

Winter is lovely in these woods - the beech trees hold their leaves and there is an abundance of green- in the form of holly, creeping cedar, pines and ferns

Some of our trail signs are hand carved (above) - others (below) were carved by a friend who owns a Shop Bot (awesome carving machine!). We have 9 named trails meandering through more than 140 acres.

Riley loves the trails too!

Many of our creek crossings are just rocks and ropes, but a new bridge is in the works. Oak from Elderberry was cut into logs and transported by Cecil (Elderberry), then sawed into boards by Jim (Potluck Farm). We plan to build the little hanging bridge this winter.

This is a view from Little Creektop Trail. Little Creek empties into the Flat River, which empties into Lake Michie. We have gone tubing on our creeks, but most of the time they are too shallow for a good ride.

A lovely spot along the Perimeter Trail

The bridge over Little Creek

The Love Shack (named about 20 years ago when one of the community children was conceived here :)). This past year, Dick started a new annual tradition of having a weenie roast here with both Elderberry and Potluck Farm. It's now used primarily as a little retreat cabin complete with outhouse!

One area along the Perimeter Trail has been pretty cut down by beaver, leaving a marshy wetland perfect for wildlife. A few years ago we had 3 great blue herons nesting in the same tree here.

This is a trail we call Old Road Way because it was the original two-track through the property.

Riley crossing one of the streams near the Creek Bottom Trail

Michael isn't sure he wants to get is feet wet!

The rest of these photos were not taken today, but give you a glimpse of some of the other beauty in our back yard. Below is the pond at Potluck Farm where Potluck and Elderberry folks can swim or fish for bass or bream. Or just sit and relax in the gazebo!

The rest of these photos were taken at Bella Vista (12 acres of property owned jointly by Elderberry and Potluck Farm). When the weather is nice, several of us often walk (or ride the 4-wheeler) up to the hilltop to watch the sunset and have a drink together.

Sunset at Bella Vista

The photos above and below were taken at the same time. Bella Vista offers a 180 degree southern view, so just before the full moon each month, you can look right to see the sunset (below) and look left to see the full moon rise (above) at the same time.