Cohousing-L Mailing List: re: Cohousing and suburban sprawl

[fassnach (fassnach]

James Kalin made an intriguing pitch for integrating CSA farming with
cohousing.  This is something that the Porchlight group has considered
on and off.  There's even a CSA farm in our county that is currently
leasing the land it farms, and is looking for land to buy, hopefully
with others who are interested in cohousing. 

The reasons that Porchlight hasn't contacted this farm are
1) most of the CSA farms that serve Madison operate on an acreage much
larger than what we think we can afford, and 2) most are in totally
rural areas.  Despite the joys of living in a rural area, this would
also mean a long commute (in snowy conditions for winter) for those
who still worked in Madison,  and being isolated from many of the
amenities that many of our group are used to.

How much land is 'enough' for a farming operation within a cohousing
community?  I know that the answer will depend on what kind of farming
we're talking about, but there must be *some* minimum necessary for an
economically viable operation.

Stephanie Fassnacht
Porchlight Cohousing
Madison Wisconsin