Thank you for your clear and eloquent presentation of this wonderful idea of a "homestead commons," based on Gaian values and permaculture principles. We are entirely on the same page, here. However, since I am a retired English professor living on a meager pension (and at 73, no spring chicken either!), I do not have the option of joining a rural intentional community. So instead, my own initiative, here in the suburbs, is to create a "virtual" intentional community right where I am, by creating neighborhood garden guilds, and hoping that this idea goes viral. The idea is to find folks living within easy walking distance who share my interests in growing your own food, and meet periodically for convivial potluck dinners, where we share information on permaculture-based gardening skills. The more people who do this in contiguous areas, the safer and more resilient we will be when our dysfunctional global market economy collapses. Hence my slogan: Grow Gardens, Grow Community, and Grow Awareness.