Greetings & bright blessings as we approach the end of 2022. We'd like to share a bit about our year. Woodland Harvest Mountain Farm is thriving in many beautiful gratifying abundant ways. The outpouring of love for me, the boys & the land has brought us joy beyond measure. Folks from across the globe have come with open hearts to hold us & strong muscles to help out. Friends & family have shown up for us indescribably, traveling from as far away as Portland, New York, Arizona, London & everywhere in between. We feel loved & supported beyond our wildest imaginations and cannot begin to express our gratitude & appreciation to all who’ve shared their love with us this season.
We hosted a beautiful group of youth from NCState for spring break & several group workshops before closing up in May to hold space for caregivers & visitors. With lots of support, we’ve done an incredible job clearing spaces & shifting the energy!! We’ve put into play resources in wait & cleared out an exorbitant amount of materials across the land & buildings. We built a new tent/yoga platform near the creek & new deck on the main farmhouse, planted more fruit trees & shrubs, & butchered most of our rabbits & fowl. We’ve made new products, added “bitters” to our offerings & applied for a couple of grants! Woodland Harvest has held over 140 people this year for a combined 600 + nights of visits…so we’re grooving overall!!
Aydan still spends lots of time in the forest & got two turkeys & an incredible buck this season. He thrives cooking at his restaurant job, skateboarding with Landrum & spending time with friends. Landrum is happy & healthy doing beautiful carpentry & using numerous great skills for work. He got is high school equivalency & plans to start college this year which may even mean we see him off to Colorado. Mike has upgraded our microhydro system, mended fences, wrangled hounds, fielded neighbors & countless projects around his space & across the land. He continues to be our amazing rock solid cat-daddy land steward who holds it down here like no other. We are so grateful he joined our family way back in 2012 as a wwoofer!!
On me…I am grateful. I know forgiveness & gratitude are my path forward. I feel my power & powerless at once. It’s been a surreal year. I see my life’s path as abundant, wild, exhilarating, resilient…words can’t really express how blessed i know my soul & body to be in this lifetime. How I really am…none of the too many injuries to my body prepared me for the depths of this pain & sorrow. Words still don’t work for what we’re going through. I’ve focused on Aydan but feel my trauma & healing suspended in space somehow. I’ve learned so much about my capacity to compartmentalize pain & the true connections of life’s lessons but know Ihave a lifetime of healing ahead. Aydan & I visited Louisiana in May & most of my family came here in Sept. for nephew Campbell’s wedding to which I was the officiant. We then hosted everyone up here on the farm which was heart medicine for each of us. Aydan & I took our annual trip west for a short visit where family & friends rejuvenated our spirits, but it is clear it will take years for each of us to unpack what we’ve been through.
On Lisa’s departure from Woodland Harvest. First & foremost, we love & adore Lisa. Aydan & Landrum love their mother & I love the woman I spent over 11 years in partnership. She’s entangled with a known cult zealout named Bentinho Massaro. Her grooming recruitment began between winter 2017/2018. In January, she left the boys, me, her cats & all farm & financial responsibilities in the manner in which Bentinho demands with nda’s & virtually no contact since, yet resides 10 minutes away. It has been a most abrupt & painful shift with devastating wounds for me & the boys that we’d prefer you do your own research from here.
The truth around Captain’s death is still unbearable & unbelievable. I cannot process this without tears. I had no idea I could feel so intensely for a little creature; it’s been cataclysmically unreal to know what my heart can hold. I’m working desperately on the forgiveness piece daily.
I want to acknowledge the many people who reached out to us to no avail. I apologize for my absence on the phone, email, text & in person. I am slowly returning to myself after what I see as several years of angst around money, family & the farm while witnessing Lisa’s departure into the cult. I love & appreciate each of you and look forward to rekindling my relationships when the time works for us all.
We need your help & support. I have some personal needs to attend around my physical, emotional & spiritual health & Woodland Harvest has grown so much that it’s impossible to manage alone. I have spent this year especially focused on Aydan & his well-being while keeping the farm afloat with not enough attention to Elizabeth. He turned 18 December 2, and while I’m the boys’ Mamma E forever more, I’ve been looking forward to “emancipation” day for years. He’ll be on the farm, working in West Jefferson, hanging out with friends & Landrum while I spend part of winter in warmer places with family & friends. I need to slow down & not focus on farm needs or pickup work, but we all know i can’t slow down for long with this chosen spiral of life!!
I’ve got several lovely & amazing folks both near & far advising & organizing around immediate & future plans. We’re brainstorming ideas around a land trust, more community stewards, the LLC, & ideas to keep the farm safe but take the sole financial burden off Elizabeth. We are by no means interested in selling but creative lending ideas, grants & connections are welcome!! For now, we need support to get land & animals cared for through the winter. We aim to continue our teaching & learning visions & off grid footprint principles while holding space for all who pass through. We’ve scheduled spring break groups for March & April, a return of kids & teens camps in June, our festive celebrations, writing weekends, Really Really Really Free Markets & book swaps, our Natural Building Series of clay plaster, light straw clay insulation & bottle walls workshops & infrastructure improvements around the land…none of that sounds like slowing down!! I can’t & won’t stop the momentum of Woodland Harvest as teaching & learning skills center but am incapable of bearing the facilitation & financial responsibilities alone which is why we need your support so urgently.
To quantify the gift that Woodland Harvest is to so many people is impossible. We’ve become a true sanctuary for folks from all walks of life from across the globe and hope to continue doing so ad infinitum. We cannot begin to thank you enough for all you’ve done to help create such a unique & sacred space in the Appalachians. hold on. hold the vision that’s being born… elizabeth & all the folks of Woodland Harvest
*****following are ways to plug in at woodland harvest****** specifically we need donations to get through winter & be able to offer BIPOC & LGBTQ youth scholarships this spring & summer. we’re seeking sponsors of the farm for a month, a week or specific programmin: $1500 covers an entire month of farm expenses including land, tax, insurance, animals & Mike!! $200 covers a month of animal feed ($40 covers the cats) $60 covers propane for a month $300 covers food for a short workshop any amount you share goes directly back into Woodland Harvest; everything matters!!! we’d love your written or video testimonials to grow & share our story. we’re calling for a new logo image, so artist friends, think on that!!! we are calling for queer carpenters & operations manager. please email for information or how best to contribute.