On an unpaved road in Moretown, amid woods and meadows along Dowsville Brook, one of Vermont's newest cohousing projects is under way. It looks like the typical rural intentional community, with solar panels, wooden structures and chickens. But Living Tree Alliance is not all that typical. It's a Jewish project and, as part of a commitment to values including resiliency, education and social justice, its inhabitants are exploring their religion's earth-based roots. Ancient Hebrew land practices are central to life here, including gleaning, tithing and letting work animals rest. "The Jewish religion was based on people living together and gave us a code of how to live civilly and morally together, and being connected to the seasons," says Living Tree director Melanie Kessler, a cyclist, drystone-wall builder and mother of two young children. "So, it makes sense that we're trying to embed our life in a religion that has that at its core." This Friday through Sunday, October 6 through 8, Living Tree welcomes visitors of all backgrounds to its fourth annual Sukkot on the Farm festival. The celebration of the Jewish harvest holiday will feature live klezmer, apple pressing, a farm-to-table dinner, mindfulness workshops, draft-horse demonstrations, dancing and camping. Traditional sukkahs, or impermanent shelters, will offer picnicking under the sky. Cofounded by New York natives Craig and Stacey Oshkello in 2010, Living Tree bought 93 acres of Mad River Valley farmland and forest in 2015. Then, its only building was a sugar shack. Now, a completed house, a yurt and several outbuildings sit on a three-acre forest clearing slated for seven houses. (Living Tree is seeking four more households to join in.) Stacey Oshkello has scratched calves from frequently striding through brush and widely spread toes from going barefoot. She offers fresh strawberries to this visiting reporter, and we sit on the back porch of her house, where the sun touches pines just a stone's toss away. A scolding issues from a resident guinea hen in the underbrush. "There's all these different agricultural tidbits in the Torah, and I am excited about living some of those out," she says. "What was always so intriguing to me is that [the Jewish calendar] is an agricultural calendar ... I've always felt like I want to bring that aspect of Judaism back to life and celebrate that." As such, in addition to hosting seasonal festivals, Living Tree plans to bring…
On an unpaved road in Moretown, amid woods and meadows along Dowsville Brook, one of Vermont's newest cohousing projects is under way. It looks like the typical rural intentional community, with solar panels, wooden structures and chickens. But Living Tree Alliance is not all that typical. It's a Jewish project and, as part of a commitment to values including resiliency, education and social justice, its inhabitants are exploring their religion's earth-based roots. Ancient Hebrew land practices are central to life here, including gleaning, tithing and letting work animals rest. "The Jewish religion was based on people living together and gave us a code of how to live civilly and morally together, and being connected to the seasons," says Living Tree director Melanie Kessler, a cyclist, drystone-wall builder and mother of two young children. "So, it makes sense that we're trying to embed our life in a religion that has that at its core." This Friday through Sunday, October 6 through 8, Living Tree welcomes visitors of all backgrounds to its fourth annual Sukkot on the Farm festival. The celebration of the Jewish harvest holiday will feature live klezmer, apple pressing, a farm-to-table dinner, mindfulness workshops, draft-horse demonstrations, dancing and camping. Traditional sukkahs, or impermanent shelters, will offer picnicking under the sky. Cofounded by New York natives Craig and Stacey Oshkello in 2010, Living Tree bought 93 acres of Mad River Valley farmland and forest in 2015. Then, its only building was a sugar shack. Now, a completed house, a yurt and several outbuildings sit on a three-acre forest clearing slated for seven houses. (Living Tree is seeking four more households to join in.) Stacey Oshkello has scratched calves from frequently striding through brush and widely spread toes from going barefoot. She offers fresh strawberries to this visiting reporter, and we sit on the back porch of her house, where the sun touches pines just a stone's toss away. A scolding issues from a resident guinea hen in the underbrush. "There's all these different agricultural tidbits in the Torah, and I am excited about living some of those out," she says. "What was always so intriguing to me is that [the Jewish calendar] is an agricultural calendar ... I've always felt like I want to bring that aspect of Judaism back to life and celebrate that." As such, in addition to hosting seasonal festivals, Living Tree plans to bring…