Bear and Alyssa are finishing work on their strawbale home and establishing an organic garden this year at Dancing Rabbit!  

Positions are currently filled for this work exchange opportuntity.

The House You'll Help Build:

The house design is an 864 square foot, single story, straw-bale structure with a hip roof.  The exterior wall framing will be a modified post and beam, while the interior walls and roof framing will be traditional stick frame. Currently, the shell of the house is complete.  We expect to be completing the structure by mid-summer 2011.

What we are looking for in a Work Exchanger:

• Willingness to learn
• Willingness to work hard (in a reasonable kind of way, of course)
• Ability to laugh at yourself (and us)
• Interest in community living
• Willingness and ability to communicate openly and honestly
• Willingness to work on ladders, scaffolding or framing at heights up to 15 feet
• Comfort working around or with children (we have a 3 1/2 year old)
• Comfort working with power tools (power saws, etc)
• Flexibility
• Willingness to get dirty
• Attention to detail
• Commitment to staying with us for the duration of the building season – from roughly April 1 through July.

What to expect as a Work Exchanger:

We expect to be working on the project 4-5 days/week.  There are, of course, many things at Dancing Rabbit that can occupy our time and require some amount of flexibility within a work schedule.  We anticipate that a Work Exchanger will work 4 days/week (28 hours per week) on our project.  Occasionally we might use some of those hours to help others on projects at DR.   Work Exchangers are also expected to take part in the various cleaning and chore rotations at Dancing Rabbit.

In exchange for your work, you will receive:

• Food: You will participate in a Vegetarian food coop during your stay.  As a member of the coop, you will be responsible for helping with cooking and cleaning duties.
• Tenting accommodations: a tent platform for camping will be provided for the duration of your stay.
• Access to various utilities/services: You will have access to a phone, internet service, outhouse, and facilities for showering.
• Fees associated with living at Dancing Rabbit will be covered.
• Transportation: Costs associated with using our Dancing Rabbit Vehicle Coop will be covered (within reason).
• You will be given the opportunity to participate fully in life at DR, including attending social events, potlucks, and observing meeting process. 
• Education/skills: You will gain knowledge and skills related to natural building through your guided work on this project.  You will also gain insight and knowledge regarding living a more sustainable and cooperative lifestyle while living at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage.

A little about ourselves:

In addition to building Larkspur, Bear has helped with many other building projects at Dancing Rabbit including the Ironweed kitchen, the Milkweed Mercantile and most recently the Timberframe addition.  Bear has a fine arts degree and was initially trained in woodworking, specializing in furniture making.  He has come to love natural building and hopes to build many different projects at DR. 

While Alyssa helped with the construction of Larkspur, Alyssa’s primary work is as a midwife.  Bear and Alyssa had a child, Zane, in 2007. Zane sometimes likes to get dirty too and has a deep love of heavy equipment (yes, even in an ecovillage!).