Tryon Life Community Farm

Observing the last 5 years of work/play (what we call “plerk”) at TLC Farm, we've observed that there's quite a variety of different ways that people participate. All of these are just rough outlines, and many people fit between or beyond these categories (of course).

Some people are generalists: they're excited about many different kinds of plerk, and will respond to a wide variety of requests for help. Eg. cobbing a wall, canvassing a neighborhood, coming to a meeting, answering emails. This is beneficial for its flexibility & openness!

Others are specialists: there's a specific kind of engagement that they really dig, and that's mostly all they'll do: bookkeeping, teaching, farm hosting, etc. This is beneficial for its focus & expertise!

Some people are rooted: they have long-term, regular commitment to this place and project. Whether a couple times a year or almost every day, their participation is consistent. This is beneficial for its reliability & history!

Others are nomadic: they may be really focused on TLC Farm for a while, and then be off to another project across town or across the world. This is beneficial for its intensity & cross-pollination!

Some people are solitary: they really prefer to do something alone, if possible. This is great for minimizing the coordination of schedules etc. to get things accomplished.

Others love guilds: they do best when surrounded by a tight, highly functional groups with complementing abilities. This is awesome for ongoing working groups or projects where a variety of perspectives are key.

And others are communal: they love being part of a big community event with the energy of lots of different people. This is perfect for getting a lot done quickly.

Some people are looking to be (learners or) mitochondria: they'd like the steps in accomplishing something to be laid out for them. This is great when someone else has a clear idea of what needs to be done and just needs more hands.

Others feel called to be (coordinators or) enzymes: they're motivated to help bring all the different pieces and people together, co-create goals, support folk in reaching them, etc. This is valuable when folk want to just get out and do things but lack a structure for it.

Still others want to be (advisors or) neurotransmitters: they're best suited to offering verbal or written perspective on how to improve decisions or actions, rather than implementing things themselves. This is great for getting outside perspective & expert wisdom from someone with lots of experience, etc.

There are obviously a lot more categories! Still, having some idea where you see yourself in these terms will help us to know how best to support you in engaging in the way you want to here.

TLC Farm: Evolving Earth's Transition Teams

(Note: Everyone interested in coming to meetings, hearing about volunteer needs, and being involved in our process should join our relatively low-traffic HardCore email list.)

The new world being born lives and works and plays differently. It's co-created, with many kinds of people collaborating in diverse ways. We get things done -- feed and heal and design and learn -- with much less overhead, stress, and control. New ideas, new projects, new patterns, new teams: all actively supported by an ecosystem of change.
With luck and dedication and inspiration, the new world will grow fast enough to absorb much of the collapse of the old. Portland's interweaving movements are a prime opportunity to develop a city-scale working example of this new political economic culture.

TLC Farm is a greenhouse for incubating the people, relationships, skills and teams we need. There are many ways you can participate. Here are a few examples:

• Start doing specific tasks that others have identified: plant perennials, stamp envelopes, put up flyers;
• Take on a role with some amount of training and commitment required: coordinate land materials, host tours, update the web site;
• Get together with like-minded folk and coordinate a major project -- whether a regular happening or a new idea you develop yourselves;
• Become a core organizer participating in our decision-making working groups and spokescouncil.

Excited? Here's the next step: think about what you'd like to do and how you'd like to do it with us. These links may help: example Roles and Tasks; and an outline of our ecology of participation.

Then, contact us by emailing participate@tryonfarm.org (or, second best, call 503-245-3847). We'll set up a time with one of our participation coordinators to have a discussion about how your skills, background, interests, and needs match with ours.

Let's get together!

Anyone can propose a project, and it can take any form as long it meets the following criteria:

• It furthers the mission of TLC Farm.
• It has a co-creative accountability structure – that is, there's an agreed process (no matter how intuitive and dynamic) for taking next steps, evaluating outcomes, and supporting follow-through. This includes an oversight relationship with one or more mentors and/or WGs.
• Its scope, resource budget, and plans are proposed to and approved by the relevant WGs.

This is how the living, breathing work of TLC Farm happens, and our focus is on figuring more and better ways to help different kinds of people become more effective, more healed, and more aligned with spirit and the earth.

Once you've got an idea and (some of) the people to make it happen, contact participate@tryonfarm.org to take the next step by making a proposal at a working group or spokescouncil meeting!