We are excited to be offering our first internship at Shire Springs this Summer from July 23 – August 20th!

This month long internship will be a wonderful opportunity to participate in the initial developing underpinnings, infrasctruure, farm systems, and social systems of this newly-forming Ecovillage Community at a truly beautiful, abundant, and magical location.

We are hoping to find some good people to join us this late summer for this applied permacuture, ecovillage, and nature immersion experience at this budding community.

More information below, on Living Mandala, and on Shire Springs.

Join us this summer in the wild hills of Northern California to participate in the farm systems, social systems, and structural underpinnings of a newly-forming EcoVillage Community. Nestled in a breadth-taking hot-spring riddled valley, midpoint between Mt. Shasta & Mt. Lassen, Shire Springs is an 82 acre rural stronghold recently purchased by a small group of permaculture teachers, passionate land stewards, cottage industry owners, and Ecovillage Developers. Big Bend is home to a diverse array of ecologically rich wonders, including some of the most extraordinary geothermal activity on the west coast. Located in the Heart of Big Bend, Shire Springs is a lush 84 acre homesteading site with 60 acres of mature forest, an abundance of water including a large pond, several streams, 5 year round springs, 1 acre of existing fenced garden with some of the best soil in the bio-region, mature producing orchard, variety of fruit trees, meadows, and grazing areas for animals. Structurally the property currently holds a 5 bedroom lodge style home, granny unit, large metal workshop, and access to many potential building sites. We have great neighbors and community, and we are within short biking distance to some of the most epic hot springs soaking you will ever experience. The possibilities are endless! Come live and learn with us for 4 weeks, as we nurture ALL of the systems needed to assist an amazing Ecovillage into blossom.

Deep Nature Connection: Currently home to eagles, river otters, foxes, bears, mountain lions, bobcats, ringtails, martens, and many other endemic wildlife… Big Bend is a little known oasis of natural beauty. Throughout this internship, we will be incorporating core routines of nature connection and other practices to deepen our knowledge of and connection to the natural world.

Projects On the Land: permaculture gardening, irrigation, landscaping, carpentry, plumbing, electric, pruning, trail building, property cleanup, holistic cooking, food preservation, cob natural building, gardening, spring box / microhydro development, animal husbandry, small pond building, timber frame carpentry, forest stewardship, and more.

Intentional Community Processes: intentional community theory, invisible social structures, community visioning and intention setting, community agreement creation, facilitation, consensus decision making, ceremony/ritual, emotional processing modalities, gratitude circles, nature awareness practices, and more.

On & Off site Adventures: pond/river swimming, bonfires, hot springs soaking, primitive skills sharing, exploring the vastness of Mt. Shasta & Lassen National Parks, backpacking camping, mountain biking, fishing, seasonal celebrations, and more.

Hot Springs: Located just a few miles from Shire Springs are some of the most amazing hot springs you wil experience, and they are available for soaking at any time. The 3 pools at “Hunt & Kosk Hot Springs” are extremely beautiful, natural geothermal hot spots, thought to be sacred by the local indigenous Pit Tribes. It is asked that no glass bottles be brought to either. Camping is permitted at Hunt & Cosk. All hot springs are clothing optional.

Miscellaneous: Doctor Bronners will be provided, but bring all other shower and hygienic products that you need. Laundry machine, eco-detergent, and clotheslines are provided. Bring a bike if possible, as they’re nice to ride to and from the Hot Springs. Sorry, no children this time around. Alcohol is permitted during the evenings, but drunkenness is not.

Internship Details

Education: Most of the education at The Shire will be received by living through intentional community processes and working with the land. However, 2 afternoons of every week Shire members and/or guest teachers will be offering half day classes on various topics such as permaculture, sociacracy, community governance, deep nature connection, carpentry, natural building, water works, pruning, fermentation, nutrition, and more.

Food: All food is provided with the internship, and most meals will be eaten together. Food will be vegetarian based, with local meat available upon special arrangement. Lunch and dinner cooking shifts will be rotated amongst members and interns alike (2 co-shifts/wk). We will be eating most of our meals together in joy, gratitude, and community.

Housing: We have a large lodge style community house with a community kitchen, living area, wireless internet, office/library, arts & crafts area, indoor/outdoor showers, laundry, and 5 plus bedrooms. We request interns to stay in tents with their own camping gear, and to utilize the main house as the community living space. As part of the internship we will be continuing to work on some aspects of the main house.

Time: Shire members set minimum amounts of time for certain activities to ensure the fluid functioning of our community… These are broken down below:

Work Trade Projects: 14hrs/wk
Education/Classes: 6hrs/wk
Shire Meetings: 2hrs/wk
Circle & Community Processing: 2hrs/wk
Cooking Shifts: 3hrs/wk
Sit Spot / Nature Connection Practices: 3 hrs/wk
Lodge Cleaning Party: 1hr/wk
Hot Springs Soaking: 1hr/wk
TOTAL: 32 hours/wk

We understand that personal time is of paramount importance, so any time other than what is listed above is yours to decide what to do with… Explore! Create! Relax! Enjoy yourself… : )

Cost: We are asking for an extremely affordable rate of $675 for this 4 week experience. This fee will include food, lodging expenses in the form of electric, propane, internet, etc, as well as guest instructors, preparation costs, and more.

Internship Application: We ask all potential Shire Springs Interns to download the application form here and email it back to us at: shiresprings@gmail.com and/or education@livingmandala.com. We will respond to you and follow-up with a 20 minute phone interview conducted to determine if it is a good fit.

Space for the internship is limited to 10 people - so apply soon!.

Shire Springs is a developing Ecovillage based on Permaculture Ethics & Peacemaking Principles offering affordable residential Ecovillage living opportunities and co-stewardship opportunities of an amazing 82 acre property producing an abundance of food, facilitating connection to nature, and embodying a culture of human beings living harmoniously with each other and their environment.

The Shire is described by J.R.R. Tolkien in his renowned novels as a small, beautiful, bountiful land and thriving Village, beloved by its inhabitants – the Hobbits. The Hobbits had an extensive agricultural system in the Shire but were not industrialised. The landscape included interwoven pockets of forest, meadows, streams, rolling hillsides, and beautiful earthen houses. Various supplies were produced in the Shire, including cereals, fruit, wood, crafts, and much more. The Way of the Hobbits and the restoration of the pre-industrial Shire may be interpreted as a prescription of voluntary simplicity, sustainability, and community living in greater harmony with each other and Nature as a remedy to the problems of modern society.

Along with being the name of the mythic Hobbit Village, the term “Shire” also refers to a rural cultural stronghold – which is just what this community is becoming. Nestled in a lush, sacred valley midpoint between the peaks of Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lassen, Shire Springs abides in the heart of this abundant, geothermal bioregion riddled with hot springs, majestic wildlife, and other conscious kin in the tiny homesteading community of Big Bend, CA. Recently purchased by a small collective of permaculture practitioners and conscious cultural land stewards, Shire Springs is situated on one the most dynamic pieces of land that many have come across in this region or elsewhere – a pure water-oozing, forest-covered, soil-rich oasis.