The Bezaleel Israel Eco-Village in far northeast Washington, having been a small farm for over 30 years, now hosts the BZ Permaculture Farm Collective. The Farm Collective is a non-profit mutual benefit society. We grow fruits, vegetables, medicinal herbs, livestock, seeds and nursery stock using permaculture and regenerative agriculture methods. We grow our produce to maket in our local community and for our own sustenance. For the past three year we attended the Northeast Washington Farmers' Market in Colville, WA, we offered a weekly CSA, however, for 2025 we are taking a hiatus from intensive market farming to focus on the Eco-village infrastructure needs. Our open-pollinated, heirloom seeds continue to be offered for sale online.
We align closely with the principles of the International Peasants’ Movement
viacampesina.org,
Peasants for Climate Justice
peasantsforclimatejustice.org,
and The Poor People's Campaign
poorpeoplescampaign.org.
The BZ Farm is not "certified organic." We do not use synthetic poisons or use GMO seeds (in fact we save the seeds for over 90% of what we grow). We use compost and cover crops primarily for fertility or else soil amendments that are approved for certified organic farms and permaculture systems. BZ and I are both experienced permaculturists and we call our produce "Permaculturally-Grown."
Help with the farming is welcome. Casual visitors can volunteer (and learn)
Despite not farming as intensively this year, we will still be growing crops like potatoes, onions and garlic, plus our seed crops, tending the orchard and the ducks and goats. You are welcome to come spend a day or two or more with us at the BZ Farm this coming growing season. Come lend a hand, learn some tricks, go home with an armload of food.
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There will be a long list of tasks as the 2025 growing season ramps up, reaches its peak and settles into fall. With just two of us here, we're are going to be slammed. Any visitors are welcome to participate. We're also trying to open up some time in 2025 to catch up with some infrastructure maintenance. It's a great opportunity to learn some building skills.
If you can get away and you'd like keep us company, we would welcome you. Come see what we're doing; breathe some fresh forest air, get your body moving. We're building fences, planting and transplanting, preparing our growing beds, constructing outbuildings, etc.
Please let us know if you're interested. We like to have visitors any time during the growing season. We do ask that folks contact us before showing up.
Phone message and text: 914-246-0309
Email: collective@bzfarm.org
We ask all visitors to sign a liability waiver to protect ourselves and the land. We want the BZ Farm to forever be a source of fresh, clean, permaculturally-grown food for our beloved friends in the Northern Stevens County community and this helps to ensure that.
Thank you!
Folks who seriously seek permanent residency can apply to be apprentices who can become collective members (Eco-village members and Farm Collective members) and can earn income with the Farm Collective. Other collective enterprises based at the eco-village could be established.
Visitors please make arrangements in advance.
collective@bzfarm.org
Prospective collective members, please see our home page and our page on apprentices. There you will find links to our application.
Ready to unplug from "the system" and put down some roots in your ecosystem? Apply now by answering a couple of questions. This could be your new future.
In 2023, the BZ Permaculture Farm Collective was established on the grounds of the eco-village as a Washington State Non-Profit Mutual Benefit Corporation. The Farm Collective is permitted to steward the rich soils, waters and plant communities and to practice regenerative production and subsistence agriculture on the grounds as a non-profit micro-farm. Membership in the Farming Collective is separate from membership in the Eco-Village, but Eco-Village collective membership is a prerequisite for being a member of the Farming Collective. The non-profit simply manages the farmers’ common property. Members of the BZ Permaculture Farm Collective and Eco-Villagers who contribute labor to the farming operation are all self-employed farmers. Volunteers may also contribute labor and receive a stipend. Members of the BZ Permaculture Farm Collective serve on its Board and participate in the governance and operational activities of the farm. A farmers' Collective is a DIY approach to self-reliance and cooperation.
For the three growing seasons we have demonstrated the economic viability of the farming operation here despite being severely limited by a labor shortage. We have a small on-line vegetable seed business, we were selling at the farmers' market in the nearby city of Colville and we had a small CSA program to supply our fresh produce to folks in our area who don't have a grocery store close to home. We are nowhere near reaching the productive potential of this land or satisfying the local market demand. We can make a living farming here-- living simply-- but only if there is enough of us contributing to the effort. Consequently, we are scaling back the farming operation until conditions change.
Farming, building and other activities on the grounds of the Eco-Village must be done in accordance with permaculture ethics, principles and objectives to the extent possible and contribute to the development and implementation of the Eco-Village permaculture design.