Year one collectives reliably try to do too much. The excitement of starting leads to overbuilding, overplanting, and over-committing — followed by exhaustion, conflict, and sometimes collapse by the second winter. Year one should be deliberately constrained.
Key questions & considerations
- 1.Housing — everyone has weathertight shelter before winter
- 2.Water — reliable water system, winterized
- 3.Heat — sufficient firewood or fuel for the first winter
- 4.A basic garden — not the full 5 acres; a productive 1–2 acres
- 5.Small livestock — chickens and a few goats maximum
- 6.Kitchen and food preservation basics
- 7.Governance process — meet regularly, document decisions
Defer to year two: Large barn, expanded livestock, full orchard, advanced solar
The first winter test
The first winter test: If the group can spend a full northern winter together — in close quarters, under real stress — and still want to be there in spring, the collective has a very good chance of making it to year 10.