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Welcome to Windward

Windward is a cooperative community of over thirty years in the making dedicated to preserving and developing village scale technologies needed to support a thriving sustainable community on marginal land.

We provide opportunities for deep learning through hands on, practical experience with the tools needed to build a life in balance with the natural world.

We come together with the belief that now is the time for radical change, and that nothing is more convincing than a working model of a better way.

With nature as our guide, we use our love, sweat and blood to build a life worth inheriting.

Join us, for a weekend, for a season, or for a lifetime.
Get Involved.


Notes From Windward

Fresh news about what we're up to in 2021

Casting Call for Season 5 of Alone Together

Windward prepares to embark on its next voyage of discovery.

Come Meet the Kids

Kiri talks about the joy of having babies around.

Answering a Call Back to the Land

Alicia's first impressions and reflections.

Squirrel Perloo

Lauren tries her hand at a traditional dish.

Coping with Fire Season

Walt talks about how we cope with the stress of fire season.

Building a Bookcase

Opalyn revisits one of her projects as part of her permaculture work.

It Gets Better!

Kiri describes her journey to Windward

Keeping Faith with Lilly

the passing of a herd queen

Soot and the Hen

Here Lies a "Good First Impression"

Anchor Watch

preparing for the next leg of our journey

Homestead Butchering Workshop

getting ready for winter

Chocolate's Surprise

a bitter-sweet July birth

Making Mouse Bait Stations

creating a pet safe option

Welcoming Fergie Two

salvaging equipment

Burials in the Snow

coping with an unusual amount of snow

Life Renews

Opalyn greets the new lambs and kids

Accepting Applications For 2019

with a description of some of the projects in the works and on tap

Renovating the Garden

Hannah and crew put the garden to bed

Does TL:dr equal consent?

How does informed consent work in the age of handheld devices?

Pondering Pareto

Organizational dynamics by the numbers

An Ethics Audit

Answering questions from Opalyn's Ethics course

Welcoming the Class of 2020

Walt looks forward to the arrival of this year's interns and apprentices

Glassing the Pearl

the glass panels arrive

Settling into Community

Chuck discusses their previous experience in community and settling into Windward

Isolation v. Intimacy?

Emily expounds on experiences and perceptions of community life here.

Transforming Trash

Willow brings beauty to a bathroom trash can.

Ship's Dinner 2017

Check out photos from our annual celebration of Windward's Founders coming to this land.

Staying Sane in an Insane World

Lindsay reflects on how Nature helps to ground our efforts during unsettling times.

Mid-Year Reflections

Emily reflects on insights and shifts after her second Surrender at Windward.

A Recap of the Village Helix

Photos from the Windward Open House on Memorial Day Weekend, May 26-29, 2017

AgroEcology Update, Spring 2017

Fuels reduction, hedgerows, tree tubes, birdhouses, and more.

A Program of Mulch Independence

developing ways of meeting a core need within our growing systems

Hello from Katie!

A Spring Apprentice Introduces Herself

Re-Membering the Web of Life

The Biological Imperative for Sovereignty, Interdependence and a Consent Economy

Life Begets Life

Jarvis discusses building soil life

Co-creating a Consent Culture

Economics, Governence & Sexuality

We Still Believe

A Politics of Love, Earth & Community

I'm Still Here!

Opalyn returns to the Notes

A Fall Back to Fundamentals

Jarvis Introduces himself

Introducing the Digital Studio

& Learning to Work with Blued Pine

Taking Death by the Hand

Lindsay shares her reflections on Death & Natural Burial

Ravens Stealing Eggs

and our attempts to stop them

Some of the Benefits of Membership at Windward

Things to look forward to after an Apprenticeship or Fellowship

Continuing the Journey Towards the Examined Life

An article Yosef wrote for his college's student newspaper

Troubleshooting the First Stator

Yosef tries to discover what went wrong

A Letter From My Future

Emily shares what she wants to remembers from her Fellowship at Windward

Live your passion and relieve your student loans!

How living and working at Windward can provide for Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Felling a Big Pine Tree

Taking down a big tree before it takes down the greenhouse

Calculating Lard Yield from American Guinea Hogs

Continuing the conversation about the "Million Calorie Diet"

The Rabbit Colony Experiment - a Detailed Report

Yosef shares highlights from this year's rabbit colony experiment

Arriving at Now

Apprentice Emily introduces herself.

Building an Earth Sheltered Greenhouse

Andrew shares about a big-picture project that is stepping up our year round food production

A Summary of Rabbit Colony Experiment

Yosef shares a summary of findings from this year

Building an RPM Sensor

Yosef shares about a nifty instrument crafted for the axial flux alternator project

Continuing the Axial-Flux Alternator Project

Yosef shares about casting the alternator's stator, and more!

A Working Definition of "Capital"

and why it to matters to creating a post-consumer village

Developing Windward's Large Scale Irrigation Infrastructure

Apprentice Andrew Bishop shares about one of his big picture apprentice projects

The Splendor and Beauty of Klickitat County

Lindsay shares images from a Summer Adventure

Breeding & Hatching Heritage Chickens

Apprentice Andrew Bishop shares the secrets of his successful run of incubating chickens

Learning to Recognize Sustainable Systems

A Whole Systems Fellow, Yosef, shares about the not-so-obvious realities of sustainability

Building a Bee Sanctuary

Andrew shares about our new Bee Hut and Pollinator Garden

Live Stake Propagation

Pioneering Windward's broad-acre silvo-pasture systems

Winterizing Your Leather Boots

Dry feet all winter long!

Tanning Bunny Hides

Kari writes about her success with salt and alum.

Bunny Gratitudes

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Felted Projects

A look various practical and artistic felt projects.

Felting Windward Wool

Claire gives a detailed description of the felting process she uses.

Harvesting Feathers

Claire writes about harvesting Windward bird feathers.

Technology in Service of Community

Lindsay and Walt share their perspective.

Main silvopasture swale gets it's first big test.

Coppice Agroforesty at Windward

an overview of our evolving practices

Announcing: Windward Whole System Fellowship

Learn about a new opportunity to immerse yourself in sustainable community!

Rabbits - Livestock Update

Opalyn shares about our current rabbits.

Water Harvesting Road Hardware

checking erosion and putting water to work in the landscape.

Baby Bunnies - Growing (up)

Opalyn shares about the growth and shearing of the German Angora Rabbits.

Roof-Water-Fed Retaining Wall Hugelkultur Beds for the Dining Hall Patio

Andrew describes more developments in Windward's zone 1

Spindling Wool

Opalyn shares about spindling blended wools.

Wall-E needs a few more repairs.

Keeping Wall-E on track. :)

The Village Helix

Lindsay shares pictures from Windward's recent Open House

Partnering with Our Plant Allies

Andrew describes species selection for remeditation and agroforestry.

Finding Long-Term Climate Data in the US Using NOAA

Article Andrew recently wrote for PermacultureNews.org

As events unfold my attention turns to seating.

Opalyn shares her experience building a paracord-laced oak chair.

"Pan"ache

Pat shares the new additions to the chicken flock

Rocks In the Garden!

Pat introduces our new plant labelling system

Developing Windward's SilvoPasture

Andrew describes this springs progress on this long-term project

  • -Overview of Silvopasture and Swales
  • -Trees & Shrubs in the Swale Food Forest
  • -Constructing an Inlet Swale
  • -Riparian Buffer
  • -Finding Contours with Water Level
  • -Planting out the Pioneer Locusts
  • -Excavating the Main Swale
  • -Planting and Mulching the Swale

  • Our German Angora baby bunnies are one month old.

    Opalyn shares photos of our growing babies.

    Life and Death With the Chickens

    New member Pat shares about her work with Windward's chicken flock

    May Garden Update

    Lindsay shares some updates from the garden

    Rabbit Colony Experiment

    Claire introduces and updates on The Rabbit Colony Experiment

    Spring Zone-1 Garden Update

    Andrew describes the further development of Windward's zone-1

    Our baby bunnies are growing

    Opalyn shares photos of our growing babies.

    I'm here to once again fall in love with learning

    Evergeen intern Chelsea gives an introduction

    Wall-E's Transmission Rebuild is Complete!

    Opalyn and Pat wrap up the repairs.

    Our Rabbits!

    Opalyn introduces our adult rabbits.

    Creating Productive Food Forest Ecosystems

    Lindsay shares images from the recent permaculture weekend intensive

    Our Numbers are Growing - Again

    Opalyn introduces baby bunnies.

    Building A Hugel Bed in the Courtyard

    Why Trees?

    This video Lays it out

    Weaving on a Peg Loom

    Opalyn shares her experience of weaving on a peg loom.

    'Tis the Season to Dig and Plant

    Lindsay talks about starting a new hugel bed for apple trees.

    UPCOMING EVENT: Creating Productive Food Forest Ecosysems

    Andrew shares more permaculture materials in advance of the event.

    Seeding into Frost Heaves

    Andrew shares his use of this cold-climate no-till technique.

    Starting Seeds

    Lindsay shares about the start of the spring garden.

    Wall-E Needs a Transmission Overhaul!

    Opalyn shares progress on Wall-E's transmission rebuild.

    Making Sense of it All

    Lindsay reflects on the passing of a loved one

    Fiber Conversion

    Opalyn talks about a fiber display at the local library.

    Windward Winter 2014

    Claire's photo essay.

    Our Numbers are Growing

    Opalyn introduces two little lambs.

    Making "Bone Sauce"

    A traditional technique for keeping deer off of fruit trees.