Pickards Mountain Eco-Institute is dedicated to offering practical solutions to the environmental crisis . Our educational farm and sustainability learning center reside on 350 acres in the Piedmont of North Carolina.
Our organic gardens, sustainable livestock production, biofuels, and renewable energy systems are dedicated to children of all ages, with the hope of finding ways of living more harmoniously within the planetary community. We offer educational programs for classes of children, pre-school through high school, internships for college students, and workshops for adults.
We are community supported welcome tax deductible donations through The Abundance Foundation (see below.)
Our work is rooted in the belief that the fate of future generations will depend on their connections with the land. When the fossil fuels are scarce, they will have to find ways to supply their food and energy in local, renewable and sustainable ways. By teaching the children to respect natural cycles and utilize renewable resources, we offer them keys to survival and world peace.
Following the cues of Thomas Berry, E.F. Schumacher, Richard Louv, and Joanna Macy, the community at Pickards Mountain seeks to establish a “mutually enhancing relationship between humans and the Earth,” and share the principles and practices of that relationship with the broader population of the state.
Pickards Mountain hosts 11 human residents, a small staff, University faculty and students, interested government and community leaders, visiting school groups of all ages, many species of wildlife, numerous species of fungi, and one of the most biodiverse plant ecosystems on the planet.
We are dedicated to the healing of the Human-Earth Relationship through reconnection to our sources of food, nourishment, and sustenance. Please consider bringing your class or family for a visit!
Front-Page story about Pickards Mtn in the Chapel Hill News: http://www.chapelhillnews.com/front/story/22613.html
Article from Treehugger.com : http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/pickards_mountain.php
Chapel Hill Herald: http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/orange/10-993399.cfm
Sacred Space Video produced by UNC Intern Courtney Potter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsYIQjOKskE
Fair Companies Interview: http://faircompanies.com/videos/view/living-like-its-2050-transition-farm-in-north-carolina/
Interview with Tim : http://faircompanies.com/news/
Jessikah Towle - Resident, Visionary
Margaret Krome-Lukens - Assistant Director, Garden Manager
Check out this great video about Margaret's and Galen's work by UNC student Wilson Andrews.
http://www.wilsonmarkandrews.com/portfolio/pickards/
THE LIVING VILLAGE
Three canvas Yomes surround an outdoor kitchen where bread and pizzas are baked in a wood-fired earthen oven. Compost toilets save water. A solar thermal system provides hot showers using only the sun and gravity. Trails within the village allow only foot traffic.
E-mail us at pickardsmountain@gmail.com to sign up for the Monthly Potluck announcement list.
