Four practices of a tender commons.
What we keep
through every season, however the weather turns
Softness, sharpened by practice.
Kindness is a craft; we teach it on Thursdays, in the potting shed, over honey tea — the same way our grandmothers taught pruning.
Neighbours before numbers.
Every proposal is walked door-to-door before a vote — eleven kitchens, one full pot of soup, before anything gets built.
Grow slower, together.
We add one new member per solstice, not per quarter — because a garden that doubles overnight is only a market stall.
Repair the shed before the roof.
Every Sunday one full hour is spent fixing what already works — a habit that has saved us three winters and one very stubborn kettle.