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Erraid is owned by a Dutch family and have contracted with the Findhorn Foundation to run the farm on the Isle throughout the year when they are not there. The family will visit once a year for holiday, at which time the residence will leave except for a skeleton crew that stays on to tend to the animals and other chores.
Erraid was originally a community of Dutch in the 1800's (1840-1850) that built two lighthouses (not on Erraid by about 20 miles away) from granite found on Erraid. They also had a shop that was used to build metal components for the lighthouse on Erraid.
The Findhorn bus ride was about a 5 hour ride and included a couple of short ferry rides that got us the the Isle of Mull, near Fionnphort we met up with Paul (one of the Erraid residents). He took over to Erraid via tractor, during low tide "the narrows" allows you to get to Erraid via foot or in this case foot & tractor.
The farm is comprised of a block of homes that were built in the 1840's, very sturdy homes built out of granite, barns, and gardens. The community makes candles and provides a work program that allow it to continue, it does produce veggies,fruits & herbs out of the gardens to feed the community (including some awesome jams), unpasteurized milk (it was delicious and vibrant) from the cows, and eggs for the chickens, but it does require grains (cereals) and other food from Findhorn.
The daily/weekly rhythms of Erraid are very simple, pleasant, and allows for times for reflection and exploration. A typical day for me would begin with a bowl of muesli, then out for a stroll, meditation, a group tune in to understand how each person is doing and what tasks are available for that day, and then we choose tasks for the day; gardening, candle making, milking cows, splitting wood, cooking, and helping launch a boat were the tasks we participated in.
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