Putney Commons Today
As an owners’ group, we are open to people of all ages. Our members include active married couples and single elders with visiting grandchildren. Our life includes children who run in the meadow and neighborhood dog walkers. We work together in a large fenced vegetable garden, with plots available for owners and neighbors. We collaborate to plant, compost, and harvest our own produce.
We all lead independent lives and have no hierarchical structures. Our business meetings operate on consensus, which works well for us. As a small cooperative housing community, we enjoy an unhurried pace and time to hear everyone’s point of view. Our meetings are held monthly for 1 to 2 hours, depending on our agenda.
Current discussions concern issues like a long term approach to tree care. Our woods include black locust, cottonwood, apple, ash, elm, maple, cherry, poplar, hemlock, and pine. We continue to maintain trails that link the upper meadow where we live, with the lower meadow and brook.
Putney Village is a welcoming place. Every other year we co-host one of Putney’s community suppers, serving 120-150 people. We have hosted the international puppeteers who present the “Puppets in the Green Mountains” festival. Some of us host visiting musicians during the Yellow Barn Music festival. Several members volunteer with the twice-weekly Putney Food Shelf, and others, at the local elementary school.
