About

The Hermitage, Troutdale, VA

The Hermitage
My wife and I purchased some 30 acres of unimproved property in 2001. 
We had a driveway and the foundation of the house code by contractors 
The house is a Structural Insulated Panel structure. 
We contracted the drying-in work. 
We then camped inside the kitchen and dining room, and finished the house around ourselves. 
Once the house was completed (almost 2 years) we cleared for gardens and greenhouses. 
We have a 30X60 hoop house, a 30 X 50 greenhouse and a 12X12 Greenhouse for propagation and tropicals. 
The hoop house and greenhouse have raised beds for food production. 
We have an additional house (purchased later) where we let workers live as part payment. 
Our workers are mostly destitute individuals in the area without home or family support. 
We work to get them into more adequate housing. 
We named that house "The Sanctuary". 

Kitty, my wife was the herbal/flower gardener with a 60X120 feet garden, half in raised beds, and half "wild". 
She  slipped into eternity on August 28, 2026.  
We shall maintain what she has completed. 

All of our excess food, herbs, and spring starter plants are free to those willing to accept them. 
We take excess food to the local "convenience center", trash collection, where neighbors help themselves. 

I have written since high school. 
I have one volume about spirituality of many origins. 
Part II is a tribute to the Jesus I met as an active Baptist minister for 25 years. 
They are free to download on my website:  Mountain Neighbors. 
I am currently working to organize another volume..