Orange Woods

Orange Woods is a 365 acre private forest, conserving and nurturing native tree species in Orange, Massachusetts, about 90 minutes from Boston and 2 miles from the Orange Municipal Airport.

Please do not come on to the property without individual permission.

In addition to restoring the native woods and animals — and sinking carbon — it is a place to relax, learn, work, and recharge in nature, surrounded by trees, fields, ponds, streams, and wildlife.

Map

Nature

340 acres of forest, miles of trails and streams, lots of beaver families and their ponds, and 20 acres of fields that support local grass-fed cattle.

Tending land satisfies something very basic in us. Generations of co-evolution have made us connected to the land, and we can be more at peace when these connections are nurtured.

“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” — Warren Buffet

Small efforts can have an enormous impact when aligned with nature. Planting a seed or a sapling tree can change the forest canopy and understory with a lasting impact. Supporting native plants can repair food systems for animals. People can accelerate centuries of ecosystem healing by promoting native species, particularly in the upper forest canopy.

There is a feeling of purpose and connectedness when we work with nature to shape the world.

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” — Albert Einstein

Human

Forests are good for your body and mind. A healthy connection to your environment and ecology encourages empathy and pro-social behavior, and stimulates mental health and increased productivity. Relax and feel grounded so that you can think clearly and follow your inspiration. Nature promotes personal renewal.

“When you connect to the silence within you, that is when you can make sense of the disturbance going on around you. “— Stephen Richards

Space to breathe. A place to think and work.

“Nature is ever at work building and pulling down, creating and destroying, keeping everything whirling and flowing, allowing no rest but in rhythmical motion, chasing everything in endless song out of one beautiful form into another.” — John Muir

Build

Bring your big ideas and immerse yourself in your work. Write a book, go for a walk, build a robot, sit by a pond, help a friend.

Some projects and plans from our community:

• Build — Build a cabin or help someone else with theirs. Make something beautiful. There is plenty of room.
• Canopy — Add intelligence to the forest. Build tech to automate gardening and gain security and awareness of your environment. [Video demo of wifi irrigation valve] [Github repo]
• ipiq.io — Tools for managing and commercializing intellectual property.
• Solar powered data center — If you are blocked from electrical interconnect by the constraints of net-metering you can use solar directly and monetize through a datacenter.
• Investment and estate planning support group. Not investment advice. All asset classes, mostly US tax law.
• Engineered Ecology — What can humans do to promote a thriving ecology? Permaculture food forests, land management, biodiversity, sustainable forestry, harness natural forces and time.

Orange Woods is like a facility for creativity and productivity — a factory for thinking and building.

“It’s only after you’ve stepped outside your comfort zone that you begin to change, grow, and transform.” — Roy T. Bennett

Photo during construction of the garage 2nd floor.
View of the north field, 11 acres of hay feeds local cattle.

Community

Our small group is a community for lifelong learning and collaboration. We work on projects alone and together.

“We are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s business; we are each other’s magnitude and bond. “ — Gwendolyn Brooks

“They both listened silently to the water, which to them was not just water, but the voice of life, the voice of Being, the voice of perpetual Becoming.” — Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

If you would like to contribute to projects, bring your own, or just come for a visit, e-mail dan at broom dot ventures and introduce yourself.

Donate

We’re always looking for people, time, money, and equipment. Upgrading your 3D printer or CNC machine? We’d be happy to inherit your old one!

Free-association & keywords:

Innovation. Center for Entrepreneurship. Bundle of options. Community, Productivity, Nature. Forest village, tiny house, shed, cabin, zen-pad, hobbit house, friend office, work, remote. Partnership, Foundation, charity, art, science, software, R&D, maker, entrepreneur, permaculture food forest, Future Lab, work space, art studio, wizard tower, wifi blanket, sensor canopy, machine intelligence, solar field, cryptocurrency mining, sustainability, beaver ponds, trails, creative, build, together.