David & Lise Abazsgraduated from Warren Wilson College in North Carolina with B.A. degrees in Environmental Studies with a Biology concentration & Intercultural Studies with a South East Asia concentration. After their marriages (they were married in 1986 in a typical Buddhist service in Annaradhapura, Sri Lanka, and in a Hindu ceremony at Gandhi's Ashram in Wardha, India, and later in a Christian wedding service of their own design at Warren Wilson College, North Carolina, in 1987), they spent their honeymoon on a high desert research farm in New Mexico, learning about the "art of seed saving" as well as general farming skills. While in the desert Lise proclaimed that she didn't want to head out east to "farm-sit" in Maine, but rather she wanted to live in Minnesota, the state where she grew up. David spent a morning in a little adobe library and when he emerged he declared, "If you want to live in Minnesota, the only place where I'm willing to settle is in Finland." Upon their arrival in Minnesota, they took a trip "up north" and actually did, as expected, quickly find their "home" just outside of Finland, in the beautiful Sawtooth Mountains along the North Shore of Lake Superior. They began homesteading their 40 acres in 1988, living for six years in a simple cabin as they slowly expanded their farm and their family. In the Finnish community in which they settled, the first building to be constructed was, of course, a sauna, in the tradition of those early homesteaders at the turn of the century. This provided them an opportunity to learn construction and stonework skills so they could build a stone/timber frame barn for the goats and sheep and other livestock they planned to raise. This was followed by a stone chicken coop, a woodshed and finally construction of a house for their growing family. By this time they had two sons, Colby and Tremayne, and had outgrown their small cabin. In the ensuing years, Lise and David, together with Colby and Tremayne, have achieved a sustainable lifestyle that includes an active and productive farm as well as an "alternatives" business, providing information, ideas, manuals and products for others who wish to venture into various areas of sustainability in their lives. One of their primary goals is to educate - both children and adults - on the importance of living in balance within nature's design. They also run a non-profit organization called Shalom Seed Sanctuary which is currently involved in teaching a sustainable farming curriculum in Minnesota's Arrowhead region. To provide income to help achieve their goals, Lise has worked in a Steel Mill, David at the Soil & Water Conservation District, and both at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center. They have been involved in community organizations, local politics and regional boards. And they are running Round River Living & Learning Center for themselves and their two sons. A home-school experience for the whole family. Their journey has guided them in their determination to operate their farm and business almost entirely with renewable resources - solar and wind power, and their automobile with diesel and used vegetable oil. They reluctantly still use a small amount of propane for summer cooking. Lise and David, Colby and Tremayne will tell you, "If you were to eat our vegetables, drive in our car or walk into our home, you would consider it pretty 'normal.' As normal as we are!" |
