1 Josh Bond Molly Tucker, 13, and her father, Bruce Tucker, harvest sugar snap peas at Nubanusit Neighborhood in Peterborough. Zoom

Thirteen-year-old Molly Tucker plucked two sugar snap peas from the vine and munched the thinner pod before biting into the plump one. Both tasted great, she decided, but the bigger one was less stringy, and a bit juicier.
In late June, in the field behind her home, Molly and her father learned which peas to pick and which to leave for another day. But they weren’t alone. Half a dozen neighbors were also working the peas, tenderly harvesting from the tall vines as they chatted about this and that. Some of the peas went right into their bellies, some would end up in their fridges. Still others would be placed in named bins and dropped off at the homes of neighbors who weren’t there that afternoon, but had done their part to ensure a robust yield.
All 23 households at the Nubanusit Neighborhood in Peterborough volunteered to participate in community-supported agriculture, and they refer lovingly to the farm behind their homes as “the CSA.”
Nubanusit consists of 16 buildings and 29 condominiumized residential units on five acres of developed land. The total property, with hay fields, cow and horse pastures, pond and farm, is 113 acres alongside a mile of the Nubanusit River in Peterborough.
“It’s a fun place to live,” said Richard Pendleton, one of the
co-founders. “Neighbors know each other and support each other through the ups and downs.”
Nubanusit is New Hampshire’s only co-housing development, and one of only a few hundred in the country. At Nubanusit, the backyard is the community.
“There’s no spiritual path here or anything,” said Pendleton, who lives with his wife and two daughters in the co-housing development. “We have values, though, and one of them is environmental stewardship. That’s the main glue that binds us.”
Nubanusit’s 16 buildings – single units, duplexes, quads, office spaces and a common house – are each built to the highest environmental standards. Only one went through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design review for a platinum designation, Pendleton said, but all are built using the same practices and materials.
Heat from warm wastewater is recaptured to preheat water going into the central boiler, which serves all buildings. The ash from the pellet boiler is used to fertilize the garden soil. Household waste is sorted into compost and chicken feed. Each home uses less than half the energy of a comparable Energy Star-rated home.
After the project broke ground in 2005, the first resident moved in in 2007. There are six empty units remaining. Some of the residents come from Peterborough, others spend half their time in Nubanusit and half on the Pacific coast. All agree the experience is all they hoped for and more.
“I can’t imagine having a ‘regular’ life anymore,” said Amy Miller, who has lived in Nubanusit for two years. “It’s not just being happy, it’s like you came from another planet.”

Nubanusit Neighborhood welcomes visitors to its weekly open houses on Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. For more information, visit peterboroughcohousing.org.