Transcript of Hut Hamlet Work Project: Ferrocement Cistern Tank Gets an Upgrade

Good morning on the cusp of spring and summer.

Today is an exciting day. Not only is it my favorite little person’s first birthday, but also we’re having a neighborhood work party to continue building this ferrocement cistern which is where all of our beautiful water comes from so.

We all drink the spring water from this land which is just such a honor and a blessing and I really feel how you know to to bathe in clean water to like wash my body and wash my thoughts and you know drink and cook with clean water is like what a gift and what a privilege and so we’ve had to learn over the years how to take good care of that, you know.

There’s got to have be some systems it’s not like we just get to automatically turn on our faucet and then there’s water so.

This here this big tank which is burmed into the earth is a ferrocement cistern tank. So this tank was built um in the style of ferrocement like 20 years ago and then it didn’t get any maintenance other than just you know checking the water level and so on until about two years ago.

So it was 18 years old didn’t need any maintenance and had been feeding our entire neighborhood which was about 20 people for all that time and then we last or two years ago we got down in there and we cleaned it out and filled in some cracks and we drained the whole thing and like pressure washed it and took care of it but then now we have more people in our neighborhood and legally we can’t have more than 24 people on one one water source so we had to get creative and what we’ve done is come together to build a new cistern so that we can have that’s going to get filled from a different water source so that we can be you know following all the proper rules.

So today is us continuing to work on this new beautiful cistern so what happens with a lot of things in our neighborhood is that we have a sign up sheet we have a work party someone volunteers to cook lunch people volunteer for shifts and then we get together and make it happen so here we are this is the construction site we left some offerings here back in the fall before we started to dig this hole and now we’re building this new cement cistern how many gallons that is a cistern hold…

Hey Paul! Paul. Paul how many gallons is the cistern how many gallons is the cistern?

10 000 more or less.

10 000 gallons that’s a lot of gallons so now we’re going to have about 20 000 gallons of capacity in our neighborhood.

So how’s this go,,,,,Yeah so there we are so what you do is you put you put up some structure you pour it we poured a cement slab then we put up some structure of rebar and wire and then we just used cement to travel over that to make it the shape that we want so you could make I mean you can make really anything out of fear of cement at any shape sometimes people use cans like squashed cans to fill that in and so yeah yay for collaboration cooperation and learning what it takes to be able to take care of the water you know meeting us in the middle of where we where we are and where we’re going and yeah so this is the midway strategy so in a lot of gratitude also for the like intergenerational aspect of it like this brother Paul we wouldn’t be able to do without him he’s been here since the dawn of time helping us figure out how to make these things happen and you know and then all these laborers and you know all that has to come from somewhere and the children have been up here and it’s just been really sweet we’ve all been learning and having a really joyful time .

So celebrating that happy birthday to my favorite little person.

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Diana Leafe Christian, international author, workshop leader, and advocate for ecovillages, community living, and the Sociocracy governance method, receives the Fellowship for Intentional Community’s (FIC) 2018 Geoph Kozeny Communitarian Award at the West Coast Communities Conference in San Diego in September of this year.

The Kozeny Award honors communitarians for a lifetime of work in the communities movement: as networkers, in media relations, as community builders, and/or providing leadership in the communities movement. Diana’s contributions were recognized in all areas, “…sometimes by taking a leading role,” writes the FIC, “and sometimes by providing invaluable assistance to others working in those areas.” (Communities, Fall 2017)

above: Diana teaching at Findhorn.

Diana and her Mom, Rosetta Neff (who passed away last May at 100), joined Earthaven in 2002. Diana has played major roles in our Promotions and Membership Committees and introduced us to decision-making practices used in other communities, including Sociocracy and the N St. Consensus Method (a variation of which we now use).

Diana became the editor of Communities in 1993, networking, editing and writing about community living for 14 years. Her book, Creating a Life Together, is a seminal reference for people interested in starting communities. Her second book Finding Community, is now a core resource for people looking for a community to join.

Diana travels internationally, teaching workshops on starting successful new ecovillages and on Sociocracy, and consulting with communities long established and those just starting out. We’re blessed to have her here the rest of the year!

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This March, Earthaven residents participated in a “Spring Cleaning” event, sorting through a ton of stuff (kept because someone once thought each item would someday be “useful)” and hauling much of it “away” in a trailer of metal and a couple of dumpsters of trash. Items from Salvation Alley, the Village Center, and many neighborhoods were gathered and the two mindsets—“Keep it, we’ll use it someday” and “That’s a piece of junk, toss it!”—got a chance to be debated in real time as we sorted through almost twenty years of built-up stuff. To our credit, much was already headed to a landfill and just took a detour here, some as early as a few years after the community began.

The storage barn on Salvation Lane was the first building built by the Earthaven Forestry Cooperative.

The intention of “Salvation Alley” isn’t to hold ritual evangelical healings, but to have a place where salvaged or excess materials from a building, plumbing, electrical, etc., project can be set aside until someone needs just that thing. As one who dabbles in a lot of projects around the community and our farm, I find it a useful resource overall.

But the reality is that the good stuff gets used and the junk stays around. It gets rained on, more dented, broken and smashed, and becomes if not useful for art projects, landfill. While we keep most carbon “waste” on site (stumps, brush, cardboard, all kinds of paper, natural fiber, etc.) where it can break down into soil, the plastics, metals and other materials humans create just don’t go away that quickly.

Sorting with a smile: “Prince” Otter and Spring Cleaning co-organizer Carleigh O’Donnell.

Paul likes to point out that having things “clean and pristine” is a pathology, and I too question the environmentalist who always wants to “clean it up.” However, if our storage area is not allowing us to find and use salvaged goods, we’re not doing any net good anyway.

The Spring Cleaning days were an all-out community effort that brought a lot of us together in a funky, fun way that could become something more regular as we grow and develop our neighborhoods and the Commons.

Andy Bosley runs Yellowroot Farm with his partner, Julie McMahan, and holds many roles around Earthaven including forestry, governance and men’s awareness work.

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This past summer, long-time Earthaven member Mollie Curry and her partner, Steve Kemble, supervised the final plastering of Bellavia Gardens’ neighborhood composting toilet, known as the Ojo de Conejo (eye of the rabbit) Lounge. Folks from around the village, eager to get muddy, joined Gaspar and Travis for a day of plaster pleasure. Most of this work was paid for by neighbors in “leaps” our community service currency.

The post Really Local Economy appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.

On a Saturday in mid-June, several folks from Earthaven went to our neighbors’ farm. It was a great day filled with many chores to assist Cove Creek Farm in planting and to learn more about where our local food comes from. Alvin Lytle, his father, Therman, sister June, and daughter Alexis’s family have been farming in this area since the late 1700’s.

We took turns sitting on Alvin’s modified tobacco planter, dropping seed potatoes, which were then covered with soil by the cleverly crafted blades of the planter. Not sure how many potatoes we actually planted, but we cut up four 50-pound boxes of seed potatoes earlier.

Then came the sweet potato slips, and melons, all planted by hand…lots and lots of them. In the meantime, other folks were helping plant a large field of crowder peas (hence the name field peas).

After all the hard, sweaty, hot sun work, we sat around in a cool forest setting and had a good ole fashion feast of barbecue, beans, and of course watermelon….yum, oh yeah, and cool sweet tea to wash it all down.

It was great to bring back farmers helping farmers, and neighbors helping neighbors. Getting done what needs to be done in order to eat.

Alvin wishes to thank everyone who was involved in this day. He and his family are very grateful for the help and the strong relationship developing between us all. Best I can say to this is Ditto!

Alvin has been bringing his produce to the Coffee and Trade here at Earthaven every Tuesday morning for over a year. So now we can say when we eat those potatoes…hey we helped plant them…now that’s connection to your food!

Rae Jean has always lived on the edge one way or another. For the last eight years it has been at Earthaven. Along with raising heritage chickens, ducks, veggies and herbs, she designs and creates knitting patterns.

Field Day photos by Stephanie Usery

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Brandon came to Earthaven in 1998 in pursuit of meaningful connection to Earth and Spirit. “When I discovered permaculture in Communities magazine, I realized organic farming, natural building and ecovillage lifestyle were what I was after.”

The following year, he returned to Earthaven with his partner, Brandi, and her daughter, Aurora. Along with two other young families, they settled into the pioneer life. “I wanted to live with people taking responsibility for our individual and collective impact on the world—socially, politically, energetically, spiritually. Also,” he admits, “I came for the Hut Hamlet, as unkempt as it was, because it felt like a fairy-tale place. It still does!”

“I got what I came for and a whole lot more: I got an education. Though I had the permaculture concept, I’d never reckoned with what it takes to build a house or create a farm from a standing forest, let alone provide infrastructure for a neighborhood. I learned so much about so many systems we all depend on.”

“What I learned at Earthaven, I maintain as a focus in my life. Being able to assist people in managing power and other home systems is a way of being of service that nourishes me. The lifestyles here represent many of my priorities, and my love and appreciation for the diversity of people has helped me work things out with most everyone.”

Though now living up the road, Brandon is an active part of Earthaven in many ways, meeting social and work-related needs among the members and community at large. He probably visits more neighborhoods in a single day than any resident.

The post Interview with Brandon Greenstein – Neighbor, friend, and former member appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.

The LEAP is Earthaven’s complementary currency note.

In order to find out who within the community accepts LEAPS for payments (towards goods and services), we created a directory.

Recently I decided to create the directory as a shared, online document so that anyone with the link can view and edit it. This meshes with my values of open-source collaboration and public contribution.

We decided to expand the directory to include leaps, dollars, trade, barter, and gift—essentially, anything anyone wants to sell, trade, or offer.

My own entry lists “Macintosh computer consulting services for a sliding scale of dollars or leaps with the option to negotiate other trades.”

I am anticipating adding a “Wanted” section as well. My hopes are that this format will take some of the burden of updating the directory off of a central “manager” and spread it out over those who will benefit from the listing service.

I am also hoping this directory can connect the ecovillage to local neighborhoods, the larger rural area, and to our extended community of alumni, ex-residents, and friends of the ecovillage, wherever they may be on the globe.

Michael Whitmire has lived at Earthaven a total of three years. His interests include organic farming, loving people and nature, talking with folks one-on-one, his daughter and family, the Mankind Project, community networking, and Gaian metaphysics. His plans are nebulous and razor sharp at once, depending on factors still being uncovered.

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My mother recalls an incident when as a toddler I picked up my chair and threw it across the room. I was born this way—and now I live with a lot of folks I’ll bet threw their chairs around!

After many adventures since leaving my suburban upbringing, I’m amazed to have landed in this vibrant, life-supporting place—the closest Home I have ever experienced feeling. The learning, growth and healing opportunities are unimaginable! Earthaven is also a sort of graduate school for me, where I can pursue forgotten intelligences within heart and body through creative, intuitive, feminine means. Bolad’s Kitchen, Tantra, Goddess culture, dance, plant medicine—it’s all bringing me deeper into the mysteries of intelligence.

One thing that sometimes challenges me is my inability as a “non-member” to be more politically active within Earthaven, but I’ve found purpose here in other ways: being a leader in the Hut Hamlet Kitchen, working at Imani farm, working/mentoring with Corinna [Wood], offering yoga, dance, and massage; gardening projects and loving friendships feed so many of my needs. I hope I can give back even a fraction of the gifts I’ve received here.

Jenna Rose Payne brings gifts of beauty, dance, yoga, food and friendship to her beloved Hut Hamlet neighborhood and to many members throughout the community.

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Unplugging from consumer culture, living simply and building community . . . it’s not an easy path! As I review my past ten years here at Earthaven, I’ve discovered that letting go of efficiency may be a shortcut to village togetherness and happiness.

I owe so much gratitude to the Tribal Condo, one of the earliest timber framed, hand built structures at Earthaven and a place that I call home. While the original builders gained much needed skill, building with lumber hand harvested from the land, the house has minimal plumbing, salvaged leaky windows, and no inside insulation between floors. In essence, it’s a house that needs constant maintenance and care. In 2001, I took a leap of faith and bought into the 1000 sq ft “apartment” house.

In the early years, I wondered if I had made a poor decision. Clearly, this house was inefficient and likely to decay sooner than other homes. However, as Suchi (my house partner) and I began to maintain and repair it, we noticed how each episode offered a tremendous opportunity to connect and relate within the village.

One year, our roof blew off when a strong wind funneled down the mountain and pulled out purlins that had only been nailed (not screwed) in. Torrents of rain came down, and all the residents of our home crawled out on the roof at two o’clock in the morning to pull the tin back on. The next day, villagers offered to provide lodging for us and repair the damage. It was awesome how the community helped us through our “disaster!”

While efficiency offers a way to make the most of the available energy, time, and money we have on hand, it doesn’t always maximize opportunities for relationships in a community. Take a look at Nature: at one level it’s very inefficient, but at another level, it provides myriad opportunities to weave a tapestry of dense interdependency within a locale.

“If a house is built too well, so efficiently that it is permanent and refuses to fall apart, then people do not have a reason to come together. Though the house stays together, the people fall apart and nothing gets renewed. Coming together … to do communal tasks gracefully—tasks that a machine could do in an instant anonymously—or to repair rickety houses ensures the very smiley togetherness so missing in the pre-planned, alienated lives of modern civilization.” (Secrets of the Talking Jaguar: Memoirs From the Living Heart of a Mayan Village, by Martín Pretchel.)

Suchi and I chuckled after discovering yet another item to be fixed in the house. “Please pass the bottle of inefficiency,” I decided. “I’d like to sprinkle some more of that on my plate of life.”

Kimchi Rylander was a longtime member of Earthaven Ecovillage. An artist, deep ecologist, and permaculture activist, she was continuously building delicious new cultural topsoil beginning in “her own backyard.” She passed to the spirit world in 2017.

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Once upon a time Earthaven hired a forester, Shawn Swartz (who used to be a Full Member and live here with his family), to guide us towards a forest plan. The plan is designed to inform, instruct and guide us in making choices about how to (or not to) relate to the various forest species we live with.

The first step is to agree on priorities. What’s most important—protection, product, aesthetics, wild life or education? If we manage for protection, will we also get enough firewood? If we manage for product, can we also prioritize restoration? Or the health of one product over others?

“Keep in mind,” Shawn advised, “no management—meaning the elimination of human intervention—is also a management strategy. Leaving a healthy stand alone might be the best choice, but letting the forest take care of itself can also mean letting nut-bearing hardwoods die off, while rhododendron and red maple take over.” We decided protection and product are equally “most important”; if we manage for product, we intend to do so in ways that maximize forest health.

To do a forest inventory, you have to literally take one. The idea is to get a “snapshot” of the forest, a picture of which species are doing well. How tall are the trees? How much timber is there? Are the stands of mixed age and species? What’s in the understory?

To get a fair inventory of the species in our forest, we worked with samples: one “point” for every six acres. With 240 acres designated to remain forested, we had 40 points to march to. March? More like crawl and beat a way through the thickets! And a whole lot of up and down as well, from ridge to ridge, across slopes and gullies. We’d note the parameters of all trees within range of a point: diameter, height, species, regeneration on forest floor, snags, and presence or absence of invasive species. At one point there were sizable trees, the biggest a northern red oak, diameter 17.9 inches. The understory included pipcissiwa, magnolia, silverbell and cat briar.

And so it went—eleven species in all (chestnut oak, scarlet oak, northern red oak, maple, tulip poplar, sourwood, birch, pine, hemlock, locust and black gum in various groupings) plus thickets of rhododendron and/or mountain laurel. Diameters ranged from 1.2 to 38 inches. Except for a point where there were quite a few two-and three-trunk chestnut oaks (trees that grew together and became one tree at about breast height), Shawn said no doubt this place was logged about 80 years ago.

At the last point, Shawn did a site index, an index of productivity based on age and height. He had record sheets and knowledge of what to record and why. If a tree might have logs, he would ask someone to “get the logs of that tree Marie (or Darren or Gaspar) is on.” Someone would pace off the 66 feet and measure with a special tool called a Biltmore Stick. Sometimes an experienced eye was used to estimate logs, especially where it was impossible to sight the base or if the tree had kinks, bends and flaws. Thanks to a leading teacher, or a teaching leader, we learned by doing.

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