Transcription from the Chicken Wrangling

NikiAnne:

We’re out here at the horn of plenty field with nutter, the great pyrenees and a bunch of chicks.
Broiler chicks.
And some wranglers.
So that these chicks are protected from the hawks.
They obviously have a mind of their own and 
it’s a little chaotic.
But we’re getting…..

Jonathan:
Pretend like you’re a fence.
All right.
If all the kids kind of stand over here and like so they don’t go past this way.
Yeah and then andy’s creating a funnel.
So i’m just standing like a big line or actually all these people just stand in a big line so as the chickens come they’ll be scared to go in.

Okay  

NikiAnne:
Come on chicks. The point is to protect you.
There you go here you go here you go.
Well done team.

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Simultaneously this year, three new members in three different neighborhoods are working on setting up their own unique versions of the tiny house. Near the front of the property, in the Forest Garden neighborhood, Liz Diaz and Joseph Rasband have just moved into their creation. Joseph built the house on the trailer bed liberated when a tree fell on their trailer in 2016. In addition to a separate utility shed for their solar components and other equipment, a detachable mud room has been joined to the front door. Both Joseph and Liz are dedicated farmers, whose cows, chicken co-op and other gifts to the community continue to thrive while the construction project heads towards completion.

Donna Ireland recently relocated the magical little house to the Bellavia Gardens neighborhood that her son, Richard, built her for the purpose of living at Earthaven. An unstoppable gardener, her neighbors can look forward to her myriad contributions to the beauty, nutrition and all-over fertility of the Bellavia experience. Donna is a professional bodyworker and health educator whose Beneficial Way program will be presented at Earthaven in the near future.

above: Donna and Richard stop a moment for a snapshot during his recent visit.

Also, up at Hawk Holler, Sam Del Vecchio is fulfilling his long held dreams about living lightly on the land. His tiny house project has various Earthaven experts chipping in their experience and expertise for this slightly less than tiny moveable living space. The approximately 32’x10′ (interior) space will be built with natural, non-toxic Thermacork walls that are 100% cork and completely breathable. Sam and his family (wife, Julia, and young ones Luca and Meira) came to Earthaven several years ago, finally winding up in our Eastern-most neighborhood, where Julia plans to build her little house on the very next site. An acupuncturist, Sam has several other healing modalities under his belt, but is devoting most of his time these days to his new home.       

 above: Sam and the Thermacork.

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Many of her closest friends and neighbors from Earthaven visited her at the hospice. Her daughter, Diana Leafe Christian, also an Earthaven member, and her son John Christian, from California, lived with Rosetta at the hospice during her several weeks’ stay.

A “Celebration of Rosetta’s Life” memorial was held at Andy and Julie’s house, next door to where Rosetta lived. Diana showed slides of Rosetta’s long life and her years working for United Airlines; living in Honolulu; her many travels to Europe, Asia, and Africa after she retired; and the introduction during her lifetime of talking movies, television, computers, and cell phones.

People shared fond stories of Rosetta as a friend and neighbor, recalling how extraordinarily healthy and functional she remained even until her late 90s. Many recalled how mentally sharp she was, her sense of humor, and her kindness.

Allie led us in singing “Pachamama, I’m Coming Home,” and then we sang “Rosetta, you are beautiful, Rosetta, you are strong….”

We ended by dancing to one of Rosetta’s favorite songs from the Big Band era— Glenn Miller’s In the Mood. Everyone agrees, “We’ll miss you, Rosetta.”

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Ramona and Julie mixing biodynamic preparation.

[Dear Everybody,]

We had to make a conscious decision to scale back the farm while raising our young children—Forest, going on 5, and Ramona, 2. It hasn’t always been easy to step back from the farm that has been our other baby since 2005. One of the reasons we choose to live in a rural community and help create agricultural land is because we prefer this lifestyle for raising our children (and we think they prefer it, too).

left: Young farm hands Forest and Ramona.

It isn’t always easy to have kids around the farm—hot sun, mechanical equipment, sharp edges—to name a few, but there are many aspects that ARE conducive, and increasingly their awareness is such that they know a good place to stand when the tractor is around, or how to take care of themselves—get a drink of water and play in the shade.

We took a short break from raising pigs but have begun again, in large part so the kids can participate in raising their own food. It’s a delight to watch Forest, the big brother, help his little sister across the road and down the path to the pig pen, each with a bucket of foodscraps for the trough. It’s in these moments that we remember why we are doing this, and how important it is that we keep it up.

 Ramona lends a hand.

Earthaven turns to Andy Bosley for a lot more than farming. He’s a key figure in our Forestry Plan, a gifted facilitator (i.e., cat herder), and has been active in the community’s men’s meetings on and off for years.

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We glimpsed Rosetta’s beginnings in Indiana, her early move to and marriage in Los Angeles, her family’s move to Hawaii and her own world travels while a career employee with the airlines. Perhaps the most enticing pictures of all were those of Rosetta we were told she sent to her husband when he was in the service.

Many of us take time to visit and check in with Rosetta, who still walks to the Tuesday morning Coffee & Trade Hour at the Village Center from her home in the Forest Garden neighborhood (in good weather). Usually Geni carries groceries home for Rosetta so she’s free to wield her cane as needed. We give thanks for the gift of Rosetta’s graceful carrying of her elder years.

 Rosetta as a young woman in California.

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Earthaven member Rosetta Neff celebrated her 99th birthday here January 3, 2015. She may be the world’s oldest ecovillager! When Rosetta began visiting Earthaven with her daughter, Diana, in October, 2000, both were living an hour away In Polk County. They had been impressed with their visits and, finally, Rosetta suggested they join Earthaven.

Rosetta and Diana had a small house built in the Forest Garden Neighborhood, moving to Earthaven when Rosetta was 88. Like other ecovillagers worldwide, Rosetta uses wood heat, a composting toilet (hers is indoors), spring and roof-catchment water heated on-demand with propane, and off-grid solar power, which she keeps an eye on by regularly reading their trimetric meter.

In her early years at Earthaven, when she could hear better, Rosetta attended Council Meetings and stayed tuned in to the process of building the community. One of her concerns was our lack of children. “If we don’t start making it easier for young families to join,” she warned, “in a few years we’ll be just another old folks’ home!” (It did get easier—now many children live at Earthaven, along with their families, which of course delights Rosetta. One of her favorites is four-year-old Forest Bosley, Julie McMahon and Andy Bosley’s son. He often climbs into her lap to look at books from her shelf. His favorite — The Humanure Handbook).

Although Rosetta stopped driving several years ago, she still cooks, does dishes, helps with laundry, and enjoys visiting with many Earthaven friends and neighbors. She especially appreciates buying farm products from neighbors at Tuesday morning Coffee & Trade, which is her favorite social event at Earthaven.

Diana Leafe Christian teaches Sociocracy and other elements of the Ecovillage Design Course worldwide.

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My neighborhood (Village Terraces) has a shared washer, but I like to use Shangri-Laundry when the weather is too rainy for outdoor drying. And, I often sleep too late to get my wash hung on the line in time to dry. 🙂

Diana Leafe Christian organized the laundry coop and the system was designed by Greg Geis. It is easy to use. When you walk into the nice, cool basement, this motion-sensor light comes on, so you can see to put your laundry in the washer before inserting money that starts your timed access to electricity: lights, washer, dryer, and DSL broadband Internet.

The laundry supplies environmentally friendly laundry soap and booster for you to use at no extra charge, as well as about eco-cleaners you can buy at Shangri-Laundry.

While the washer is running, you can hang out on the sofa and go online or read magazines that are provided. You can lock yourself in for privacy (and there are toilet facilities). There are plans to install a bathtub later, so you will be able to relax in a hot bath while the machines spin!

Here is Greg moving his laundry from the washer up to the dryer. Both the washer and dryer are energy-efficient and have multiple settings from heavy-duty to delicate. The front-loading washer is gentle on your clothes. It senses the size of the load and adjusts the amount of water accordingly. The dryer can be set for a timed cycle or to sense when your clothes are dry. The length of washer and dryer cycles can vary based on the load size and the options you select.

When you are down to your last 15 minutes (a dollar’s worth of time), a constant beeping will start and this blue light will blink. You can press the blue button to stop the beeping if you don’t need any more time. Insert another dollar as needed to keep the electricity going until you are done.

There are many helpful signs to guide you through the steps. The Shangri-Laundry is available for Earthaven residents, visitors, and neighbors. We hope it will help make our lives more sustainable by letting folks avoid a trip into town to do laundry. We are interested in feedback to make the laundry meet your needs–please “like” us and stay in touch on our Facebook Page.

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On her next-to-last day at Earthaven, our Forest Children’s Collective tutor Amakiasu (center), and her kids Chioke, 17 (left) and Ayo, 13 (right), sheet-mulched the slope between Greg’s homesite and our place with cardboard and straw. You can also see one of our water-catchment tanks, the greenhouse (with a shower inside for lodgers and neighbors), and in the far left, Greg’s apartment and workshop, and his solar panels.

Another view of our cleaned-up slope. Our lodging units and greenhouse are at the top, and our row of compost bins below. Thanks to the sheet-mulching, people driving into Earthaven, our lodgers, and Greg won’t have to look at a jungly mass of pokeberries, sumacs, tiny poplar trees, blackberries-on-steroids, horse-thistle (eek!), and other assorted “please-don’t-grow-here!” plants. (For about 6 months anyway.) Someday this slope will grow berries!

Thank you, Amakiasu, Ayo, and Chioke. Goodbye . . . and . . . come back soon!

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