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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Fresh Baked Bread

Earthaven-grown Blackberries

Muffins for Sale

Spicy & Mellow Kimchi

Purple Potatoes

Squash Flowers & Squash

Bunches O’ Carrots

Mushroom Log filled with Shiitake’s

Cherry Tomatoes

Artwork by Blackwolf

Fresh Garlic

And of course…..Coffee

Thanks to eli Swiftcreek who also organizes the Coffee & Trade!

photos by eli Swiftcreek

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Three years ago, Earthaven rented its first central office at the Trading Post. It served as our office, Internet café, information center and snack depot. This month we move the office to the Council Hall which helps us save money (rent to the Trading Post) and also centralizes our records in the same location as our meetings.

Suchi and Paul load the Taylor Water Stove from the outside.

Another fantastic change is our new Taylor Water Stove, which sits outside and is fed by wood stored nearby (no more messy ashes or hauling wood inside to deal with). We now bask in the warmth of radiant floor heat, which keeps the building at a constant temperature.

An intimate “lounge” outside the office invites us to enjoy videos, get online, or play a board game in our (ahem) free time.

Kimchi sits in our beautiful new office space.

But maybe the biggest change has been an addition onto the Council Hall which houses a flush guest toilet and a small kitchen complete with propane stove, plentiful hot water (the Taylor provides this too), and a place to wash and store dishes and other kitchen basics. It was a challenging project, as the builders had to adjoin it to the load-bearing straw bale wall and connect electricity and plumbing to a system laid down twelve years earlier. Yet Thanksgiving and Solstice, as well as other small parties have been easier and more joyous due to our indoor facilities.

Ohbeeb and Sue playing a game in our new lounge.

As a result of all these changes, not only has the office moved, but Yoga and Qigong now take place there as well as our weekly, Tuesday morning “Coffee and Trade.” Potlucks are more fun in the cozy Hall and our newly improved “one-room-serves-all” facility continues to be a great location for classes and celebrations of all kinds.

Suchi Lathrop, an Earthaven member, shares a household at the Tribal Condo. She gives tours, is on the visitors committee, created the Peace Garden, and has been a leader in social organizing. She started the Coffee and Trade event as well as the weekly happy hour, and has helped run the Trading Post for the last three years. Her current project is a workers’ cooperative building a code kitchen.

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Suchi has been living at Earthaven since 2002. She began searching for community after her partner died, hoping to find social connections and a cooperative living situation.  Now, eight years later, Suchi is intensely involved in community life.

Suchi gives tours, is on the visitors’ committee, created the Peace Garden, and has been a leader in social organizing. She also started the Coffee and Trade as well as the weekly happy hour, and helps run the Trading Post. “Hospitality is my passion,” she said. Recently, Suchi became involved in starting a workers’ cooperative to build a code kitchen that can serve guests.

When she’s not busy organizing, Suchi spends her time maintaining her share of the household at Tribal Condo. She also enjoys reading, studying, and walking the land.  “If you wanted to imagine a perfect retirement this is pretty close to it,” she said. “As a Quaker, this appeals to me because we live simply here. We are very close to nature.”

Before coming to Earthaven, Suchi was running an Independent Living program for people who were developmentally challenged. She also spent time as a librarian and an electrician. “I wasn’t passionate about any of those jobs,” she said. “If I had it to do over again I’d be a psychotherapist.”

Suchi is currently studying Nonviolent Communication, Body-Centered Psychotherapy, and Zegg Forum. Everywhere she looks there are new opportunities to learn. “This is a beautiful community,” she said. “It’s very diverse and it’s very dynamic. It’s never dull.”

As much as she loves life at Earthaven, Suchi admits that there have been some challenges. “There have been difficult times. The thing about community is that you go through it instead of flying away from it. It’s hard to imagine living anywhere else.”

Davene Wasser came to Earthaven in April 2010 with her son Eli and husband Jamie to simplify her life and live more closely to nature. She is a writer, editor, educator, and artist. After ten years of researching community, Davene is thrilled to be living her dream.

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