A few years ago, our interns at Imani Farm, NikiAnne and Drew, told us about a rumor that at the equinox, eggs would balance perfectly upright when put on end on a flat surface, because of the tilt of the earth at that time.

Well, Lee and the interns got down on the floor in the Village Terraces Common Kitchen and, after some effort, balanced the egg! The only thing is, we never tried it when it wasn’t equinox, so for all we know, we could balance an egg like this any day of the year.
🙂

Imani Farm chickens are pastured and receive soy-free, organic feed. A limited number of their eggs are available in Asheville. No GMOs! When you go to the farmer’s market, please check with your local egg farmer to see if they are using conventional feed (GMO) and, if so, tell them you want to pay more for GMO-free eggs. Let’s use our consumer buying power to support organic feed rather than Monsanto GMOs!

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Many of the women of Earthaven attended the Second Annual Southeast Women’s Herbal Conference held during the Fall Equinox, sponsored by Red Moon Herbs. Starhawk’s presence as this year’s keynote speaker was particularly significant for Earthaveners.

Starhawk is well known as the author of eleven books, including The Spiral Path and The Fifth Sacred Thing. However, it’s her more recent books that specifically and eloquently explain the fundamental values that are at the core of Earthaven’s existence. Webs of Power covers much of the political action spectrum, including the importance of bioregional economic self-sufficiency and its relationship to strategies of political power. The significance of understanding and working with Nature is made abundantly clear in her other recent book, Earth Path.

Starhawk’s focus at the conference was very much about the material in Earth Path. She led the intensive through a series of awareness exercises. The exercises enhance sense awareness, allowing participants to be more receptive to information from Nature. This information is always available to us, if we only give ourselves access to the natural world. A guided meditation followed the exercises. The beauty of guided meditation is that it allows us to screen out ego filters accumulated in the rough-and-tumble world, where abuse and failure can block our vision and limit our options. Then the information we glean from Nature can help us see the steps needed to care for our world and ourselves more skillfully.

Starhawk addressed the feelings of helplessness that come so often to people who are daunted by the enormous tasks before us, of changing consumer culture and cleaning up so much pollution. Hearing from her about advances in the use of bacteria and fungi to clean up pollution were very inspiring. She pointed out that we are part of nature and that nature can use humans to cure the distructiveness of other human actions.

If you would like to learn more about Starhawk’s work, the books mentioned above are a captivating and easy-to-understand resource. You may buy these books at your local bookstore, or through Red Moon Herbs.

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In Oriental metaphoric tradition, Spring’s direction is East, its color yellow (or green-yellow), its quality innocence. The time of day is sunrise, and it corresponds to the Wood element. Its animal image is an eagle, flying high over the landscape. Spring is a time of many possibilities, and springtime energy brings openness.

Spring begins with the Equinox, a few days’ relative balance of Sun and Moon power, the days once again as long as the nights. Here in Western North Carolina, there is the likelihood of warm temperatures and the potential for snow (of which we’ve had very little this year).

By this year’s Spring Equinox, Lenten Rose, Crocus and Daffodil had already flowered. When I knelt down to smell the Hyacinths (swooning), I saw the Irises already fanning out their broad, flat green leaves. Robins were everywhere, nests and birdsong appearing literally out of the blue.

On days like these, the heart leaps up to see the trees and bushes budding, while the mind sends a flash of fear for them and the weather they may yet have to survive. However, at press time, we can say that Spring temperatures stuck around and all the buds were saved.

In general, the last frost date for the Asheville area is May 10th, but Earthaven is tucked into the edge of a iso-thermal belt that runs through Rutherford County, so we often have frost-free nights several weeks ahead of Asheville and Black Mountain.

This Spring at Earthaven is definitely a time of new beginnings! Just come up to the end of Camp Elliott Road and see the cleared, graded, soon-to-be-seeded “big sky” reality at Gateway Ag Field. Major food production planned here for years to come, with several of our young men earning “sweat equity” during the establishment of the farm. (See “Sweat and Ye Shall Receive” in this issue. Gateway Farm will be featured in the Summer newsletter.)

Continuing along Another Way to Rosy Branch Creek (second crossing), you’ll soon be driving over our second bridge. On the far side, turn right to Imani Farm and meet new residents Carla and Hijo, a ewe and her lamb. (Don’t forget to say hello to Bridgit the cow, now almost a year old.)

More surprises: arrive in the Hut Hamlet and discover that ag field in its new incarnation as “Finally Farming CSA.”

And those are just the obvious things. Interiorly, Earthaven members are creating and recreating our community with every conversation, meeting, decision, and with a revitalized Strategic Planning Committee that has begun actualizing visions that have been nurtured for more than a decade.

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