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.

The post Earthaven Tiny Housing Boom appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.

By Liz Diaz

The harsh truth about milk is that it was made by a mother for a baby.  We take the baby cows away early in order to get the milk and in exchange offer care and food in other forms.

L.C. (Large Cow) has been bred 4 times, four years in a row, so that we may continue to have delicious, nutritious milk for our family.  While it is true that we separate momma from baby, we also make sure baby gets enough milk, fed to the calf via a bottle, two or three times a day.

But not this year.  This year L.C.’s calf would get adopted by L.C.’s daughter, who was due to calve around the same time as L.C.  If we could somehow convince Mireille (pronounced mee-ray) that she had given birth to 2 calves, then Mireille could serve as nursemaid and L.C.’s calf would have a bovine mama and get all the milk she wanted.  And we would get out of having to bottle feed, water, and otherwise take care of the young one which can be a tedious, daily task.

We figured it was worth a try, but we weren’t too hopeful.  I had read that it was

difficult to get a cow to adopt a calf that wasn’t her own.  Cows depend on their sense of smell to tell them a lot of things, including who their babies are—or are not.

But we had to try.  So when Mireille calved first, we froze the placenta.  When L.C. calved 10 days later, we pulled it out of the freezer to thaw.  We separated L.C.’s calf (named Coco) and (on the second day, after bottle feeding her colostrum for a day) we put her in the barn with Mireille’s calf (named KaCow).  Coco and KaCow spent about 8 hours together, with no mother, mixing smells, peeing on each other, and keeping each other company.  We can all tell you it wasn’t an easy 8 hours.  The calves were hungry and wanted their mommies.  Mothers were full of milk and wanted to feed their young.  The whole village could hear the incessant mooing.

Finally, in the evening, we tied the placenta around Coco like a belt.  I rubbed the juices from the thawed placenta all over Coco—top to bottom—in hopes that she would smell like her big ½ sister (who is also her neice).

Then we brought Mireille into the barn, distracted her with some food, and reintroduced her to her “twins”.  There was definitely some confusion, but ultimately Mireille let Coco nurse!  We could hardly believe it.

Two more days of isolation and we let the calves into the field with their mother.  Again, we stood in disbelief as the two calves nursed with no real problems.

The true relief that it had worked came he next morning when Lee reported

that Coco was nursing from Mireille while KaCow just laid contentedly on the ground next to them.  At that point, we could congratulate each other and the cows for a job well done.  As Lee says, everyone’s got a job on the farm, and Mireille is doing double duty.  We’re so proud.

Liz Diaz arrived as a work-exchange at Earthaven in the Spring of 2010, just in time to jump into Imani Farm, Village Terraces Neighborhood, and other exciting adventures. Her farm specialty is moody and unpredictable animals – of which she has many harrowing stories. She currently works for Useful Plants Nursery and takes care of Oakley Swiftcreek, her adopted nephew.

The post Calf Adoption – A Surprising Success by Liz Diaz appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.

Recently the Village Terraces trampoline mat ripped. For some time, we all decided to jump around the hole. After a few weeks, the Village Terrace-ians decided to replace the mat so they could have their precious trampoline to its maximum bouncing potential. “Since the old mat had gotten stretched out, the new one will make the trampoline even bouncer then before.” said newly appointed V.T.-ian Matthew.

Four people, using ropes and muscles pull on a very tight spring.

So on July 3, 2011, at 5:00 p.m., all the V.T.-ians gathered by the trampoline to apply the new mat. “I thought it would only take one hour or two at the most,” said Dylan, the youngest V.T. resident.

As it pushed the second hour and they only had about half of the springs attached they realized it was a much more strenuous task then they had thought. Then they applied a series of ropes and risky positions pushing their strength to the limit.

Mae, Liz & Dylan happily jumping at the end of it all.

To their excitement, as it approached 9 o’clock they finished their endeavor with sighs of relief. Now to everyone’s great satisfaction V.T. has a bouncier trampoline for everyone to use.

Tessa Hovan-Bartalos is a 13-year-old, part-time resident of  Earthaven. She spends summers and holiday vacations with her dad, Mihaly, and the many friends she’s made over the last 11 years at Earthaven. When she’s not at Earthaven, she lives in Nashville, TN with her mom Dana. In addition to writing this article, Tessa also took all the photos.

The post Adventures in Trampoline Repair appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.

	The Forest Garden Learning Center has a new patio on the north side of the greenhouse. The new space is designed to serve multiple functions, such as a fruit stand, rest area, and welcome space for courses. Melissa Thurmond led the project, with help from friends.
	The OFF the GRIDdle Eco-Café is taking shape near the Council Hall with the arrival of a pair of shipping containers that will form the kitchen and dining area. The café is being developed as a private venture by Suchi Lathrup, Lance Penley, Liz Diaz, and redmoonsong. The café team plans to have the kitchen ready for a New Year’s party. Follow them on their Facebook page:
	In farm news, on September 15, Imani Farm’s cow, LC (Large Cow), gave birth to a heifer calf named Sassy Mae, and on October 8, Yellowroot Farm’s sow, LaFonda, gave birth to 11 healthy, red-headed piglets.

The post News from the Village appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.