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.

The post Young Family, Farm Family appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.

Extra summer cabbage turns into lots of saurkraut.

Elderberries are made into syrup.

Potato harvest at Yellowroot Farm

Harvesting Potatoes….

and more potatoes.

Beautiful field of buckwheat cover crop at Horn of Plenty.

Salad with wild flowers – elder flower, day lilly, and red clover – all edible.

The orchard is bursting with Autumn Olives.

Harvesting the Autumn Olive fruit.

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The tasks are many, and the time is scant. The urge to fit it all in flows hard against the need to develop rhythms with the new child.

The ideal vision is just over the edge, glimpsed for moments, bringing that deep sense of place, at other times seeming so distant that it causes deep doubt and despair.

When viewing the individual pieces of my life (parenting, relationship, farming, community, job, etc.), it makes little sense that I ended up in the situation I have.

As a whole, however, it makes complete sense, and I am grateful for the way it has come to be, especially the relationship with my new son and the community of mutual support that I have built up around me.

I’ve taken out my sharp-edged sword in order to cut away the things in life that don’t “pay off,” either energetically or monetarily. In this way, things are much simpler even in the face of the brand new challenge of integrating a child into a life on a farm in an intentional community, while both of us parents work part-time jobs to pay the bills.

Fortunately, it is winter, which allows us a little bit of a break to decide where we will take our farming endeavors next growing season. It will no doubt involve more participation from other folks in the community.

After all, that’s why we chose to start our farm here.

right: Andy and Forest take a much-needed nap.

Long-time member Andy Bosley and his partner Julie McMahan run Yellowroot Farm, a biodynamic and organic farm with pastured poultry and pork and a CSA. They live, farm and work at or near Earthaven.

The post Becoming a Father appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.

2010 was a year of delicious bounty.  Natural factors such as the intensity of last winter along with the mildness and wetness of the following spring gave us fruit galore. In personal orchards, on farms, and in the wild, we had our pick of tasty fruits from May until even now in late October. Strawberries, juneberries, Nanking cherries, blueberries, jostaberries, blackberries, wineberries, currants, gooseberries, figs, muscadines and scuppernongs, apples, persimmons!  Yummmmm!!!

Many folks supplemented their own garden produce with a share in Yellowroot Farm’s CSA.  The CSA provided 15 shares a week for 22 weeks.  Shares included beets, carrots, lettuce, escarole, turnips and cucumbers in the early season and later included tomatoes, okra, peppers, potatoes, garlic, more greens, and plenty of sauerkraut and kimchee (spicy, fermented, Asian sauerkraut).

Bee Happy Farm, run by Marjorie Vestal in the Bellavia neighborhood has been very busy establishing a large  thornless blackberry orchard which produced enough fruit this year for mead-making. In addition, Marjorie has been implementing a sizeable garden on her homesite including mushroom logs, herbs galore, more fruit, and a small pond.

Gateway Farm’s sheep flock produced 30 fleeces, 8 pelts, and 300-350 pounds of lamb. Unseen to customers, but another high value crop, Gateway also produced 1500, 50-pound bales of hay from an off-land lease nearby.  Fall is the annual stock-up-on-squash time. Gateway raised 2000 pounds of a variety of squash and 100 pounds of onions. We’re looking forward to fresh and as-local-as-it-gets turkeys for the holidays.

Many villagers got their pasture-raised and free-range eggs from Imani Farm this year. Pictured to the right are new chicks (came in the mail but being raised by a momma hen who adopted them upon arrival.) Imani also grazed their upper pasture with their second year steers. In the lower field Imani grew plenty of blueberries and about 1000 pounds of tomatoes (see our blog entry).

Jonathan Swiftcreek is an avid food producer, preserver and forager, always open to learning new forms of reverence towards food. He is a new member of Earthaven as well as the Village Terraces Cohousing Neighborhood and a participant in many of Earthaven’s farms. He and his partner, eli will be first-time parents in April.

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          In neighborhood news: The Main Street neighborhood changed its name to the Forest Garden neighborhood, the Village Terraces neighborhood held several work parties to load firewood into the two-story firewood shed they built over the summer, and Brian Love and Chris Farmer moved into their new homes in the Gateway neighborhood.

The post News Notes – early Spring 2010 appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.

          In November, the Useful Plants Nursery hosted a fall sale and Plant Jam. This was the first UPN event hosted at Earthaven and many people came out to see the nursery, hear local speakers, and take home some useful plants!

          In December Earthaven hosted a tour from the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) annual conference in Black Mountain. Here they are hearing about Yellowroot farm from Julie McMahan and Andy Bosley.

Join us Saturday, December 12, 10-6 for the Bizarre Bazaar. We’ll have supervised craft making for children of all ages (dry felting, holiday decorations, snowflakes, etc) and a snack and drink table – have some/leavesome. Bring a musical instrument and make a joyful noise. Vendor tables available by donation and reservation. Call 828-669-2073 to reserve a table or for more information.

The post News Notes – Winter 2009 appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.

The Seedlings Program is the early childhood part of the Forest Children Parents’ Cooperative. It is inspired by Waldorf education, a way of teaching and being with children devised by turn-of-the-last-century scientist and philosopher Rudolf Steiner (who is also the father of bio-dynamic agriculture among other things).

During the first stage of childhood, from birth until around the age of six or seven, children are learning and experiencing the world primarily through physical activity. The Seedlings Program, for children ages three and a half to six, provides plenty of opportunity for learning and meaningful engagement through exploration, creative play, and purposeful work.

Day to day

Each day in the Seedlings Program follows a gentle rhythm that the children look forward to and that provides them with a sense of security. The day begins with creative free play; an opportunity for children to exercise healthy fantasy. This is also the time for crafts, art, and cooking projects. This time is followed by circle time, during which the children sing and recite verses. Finger plays and rhymes inspire a love of language and develop children’s fine and gross motor skills. Midmorning brings the time for our snack and the children help set the table with beeswax candles and cloth napkins.

After our snack time the children take turns washing the dishes and sweeping the floor. Our work is accompanied by “working songs.” Next we go outside to explore and learn about nature. Sometimes we simply play at the new play ground, other times we go on “wild hunts” through the forest. We often go out to collect things, such as herbs for tea, leaves for crafts, wild greens for salads or hickory nuts for drying. This spring we started a small school vegetable garden and are looking forward to making a scarlet runner bean tipi for playing in (and eating!).

Soon it is time for our lunch and after that the morning draws to a close with me telling a story or fairy tale. This is a time for listening and quiet reflection. Stories are told from memory, and special attention is paid to the words chosen and pronunciation, in an effort to engage the children’s imaginations fully and allow them to develop their language skills. Every day of the week includes artistic activity such as water color painting, beeswax modeling, drawing with beeswax crayons or other crafts, and dance and movement. Here process is emphasized over product.

Throughout the morning, the children and I engage in purposeful work such as carding wool, shucking corn, doing dishes, creating useful or beautiful objects, and cleaning up. Practical work provides children with meaningful actions to imitate, and it is through imitation that a child learns.

Our toys are created from natural, simple materials, such as wood, colorful silks, shells and smooth stones so as to be open ended (they can be more than one thing) and beautiful.

Through out the year we focused on a different theme each month. We learned about farms by visiting Gateway farm and Yellowroot Farm as well as other farms in the area. We learned all about sheep and wool with our “Sheep to Shawl” theme. We visited the sheep and farmers at Gateway Farm. The children helped wash raw wool, then carded it (a coveted activity!) and helped spin it. While some of the older kids are learning to work with a drop spindle (fantastic for small motor skills that are needed for learning to write), I do most of the spinning. We are working with our wool in other ways as well, such as wet felting and weaving. Other themes we have explored include the Autumn Harvest, Winter Holidays, and finally Spring.

The children have now graduated to the Saplings Program for 5-10 year olds. Thank you all for your support and welcoming the Seedlings into your day-to-day lives.

Tanya Carwyn has been an exploring member at Earthaven for nearly a year and was the program coordinator of the Seedlings program.

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Sorry to our subscribers for the long gap between this and our last newsletter.  Much has been going on at Earthaven despite our silence! Some of these are covered in this newsletter; another issue is planned for release in about six weeks. If you want to continue to be on our newsletter list, please click the radio button.

Five Icelandic Sheep have arrived at Brian and Farmer’s Gateway Farm. They are considered good breeds for milk, meat and wool. In April we expect a group lambing. Cute! Cute! Cute!

Michaeljon is rebounding wonderfully from bypass surgery, having only just come back from a trip to Machu Picchu, with Kiesa, when we were all surprised by his sudden illness.

Village Terraces neighborhood cleared another three-plus acres of land on the west side of the complex. And Martha and Finch moved into their downstairs flat next door at “Pokeberry Hill.”

Andy and Julie are expanding their biodynamic Yellowroot Farm by clearing close to an acre near the new campground. Their second CSA-season is just about sold out.

Chuck just returned from a permaculture teaching and design sojourn in Jamaica. Since he and Marjorie were married last Thanksgiving, life has gotten fuller than ever, as activities resume to move his Useful Plants Nursery to an officially leased ag site near the former campground. Chuck’s apprentice of the past year, Bruce Johnston, is about to become a new Full Member and a co-lessee on the site.

Folks from the Mediation Center in Asheville, through their federally funded Community Mediation Project, have twice (at our request!) sent a skilled mediator to help us communicate more effectively and prepare the ground to go deeper into some of our hotter issues. Some members have said they plan to take mediation training at the Center this season.

Jill graduated from Gaia University’s Masters program and intends to bring Gaia students to Earthaven for accredited learning experiences. Soon-to-be Provisional Member Mana McLeod has now enrolled in the Masters program as well.

The line to board the Membership Train continues its steady flow. There are currently still eight Provisional Members living on the land and another five Exploring Members, two of whom have already begun the Provisional application process.

Greg has gotten the Earthaven weather station up and running.  You can get very up-to- date information by going to www.earthaven.org and clicking on the weather link. More detail in the next newsletter.

The post News Notes – Spring 2008 appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.

This is the second year of operation for “Yellowroot Farm,” the half-acre Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm we operate at Earthaven. This year we have 20 shares, five more than last year. We plan to grow food for the Hut Hamlet Kitchen and its 15 or so members as well. Our new name, “Yellowroot,” reflects a part of our sacred landscape at Earthaven. We love the yellowroot plant, which grows abundantly along Taylor Creek (less than 100 yards from our farm), because of the plant’s beauty and medicinal value.

Over the winter we built a large, 14 x 30 ft. greenhouse, designed around our great find of 8 large recycled 4 x 7 ft. windows. The greenhouse, financed by the two of us, was built by Mihaly, Robert, and Andy, with the site cleared by Cailen, and the lumber felled and milled on the land.

Starting plants in flats in the greenhouse has allowed us to get an earlier start with many more plants this year. Last year folks received kale, collards, lettuce, chard, dandelion greens, potatoes, tomatoes, summer squash,okra, beets, carrots, onions, garlic, peppers, turnips, and beans. This year the season will go into the fall and shares will include sweet potatoes, several varieties of winter squash and pumpkins, corn and some of our homemade kraut and pesto.

The season is now fully upon us, requiring long and wonderful days both in the field and the greenhouse. It feels so wonderful to have our hands in the dirt again! We have been working hard since mid-February filling the greenhouse with baby plant starts, getting the soil ready for planting, setting up irrigation, and making fence repairs. We have a variety of yummy greens already in the field that will be ready for harvest in mid-May.

We appreciate that our shareholders support local, sustainable, biodynamic agriculture. We believe this choice is crucial to creating positive change in the world, here and beyond! It gives people the opportunity to eat fresh and vital food, know who’s growing their food and where it’s coming from, the opportunity to learn about organic and biodynamic growing techniques, and much more.

If you’d like to help, Yellowroot Farm can use donations of large clean baskets, large plastic bins (2’x3′ or so), portable coolers, a digital camera, a chalkboard and chalk, volunteer labor, Leaps (Earthaven’s alternative currency), and of course money to help us keep doing what we love.

The post Yellowroot CSA Begins Second Year appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.

Yellowroot Farm in the Hut Hamlet is up and running again, with seedings for what will become lush and vibrant biodynamic vegetables. (See “Yellowroot CSA Begins Second Year”)

In late April, Cailen Campbell’s goats, April and Luna, had their kids, and now moms and kids are sharing a pen in front of the Tribal Condo in the Hut Hamlet. Cailen, Lee, and Mihaly rotate the grazing of their animals at various sites around Earthaven, including the Village Green, the fallow side of Yellowroot Farm, and the “New Lumberyard” site near Gateway Field.

Recently a crew of loggers and farmers, including Brian Love, Mike Odel, Chris Farmer, Mihaly, Cailen, and work exchangers Galen Ballantine, Drew Hoffman, and Bruce Johnston, further cleared the New Lumberyard site and prepared it for grazing. The logs from the trees that were felled were milled as lumber for the Pokeberry Hill duplex at Village Terraces (see “New Buildings”), and the stumps were left in the ground. The pasture was fertilized with organic fertilizers and planted in perennial grasses and clovers. This one-acre site (called the “New Lumberyard” because it once was going to be a lumberyard), is ideal for grazing rather than crop cultivation because it’s on a slope and too steep for a tractor, has stumps, and is north-facing.

Last spring, Brian Love and Chris Farmer (known as “Farmer”) started their four-acre integrated-agriculture project, Gateway Field, by clearing four acres of forest, adding organic soil amendments, and growing and tilling under two “green manure” cover crops. Their next step is a grass rotational pasturage system with Icelandic sheep, and probably endangered heirloom breed turkeys and chickens. This requires a sturdy fence to protect livestock and provide a fixed point for attaching lightweight moveable fencing for when the animals are sequentially moved around the field in the rotational grazing system. This spring, with the help of Mike, Bruce, Galen, and others, Brian and Farmer built a 2220 ft fence around their field, using woven wire fencing attached to charred locust posts every 15 feet. They’ll soon add two electrified wires around the perimeter to complete the fence, and, perhaps as early as November, will bring in their small herd of sheep.

Last fall, Michaeljon Drouin and Andy Bosley converted an existing pond along Rosy Branch Road, just uphill from the hydro station, into a trout pond. They built up the dam so the pond would hold more water, and ran more water into it from nearby Rosy Branch Creek. “Trout need cool, aerated water to survive,” Andy says, “and raising the water level and increasing the pond size meant we could grow more trout in the pond.” In late March of this year Michaeljon and Andy stocked the pond with 200 3-to-5-inch rainbow trout purchased from a regional trout breeder. “By April some of the largest trout sited were already 7 to 8 inches long!” Andy reports. The plan is to begin harvesting the trout when the biggest ones are about 12 inches long, perhaps by mid-July. The trout will be sold to Earthaven members and neighbors, and Michaeljon and Andy will experiment with making smoked fish for longer-term preservation.

Michaeljon and Andy are currently arranging with the Forestry and Agriculture committee to create a second larger pond downhill from the first, in order to expand their aquaculture operation.

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