By Anthony Weston
As all assiduous readers of this blog will know, in early September we had a dedicated 
workday/workshop to raise the slipstraw walls of the pumphouse. Terry, Joe, Randy, Amy, Sean, and me, all of us led by NC’s cob guru and HM advisor, Greg Allen, got ourselves thoroughly clay-covered and all literally had a hand in the building of walls between the frame structure that I have been patiently assembling with the help of others — most recently George. You can see the first steps — some cob beginnings, and some of the forms for the first layer of slipstraw, basically straw coated with a thin film of clay — in the first photo.
But then did the wall go up! By the end of the day, Greg had begun plastering and the walls were close to the top. Check out the second photo. It’s going to be beautiful!
We quit just in time for Anthony and Amy to finish packing up before rains came — in fact we just slipped in this workday before a run of rainy days. And then things really got serious, when the forecasts for Hurricane Florence called for possibly 60 mph winds and days and days of heavy rain. What to do? Slipstraw should not get very wet. Normally it’s protected by the plaster that encases it, but we’d just started and the plaster was partial and itself not yet dry. The answer you can see in there third photo: I wrapped the whole thing up and put on a layer of serious tarps, thoroughly strapped down. Greg’s good advice!
In the event, Florence was not so bad. I have been able to take off the tarps and the wrapping, let it start drying out again, and am resuming work again before I head off to join Amy in Chile. In fact if anyone wants to join — helping put on the roof especially — I expect to be at it all weekend (29 and 30 September) and would welcome the help — just let me know. Regardless, though, stop by and have a look next time you are on the land. The stone bench built into the front is meant for sitting — give it a try!
Wednesday, September 19, was sweet-potato-digging day at Hart’s Mill. What began in June as 3 1/2 orderly rows of sweet-potato slips had become a solid blanket of tangled purple-blossomed green vines. Here and there “volunteer” watermelon and tomato vines popped out of the mass, and bees buzzed happily around the flowers.
You may have noticed that we did not send out an announcement or a plea for help. It is an unfortunate aspect of small farms that many tasks occur on a “seize-the-moment” basis. We knew they needed harvesting soon, but the 6-plus inches of hurricane rain we got Sunday and Monday moved the task to the front of the line. Prospects of wet, rotting roots were all the motivation we needed!
There was no question of taking the tractor into the muddy bed. Jeffry and I spent a good part of the very hot day using clippers (to cut vines), spading forks, and our own two hands to pull the potatoes out of the wet soil. We spread them onto a tarp as they came out, to get a start on drying. Most of the potatoes were beautifully-shaped thanks to having an unusually sandy clay soil. 
Next we crated up the potatoes and toted all three hundred pounds of them to the container shed for curing (consisting of a week or so in dark, very warm conditions), which will be followed by cooler storage at home.
We grew 5 varieties. Top-to-bottom in the photo they are Hernandez, Purple, Carolina Ruby, Mahon and a mystery variety moved from Anthony’s plot in the former community garden. If all goes well they will eventually find themselves gently washed and for sale at the Chapel Hill Farmer’s Market!
Early on we decided to run the water system entirely on solar panels – we’re an ecovillage, after all – and Jeffry has been hard at work wiring them in and plumbing the water system. As of 4:44 pm on July 20th, the system went live!!! One pump pulls fresh cold pure water out of our 350-ft well and into the storage tank; the other pumps the water from the storage tank into a smaller pressure tank that then feeds the irrigation hoses at the proper pressure. Solar panels run the first pump when the sun’s out and charge the batteries that run the second pump on demand. Sound like complicated wiring? It was! Jeffry claims to be neither electrician or plumber, but you’d never guess from the results. Of course, since then it’s mostly been raining, but still, water is ready to go.
please watch for notices of special workdays and workshops in September as we experiment with this earth-building technique with the help of Greg Allen, our cob guru. Eventually there will also be a produce-washing sink area near the tank, and an outdoor shower around the back – yes, a full-service pumphouse! 
Our intern Jess and an old student and friend of mine, Nate, are shown hard at work in this photo. Randy is donating slip and some roofing left over from Cob Haven. Thanks to you all! Anyone who’d like to join in the building effort, please be in touch -– there’s lots more to do!
Hart’s Mill joined the crowds at this year’s Festival for the Eno, on July 4th and 7th at Durham’s West Point on the Eno. A number of our members helped out at a Hart’s Mill booth, greeting a steady stream of passersby and leading our “Seed Bomb” activity for children. Kids took balls of clay from our land and packed them with milkweed seeds, many of which also came from our land. Then, we invited the children to take them home and plant them in their 
yards. We explained the important connection between milkweed plants and monarch butterflies. (Actually, most of the children already knew about this connection. Do you? If not, check out 
enthusiastic to learn about us, and perhaps to join us in the future. We also had some of Margret Mueller’s gorgeous note cards for sale. In addition, we were able to network with people from other nonprofit organizations such as animal rescue groups, other intentional communities, and (my personal favorite) a nonprofit dedicated to promoting electric vehicles. To top it off, there was plenty of live music and wonderful food.
she and Anthony did the heavy lifting (literally!) of 
about who we are and what we are looking for: we are committed to creating an Ecovillage, and we are looking for people who are willing to work collaboratively, live sustainably, and learn together along the way. Membership and Marketing has focused on recruiting and supporting members, clarifying policies and levels of membership, and also building skills for collaborative work in the community. We’ve incorporated “regenerative sustainability” into our 
During the gathering, we asked those present about their experience in the membership process, whether anything has been holding them back, and what they needed to move forward in membership at Hart’s Mill. Some folks are moving slowly in membership, while others are just starting out, and some have been advancing at a steady pace. Creating an Ecovillage requires a lot of work, and some of us occasionally feel daunted at the immensity of the task. Others are very interested in the community, but have a partner who is not as keen. Some members spoke of the challenges of balancing work, family, and participation in the community development process. Others wanted to know more specific details about what the community would look like and how much it would cost to live there before they felt comfortable committing to the membership process.
more effectively. Attendees brainstormed a lot of good ideas: community participation in events like the Eno River Festival, finding more places to post flyers, expanding our online and social media presence, looking west of the Triangle towards Burlington and Greensboro for recruiting members, soliciting news and journal articles about the community, nurturing relationships with those who have already shown interest, and crafting our marketing message to clarify who we want to attract and who would be a good fit for our community. We had a few visitors from other local communities who spoke about how much it has helped their communities to have expert consultants guide them and shape their vision and approach to development.
In the second half of the afternoon, we talked about the community’s commitment to Diversity and Racial Equity. Why does this matter at Hart’s Mill, and what are we doing? Amy spoke from the heart about the urgency of addressing racism in our society, our community, and ourselves, and she talked about how this work is needed to address injustices and also heal ourselves and our relationships in the wider world. While we are still a mostly white community, we are working on understanding racism and striving for racial equity. Several members have taken the weekend trainings on Anti-Racism work through the Racial Equity Institute, and Hart’s Mill has also co-hosted an educational session with Standing Up for Racial Justice. Some Hart’s Mill members participated in the Hate Free Schools Coalition, which worked over a year to persuade the
Orange County School Board to ban displays of the Confederate Flag in public schools. In addition to diversifying our membership, our goals include supporting racial equity work in the broader community around us.
Next, we paired up and discussed what the issues of race, racism, and racial equity bring up for us, and also how people are feeling about Hart’s Mill’s approach to racism and racial equity so far. Members shared their thoughts about both the importance and the challenges of working on racial equity and deepening our awareness of racism in our community, our society, and our everyday lives.
We closed the afternoon by distributing commitment cards to invite people to name how they would like to contribute going forward. Folks volunteered for website maintenance, social media support, distributing materials and flyers, and participating in Membership and Marketing Circle meetings (first Thursday of every month). After the gathering, a couple of people decided to move up to the next level of membership!
Our June 21 Third Thursday event fell on the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. About 2 dozen people arrived at Hart’s Nest to celebrate the abundance of summer with food, juggling, music, and playmaking. Though the rain held off, the air was thick 
with steamy heat. Victuals sizzled on the grill. Two jugglers—Felipe and Tain—joined forces with a spellbinding performance, culminating in a fire-y finale 
with flying torches. 
long-standing tradition of offering a reading Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream on this day. On this occasion, Anthony found a shorter version for us to enact so that the evening might end at a reasonable hour. 
Costumes were hastily concocted out of colorful shawls, fascinators, and baubles brought along by Amy, Marilyn, and Victoria. With a pinch of fairy dust supplied by Puck, we were ready to entertain
each other with bewichments. The best laid plans of kings and queens quickly went awry and the mischief commenced. 
