The whirlwind of April activity has resulted in the little cob and straw bale building emerging from the ground.
On April Fools day, Randy and Greg had an all day core work out building the urbanite (aka rubble) foundation.
April 8th was the first official Hart’s Mill cob mob for mixing and applying cob and straw baling. This theme continued on the 9th, 22nd, 29th, and 30th, such that we now have one wall complete and 3 more substantially along the way. We were rained out on the 23rd, but it was a minor delay in the bigger scheme of things.
By the numbers:
To date, 16 people have helped out with a total of 296 hours of on the land effort. HUGE SHOUT OUT!!!!
Important machines that have helped out include the infamous blue pickup truck, a mini excavator, and a mortar mixer
Over $500 has been donated towards the project (many thanks!) ANOTHER HUGE SHOUT OUT!!!!!
54 overnights in the building (once it’s finished) and several dozen buttons have been earned/sent out into the world
About 70 cob mixes have been made, about 60% by foot/hand and 40% by machine
15 straw bales have formed the better part of a wall and 3 more bales have been turned into cob
About 30 tons of urbanite, gravel, clay, and sand have been hauled/excavated by human and/or machine or wheelbarrow
An undetermined triple digit number of photographs have been taken, and something probably approaching but not quite as great a number of emails, text messages, and blog post views realized.
By the end of April, the net result of this amalgamation of elemental materials and human mucking around has resulted in this little shelter, which has been officially dubbed “Cob Haven”, getting this far along:
For a sneak preview, later this month the roof will get framed, and then on May 28-30, as part of the Memorial Day weekend gala, spontaneous cobbustion is anticipated. This means that conditions will be set for activity on the project as part of the festivities, we’ll see spur of the moment what wants to happen.
After that, it is looking like there may not be another push until the first week of July-stay tuned.
Respectfully submitted,
Randy
A lovely mid-Spring afternoon welcomed an even more lovely and energetic group of workers and tour-ers for our April workday. After a potluck lunch at the Cedar Pavilion, a crew led by Paul and Donna and anchored by six (!) Witchgers with partners, along with others, pulled out the piping to the garden, got it un-kinked and into place, as well as helping clear better tractor access to the shed.
again at the garden as well as Jeffry’s and Margret’s new field. Meanwhile, with a strong head start from Jeffrey and then Anthony on Big Red, and with Margret, Debby, and others clearing at the edges, we got nearly the whole West Meadow mowed in anticipation of producing a good crop of hay as we bring the land into agricultural use.
Rita and Mir began marking trail hazards in preparation for clearing work and to make them safer for walkers and runners. Charles and Christina got a lovely swing mounted on our grand central tree. Some of us ended the day with a cooking fire and camp out, with Jupiter and even Saturn and Moon viewing at 3:00am! (Sunset photo by Joe Cole)
ce), Amantha (special thanks for traveling the farthest), Steve, Geri, Abraham (special thanks for supplying 500 watt solar generator, and amazing baked goods), Chris, Jeremy, Paul (special thanks for hauling straw bales), and Ginny. 
Our first Hart’s Mill farming effort for the season is underway! Earlier this spring a quarter acre of ground was plowed and harrowed, limed and fertilized. Our first crop will be potatoes because they are a good introductory crop on new ground with acidic soil, are not bothered by deer and other critters, and take minimal care. Gratitude goes to Mark Ellenbogen who donated 100 pounds of organic seed potatoes!
a furrow plow and shoveled compost into each furrow. Then on Sunday, March 26, Anthony Weston, Jeffry Goodrum, Margret Mueller, and Catherine Dibble gathered to plant our first crop – 50 lbs each of organic Dark Red Norland, and Yukon Gold potatoes. We cut the potatoes into sections, each with at least one eye, and then placed these pieces into the prepared furrows. The potatoes were then covered with a disc bedder.
If all goes well, we will harvest potatoes in June!
ematic Architectural Design phase. The community received drawings and models from the Architects at the beginning of February, and we gathered a few weeks later to evaluate not only the drawings and plans, but also our work together around the dimensions of process, power, leadership, and collaboration.
In the morning, we shared our reactions on the Site plan, the Common House, the Houses, and the Drawings. We evaluated the designs based on criteria that included Aesthetics, Functionality, Affordability, Energy efficiency, and Sustainable features. We also addressed the Marketability of the 
designs as we seek to expand our membership and find more people committed to living at Hart’s Mill. Although our group expressed a wide range of feelings, concerns, and reactions towards the designs, overall people were largely positive about the products that the Architects had delivered, and felt inspired by the vision of our Ecovillage that is coming into clearer focus.
began with a teaching about Power and Leadership and shared a handout on “101 Ways to have Power in a Group.” As we each reflected individually on ways that we exercise power in a group setting, people were able to identify both healthy and unhealthy ways we exercise power.
We then spent time examining the dynamics, challenges, and successes in our six-month process within and among three groups: our 3-person shepherding committee, the community members and workshop group, and the architects. This was a very informative discussion as we learned more about the different roles and experiences across these different groups. We closed this segment by discussing possible next steps in the Architecture Design Process before shifting to the last topic of the day on collaboration.
cooperative skills during the Schematic Design process. To begin, Maria provided some reflections on the necessity of a deep Culture Shift for cooperative groups to succeed. Then we each evaluated our personal strengths and weaknesses based on our Hart’s Mill meeting Ground Rules—including criteria like staying on topic, welcoming diversity, sharing thoughts and feelings, and making decisions based on our mission, vision, and values.
It was a long day—both challenging and invigorating. It’s important not to understate the difficulties of a collaborative design process. Yet I am personally impressed with the group’s ability to navigate this process and end up with beautiful and inspiring architectural drawings and plans. Furthermore, I find it inspiring that the group was willing to devote time to evaluate not only the products of the work, but also the process—including difficult conversations about power, leadership, and cooperation. This work is not only a step towards our goal of living in an Ecovillage; it is also the very process of creating community together along the way.
We’d been closely following the weather all week. The forecast warned of a snowstorm and wintry temperatures on Sunday, the very day of our big party. But this Celebration had been months in the planning and years in the making. We were not about to let a little snow stop us—and fortunately it ceased by mid-morning. As the day brightened and warmed, we threw open the doors to receive dozens of guests on a gorgeous late-winter day at RambleRill Farm. 
…sampling delicious food from Sweetie’s Catering, including a whole salmon with cucumber scales and a festive cake decorated with our brand new logo, designed by Margret Mueller
and the energetic support of many other members, I am very pleased to announce that the Frazier Road entrance is now the official gateway to Hart’s Mill Ecovillage! Though for the moment it is still a gravel, dirt, and meadow road, this route tracks fairly closely our eventual main access to the community, and Land Stewardship made it our first 2017 priority to bring it into usable condition.
There is more work to be done, for sure, but after a great deal of clearing, grading, gravel-spreading, remounting the gate, and planting of special new flowering shrubs and other specially-chosen plants – again with the contributions of many people – the long road in is now quite passable and indeed lovely. Watch for the new directions for the Frazier entrance to go up on the website. On workdays and other major meeting days we will fly a special banner at Frazier Road so that people unused to that entrance can find us.
Fire Circle, built more shelves in the storage unit, planted blackberries, took turns holding and touring around two babies – we also had a 4-year-old and 14-year-old join us, and taking full part 
in the work too – and this account could not be complete without mentioning that Paul got to spend most of the afternoon pulling out ailanthus stumps with Randy’s rented excavator – only the coming of night could stop him. 
The afternoon started out with a community lunch in the warm sun though the air was nippy. Thanks to all – another great day on the land!
