Common Ground Ecovillage

A Beautiful Day on the Land: October 29

The weather was perfect, and the uplift of Halloween spirits made for a very fun and productive workday on the Hart’s Mill land this past weekend.  Participants included Rita, Geri, Paul, Randy, Marsha, John, Maria Teresa, Margret, Jeffry, Michael and Hope.  Ben Rickard and Noah Ranells from Fickle Creek Farm joined us for a late dinner around the festive campfire.  The conversations, stories and singing carried us into the late hours.  Countless stars twinkled in the overhead darkness.

Folks entering the land were greeted by Ol’ Tom who appears to have just completed a round of bush-hogging.  At Cedar Pavilion we found a straw bale, 4 large pumpkins, ears of colorful corn and a cornucopia of local food awaiting dinnertime.

Major accomplishments for day included:

• Path mowing to prepare for afternoon walks on the land
• Planting of fall cover crops (crimson clover and winter rye) on the garden beds
• Heavy mulching with straw between the garden beds
• Clearing of a fallen cluster of trees on the trail leading to the south end of the dam
• Land clearing in a tree-dense area of the fairy circle
• Winterizing & storing the flexible tubing used for summer irrigation
• Sadly, the takedown and analysis of one of our beehives that had collapsed
• Community “glue”-building and socializing during the prolonged evening meal

Special thanks to:

• Everyone who joined in the work festivities, with commendations to Geri and Rita for avid gardening and trail clearing
• Jeffry & Margret for bringing individual “trick-or-treat” bags of maitake (hen-of-the-wood) mushrooms, all harvested this week from near the base of the three old oaks just north of the pavilion, and… for bringing a large pot of delicious maitake soup!
• Paul for the Halloween decorations
• Margret & Maria Teresa for the carved pumpkins (and the owly face paint!)
• Michael for the ingenious coat-hanger skewers which made it possible to grill our brats and hot dogs!

We finished the evening with a rousing rendition of a Halloween round (slightly adjusted here in honor of our namesake):

Have you seen the ghost of Tom?  Long white bone with the flesh all gone.  Ooooooooo. Wouldn’t it be chilly with no skin on!  

by Paul Voss

The sky was clear and the temperatures cool when Jeffry and Paul gathered to explore the night sky on October 22.  Bright Venus followed the setting sun as Mars and Saturn made their appearance.  Once again Jeffry’s 6-inch reflecting telescope revealed a clear view of Saturn’s rings.  As the sky darkened, the telescope brought into focus the Andromeda galaxy and the M2 globular star cluster in Aquarius.  Familiar constellations filled the overhead sky.

Glowworm sparkling in the grass

October 21 marked the peak Orionids meteor shower, and 24 hours later there were still several streaks across the sky to enjoy.

Turning our eyes the other direction revealed several spots of white light in the grass.  The glowworms seemed delighted by the autumn night coolness.  (Lampyris noctiluca, picture from the internet)

We’re going to try to make these stargazing evenings a regular event while we follow the seasonal progression of the planets, stars and constellations.  Look for announcements and come join us next time!

Work Day, October 3rd

Margret chronicles the accomplishments at the work day on October 3rd: Jeffry mowed extensively (5 hours in 2 days), Ginny and Geri got a great start on garden clean-up, and Margret and Rita tackled the McGowan Creek trail, making excellent headway.  Rita snapped some pictures of the many mushrooms spreading everywhere.  Thank you, everyone, for your care of the land!

Global Ecovillage Network experience at Pickards Mountain Eco-Institute

by Joe Cole

On Saturday, October 1, I attended a workshop on Ecovillages at Pickard’s Mountain Eco-Institute.  The workshop was led by two energetic, young facilitators.  Cynthia and Nick are active in GEN, the Global Ecovillage Network, and Cynthia is on GEN’s international board.

The facilitators gave us an overview of the global ecovillage movement, and shared some of their experiences visiting and living in ecovillages around the world.  In small and large-group activities, we shared our feelings about the environmental challenges ahead, and also our visions about how to move forward.  I left with a deeper sense of connection to the world-wide ecovillage movement that is building communities based in cooperation and sustainability.

After the workshop, I had an interesting conversation with Cynthia and Nick about how Hart’s Mill might attract more young people.  Among their suggestions: having short-term, affordable housing in the community; creating education and internship programs; providing entrepreneurship opportunities and infrastructure that welcomes young people, including community businesses with jobs designated to support a few young people financially; and hosting National/International ecovillage events and gatherings at Hart’s Mill.  I look forward to working with Hart’s Millers in making many of these ideas manifest in our community.

The workshop also inspired me to enroll in an online course offered by GEN/Gaia Education.  The Design for Sustainability course is a ten-month version of their month-long face-to-face design workshop, and it starts in mid-late October. Here is a link with more information:

http://www.gaiaeducation.org/index.php/en/online

Keep an eye out, because I will be sharing what I learn in this course with the HM community.  (Thank you, Joe — we’ll be waiting!)

Community is not a goal to be achieved but a gift to be received. —Parker Palmer

The old oak tree at the center of our community

Since 2011, Hart’s Mill Ecovillage has been linked to a 112-acre parcel of land owned by Alana Ennis.  Over the past few years, the community has bonded with this land in many ways–working, playing, constructing, communing, celebrating, camping, and star-gazing to name a few.  Our site plan is intimately linked to the contours of this land, and our farmstead is being conjured from meadows and woodlands to cultivate nourishment and beauty for the community.

It’s high time to make this land our own in fact as well as feeling.  Last week, a group of members came together and pooled resources to do just that.  We raised enough pledges to more than cover the down payment and nearly match the monthly finance fee for the next two years!  It was an amazing moment of commitment to the vision that is Hart’s Mill Ecovillage and an honoring of all the fine folks who have worked so diligently and heartfully for so many years to make this day possible.

There’s a place for YOU in this picture!

We can now put Hart’s Mill Ecovillage on the map!  We’re aiming to close in early December and will be inviting more members to pledge funds to Hart’s Mill, LLC, in order to secure this purchase in the weeks to come.  Now’s the time to step forward if you want to be a vital part of the sustainable community of the future being founded here.  And, if you’d like to read a thorough and entertaining report by Paul about the ownership trails and trials of this parcel of land since Colonial times, click here.

Labor Day 2016 workday began at 8 am on a cool sunny morning with Margret, Donna, Lindsey, and Anthony cutting down a flowering Tree of Heaven and bagging the seed heads (see photo) to keep it from spreading all over Kingdom Come. Paul began the good work of closing down the summer garden. As more folks arrived, work switched to the main project of the morning: clearing brush and trees from the dam. Thanks to Margret, Donna, Lindsey, Tom, Steven, Ben, and Anthony, we cleared virtually the “whole dam thing”.  Hope took other visitors, LaTandra and her daughter, Marilyn, for a good trail walk and tour.  Well done, everyone!

Common House dining room

This afternoon about 8 Hart’s Mill members visited Eno Commons Co-housing in Durham.  Two of our architects–Suzy and Paul–came along. We had a good walkabout and were able to talk with several residents, paying close attention to some of the features we are currently considering for our own designs

at Hart’s Mill:

• the Common House and its dining area
• residence layouts, both inside and in relation to each other
• hints of the Southern vernacular style

The layout is quite “aligned,” north-south facing to maximize

passive energy capacity, but feels organic rather than rigid, partly due to the landscaping with many trees and shrubs.

It was interesting and helpful to visit this community and we appreciated their hospitality!

On an early August Saturday, Rita, Hope, and Paul showed up for a work day at Anathoth Community Gardens, located just a few miles north of Hart’s Mill near the town of Cedar Grove.  We waded into a hoop house full of cured onions splayed on racks and  filled bag after bag destined for cold storage.  In the process, we learned more about the extraordinary story of creating community and connection through food that is unfolding here.  Here is how it all started (excerpted from their website):

In 2005 Bill King was murdered at his bait and tackle store down the road from the current community garden site. In response, Cedar Grove United Methodist Church  held a prayer vigil for healing and peace at the site of the murder.  At the prayer vigil two visions came together: Scenobia Taylor, an African-American woman, had a vision to donate 5 acres of her family’s land to the church for the healing of the community; Rev. Grace Hackney, the pastor of the predominately white church, was exploring ways that the community could reconcile with the land by growing food sustainably. 

Ten years later, Anathoth Garden and Farm is a vigorous enterprise with a CSA program that provides fresh seasonal food for dozens of families.  As the day progressed and the heat and humidity climbed, more volunteers drifted into to the open-air pavilion to pack boxes with peppers, squash, onions, okra, and more.   High school and college student interns and community members worked together, contributing to this enterprise which creates connection and restoration one box—and one potluck—at a time.

Later, Rita, Paul, and Hope trudged up the steamy hill for the weekly potluck. Standing in a circle, we learned about the death of an elderly volunteer and heard stories about her contributions to the farm; how much she’ll be remembered and missed.  We left the farm feeling inspired and energized by our encounters and so very glad to have made a connection with this marvelousplace.  To be continued…

Jeffry’s telescope zeros in on planets

Many thanks to Randy for bringing us together last evening to do some stargazing on the beautiful Hart’s Mill land.  Several of us (Randy, Anika, Jeffry, Margret, Hope & Paul) gathered early, did some work in the garden, checked out Anthony’s MicroWalden shanty, and then set up for the main event.  There was some summer haze in the sky, but not a cloud in sight.  Perfect.

Jeffry had bush-hogged a large area in the eastern pasture the day before, so we had a comfortable and unobstructed view of the open sky.  Jeffry also set up his wonderful 6-inch reflecting telescope.  The half-moon was in perfect phase for crater exploration.  Just west of the moon sat Mars (orange aglow) and Saturn in nice aspect for ring viewing.  Trailing the setting sun was Jupiter, proudly showing off three of its moons.  Thanks, Jeffry, for this treat and for discussions about the mysteries and mechanics of the solar system!

Patience rewarded only two decent meteor flashes.  (The same night in Livermore, CA, Hope’s brother, Mack, took this photo of a shooting star.)  In the end, no one stayed behind to spend the night (just too hot and muggy), and by 11:30 the gate was closed as the last car headed home.  What a fun way to spend a Carolina summer evening with great friends.