by Anthony Weston
The Planning, Design, and Development (PDD) Functional Circle has just concluded schematic design for the Common House, and we are also in the midst of another key planning initiative, “Raising Sights 2020”. We also just hosted a very active Last Saturday event on that theme. Want to know more? We thought so…
C0mmon House
There it is (click for a full-size version)! We’re working schematically at this point – trying to capture the spirit and the function of the eventual building; actual features may somewhat differ – but we are delighted to offer a worked-out visualization for the first time. This is a view of the building as it could look approached on the ground from the south (main community path) side. You can go here for many more images and details.
PDD has been developing the Common House design for since January 2019. Many other members have been involved through Noodling Groups that advised us on the overall design program, while another, partly-overlapping group thought through the Common House kitchen in detail. Sustained back and forth with our architect, Jonathan Lucas of Asheville’s What on Earth Architecture, consolidated and evolved the plans, as we also consulted with County regulators and other advisors. It was an involved process for this central and complex building! Just last week we were finally able to roll out the designs for a first and very enthusiastic look by General Circle.
Again, you can find out much more by going to the “Common House” page under the “Village Design” tab on the community website (or again, just click here). Do note, while you are on the website, that there are other pages relating to village design as well; specifically you might want to revisit the Residences page also to get a sense of how Common House and residence styles coordinate.
Oh and maybe you are wondering what is that spiral structure on the roof? It’s a vertical axis windmill. Think of it as a sculptural but moving and functional element, merrily spinning away as you approach the building, flashing a bit in the sun and powering some of the building’s lights inside when needed. Indeed, we’re an ecovillage!
Here is the floor plan (click for a full-size version):
Again, there is much more detail here.
We are thrilled to share these designs with the community and to finally be able to concretely envision this building that will be so central to the life of the community both functionally, physically, and in spirit as well!
Raising Sights 2020
As we consolidate architectural visions, we are approaching a point at which we want to be able to launch into detailed design development – making decisions about materials, methods, finishes, etc. – as well as undertaking detailed design for village site engineering – making decisions about basic infrastructure, siting, etc. This poses our next big set of challenges and opportunities.
Many of these design decisions will be difficult or costly to change later. At the same time, we are also aware that in the run-up to this moment we have also gradually and unintentionally made some accommodations to more standard (sometimes called “realistic”) ways of doing things, as we deal with outside professionals as well as try to come to terms with persistent trade-offs such as cost issues. Meantime new technologies are constantly emerging that offer unexpected and potentially wonderful new paths to some of our most ambitious goals (so what exactly is “realistic” isn’t always so clear). Both the urgency of our ecovillage project, and the methods and technologies that might support and further it, have only increased since we began this work together, and we want to be sure we are doing the very best we can now as we move toward specific, on-the-ground design commitments.
Accordingly PDD has decided that before proceeding any farther we need to take a critical pause and revisit our basic values and goals, return to our highest ambitions, and raise our sights wherever possible, while remaining practical at the same time. Our new initiative is therefore called “Raising Sights 2020”. It’s developed into a look at four of the most basic objectives of our overall project – which we’ve articulated as Self-reliance, Climate action, and building a Healthy and Happy community within a Thriving Living System – and trying to specify how it might play out across four key sectors for our engineering and architectural planning: Energy, Water, Materials, and the Land. What does self-reliance specifically mean when we are thinking about materials? What does climate-change adaptation mean when we are thinking about water use? – those kinds of questions.
We shared our answers so far at the Last Saturday event on February 29th (which just happened to be Leap Day also – a fine occasion for a leap forward together!) Here’s what we offered (click for a full-sized version).
This is very schematic too, of course, and still in process. By design we are sharing our “sight-raising” right in the midst of undertaking it. It’s a project for all of us! Community members offered many useful questions and feedback at the Last Saturday event, and are welcome to continue to do so by emailing PDD through me at weston@elon.edu.
But we are also poised to take a further step now. Within the framework of this matrix, we want now to undertake RESEARCH on specific objectives to determine just how practical our goals are. Are they realistic? Can we go farther? Specifically, how? What are the best current practices and the most ambitious achievable goals in these areas?
PDD is organizing to carry out some of this research ourselves. We also expect that we’ll need to consult and hire experts in some of these areas to advise us in some technical matters, as well as contacting other communities and projects that have taken innovative and ambitious steps in some of these directions (e.g. DC electrical grids; alternatives to community-wide wireless; actually applied permacultural methods; etc.).
AND – WE NEED YOU! We are hereby calling for any and all interested community member to also join this research work. We called for volunteers at the Last Saturday session and will soon be in touch with those who did about beginning the work. But every member and friend of the community is welcome and indeed urged to join as well. In fact you can email me to that effect right now. We are preparing a guide for the research work and will begin setting out specific assignments shortly. Please jump in! (Again: weston@elon.edu.) Exciting and urgent work for all!
Gaius, Bailey, and I are pleased to announce that the treehouse is now finished and open for business. Please come and visit! You’ll find it upslope from where the Dam Loop Trail and the trail to the Hartery and Hart’s Nest crosses the little creek that flows out of the pond. It’s a triangular cedar platform in the trees, not too high, with a ladder on the low side, a rope ladder, pirate-style, on another, and a bench up top to keep lookout or read a book. It’s for kids—bigger people will notice that the ladders and the bench are a 
little smaller than you might expect. But it’s comfortable for adults too, and you are welcome to come on up (but let’s say only up to two adults on the platform at any one time, and one on the rope ladder, please!).
mentioned for the Play Area/Creek Crossing include: a bridge upgrade (planned); a zipline down the slope (does anyone out there know how to build ziplines?); and a (stone) amphitheater. Stay tuned! Your ideas—and good energies for helping to realize them—would be very welcome!
Undaunted, we planted again this year, on approximately 1/10 of an acre. Since one of HM’s stated goals is “to feed ourselves to the extent practicable,” we thought it would be a good idea to find out what sort of yield we can expect from a certain size plot and how many families this might reasonably supply. I must admit we were operating under the aphorism “Necessity is the Mother of Invention,” as we had no earthly idea how a successful harvest might be accomplished, should we have one.
This year our weather could not have been more ideal—warm and dry for a whole week! The beans were crispy and ready! But then, what?
and Jeffry gave it a whirl, so to speak. It turns out that this does indeed separate the beans from the pods, but retrieving the chaff and gathering the beans proved extremely time-consuming. (Anyone want to buy a good second-hand clothes dryer?). Jeffry also tried modifying a small chipper/shredder that he saw featured on Youtube, but that also proved too challenging.
Enter Doug Jones, fellow farmer and member of the Earth’s Turn community nearby. Though his plate is always full to overflowing, Doug loves to share his extensive knowledge on most all things farming, and he has the tricks and tools to make things happen. It turns out that way back in the 70’s he was growing storage beans, so Doug was excited to see our nice stand of mature black bean plants–and he knew just what to do. 
Enter….ForestHer NC! Spearheaded by Debbie Roos of Chatham County’s Cooperative Extension Service, this initiative will include six workshops throughout the year in 3 different locations across the state. The first offering in Pittsboro, which I attended, brought together sixty women (and a few men) to hear professionals from several state agencies present an overview of forest management from a variety of angles. 
John Isenhour of NC Wildlife Resources Commission and Jennifer Roach from the NC Forest Service made it abundantly clear that the first step in forest “management” is to establish objectives and goals and then review them from time-to-time. What are we trying to achieve? What concerns do we want to address? Hart’s Mill’s Forest Stewardship Plan was coordinated by the Eno River Association in 2013 when Alana Ennis was the landowner. This plan has enabled us to qualify for the Present Use Valuation tax status, which is a huge financial benefit. We might want to review the objectives laid out at that time and see if they are still resonant with us. 
I also learned that there is such a thing as a Wildlife Management Plan. This piqued my interest and I’ve been in touch now with someone at the NC Wildlife Resources Commission to talk about what this might involve (to the best of my knowledge, this plan is free of cost). 
On Sunday August 4th, a high-spirited band of workers gathered at the crack of dawn (OK, 9am) for a work session dedicated to trail maintenance and improvement. George, Lisa, Randy, Hope, Paul, Amy, Mir, and Anthony started in the most challenging place and cleared the Pond Loop trail, which took continuous lopping, weed-whacking, tripper- and fallen-tree removal, and more. 
Then we treated ourselves to a quick romp around the Far Loop — it still needs work, but it is easily passable — and then finished off the McGowan Creek Loop before retreating to the Pavilion for a convivial potluck lunch. 
It was a cloudy morning during a precious 3-hour grace period between rainstorms. Six of us gathered at the Nest and dedicated ourselves to discovering the edible plant species living on just a small part of the Hart’s Mill land. Our guide, 
We shadowed Kim as she gently drew us into the particularities of the native plants that flourish on this land. Right outside the front door, within our grasp at the edges of the trails, towering overhead – it was impossible to stroll more than a few feet before Kim introduced us to another plant friend—delectable, medicinal, or simply beautiful. She had already whetted our appetites with a cold infusion of Japanese honeysuckle flowers, sipped in the living room before we set out. We filled a thermos of boiling water to take with us, because chances were excellent that we’d find ingredients to prepare a yummy tea to enjoy after the walk.
Meeting each plant friend was an exercise in close observation. Are the stems smooth or hairy? The leaves simple or compound? The edges serrated or crenelated? Is there a fragrance? Are they safe to taste, and what’s does the flavor evoke? What portions are edible, and what benefits do they bring? And this list barely scratches the surface of what we can be noticed and learned about the nature of the flora all around us. 
We hovered over about 30 different plants–looking, touching, smelling, and even sampling –most of which were edible and/or medicinal. Here’s a tiny taste of what we learned. Persimmon tree leaves are full of Vitamin C. The sourwood tree leaves taste, well, sour, and add flavor to pesto. Wild St. John’s wort leaves contain hypericum oil which turned our fingers purple and can help with nerve pain and mild depression. Lobelia inflata, a very potent plant, has been used to help people to quit smoking. Violet flowers and leaves are an amazing food and medicine—chop them into a salad or dry and crush the leaves to make a wild greens mix with other plants. Also field garlic (good for colds), agrimony (helps relieve stress), resourceful person’s pepper for spice (see picture)…the list goes on. 
We encountered poison ivy everywhere. Kim learned to call this native plant “sister ivy” from a teacher named Frank Cook who noted that when we hear the word, “poison,” we become fearful and shut down to the possibilities in the plant. Sister ivy teaches us to be mindful of how and where we are walking. It comes into disturbed areas to reclaim them and help them heal. It’s also great food for wildlife. And if you’re sensitive to it, just pick up some jewelweed, rub it on your skin to de-activate the oils. Or, or make an infusion that can be sprayed on or frozen into ice cubes and rubbed on your skin.
The Elderberry bush growing on the pond dam was the star of the show! The flowers are so beautiful and full of benefits too numerous to list. We pulled the creamy flowers from the stems and dropped them into the thermos with hot water to steep. After returning to the Nest, we sipped the gentle brew while reviewing all we learned on this cool and cloudy morning together.
Foraging is not for amateurs. It takes knowledge and experience to know which plants-parts-quantities-and preparations are safe to take into our bodies. In order to harness the medicine of plants, it’s important to develop a close relationship with them over the seasons. Are you absolutely certain that the plant is edible (or is it a poisonous look-alike)? Has the plant been sprayed or exposed to exhaust and other toxins? Is there enough of the plant to harvest sustainably? Today, we were in safe hands with Kim! 
As much as I have studied racism in the United States, both its history and its very present effects on our day-to-day lives…and also as I have learned how White people rarely know the frequency with which Black people and other people of color are affected by past and present racism…and, also how White people themselves are affected…as much as I have studied all of this, I am aware of how much I still have to learn. 
Remember, childcare is available for all of our meetings and events upon request!
How time flies! Only a few short weeks ago I posted the story of the Community Farm Initiative’s first planting day (see 
