Memphis Democrat
January 20, 2005

This week Thomas received a gift from his father of a fancy pair of ice skates, and we celebrated by having a raucous game resembling hockey: five people with sticks of firewood trying to hit a basketball past Chad. Chad won most of the time, even when we added two more people standing right in our goal ready to kick away the ball. I guess that's what happens when you grow up in Michigan.

Ted's old friend Terence visited this week, and helped Ted and Sara with some organizational touches on their house, including insulating their greenhouse. When I brought a tour in there the other day, it was nice and toasty, even though they hadn't had a fire in their stove all day. Hoorah for sunshine!

The visitors I was giving a tour to were Ed Pultz and his daughter Alison. Some readers may remember Ed from his Rutledge days, where he taught school in the old schoolhouse after helping to found Sandhill Farm community. It was great to give a tour to people who not only support our ecological ventures but also are familiar with the area and with the idea of living in community.

This week at our weekly community dinner, Thomas was eating from a special coconut-shell bowl Nicole brought back for him from Hawai'i. In the middle of our conversation it began to crack, until the bottom cracked off and he was left holding a doughnut-shaped ring in his hands. Andrew took it, made a "skin" of cloth soaked in gluten, tied it on, and created a small drum. Now that's taking lemons and making lemonade!

A number of us are poring over seed catalogues and dreaming about spring. We are planning to get together for a "seed swap" and trade the seeds that we saved last year, before people buy more for next year. I'm looking forward to the heirloom varieties that our various gardeners will be experimenting with next year.

One of the things that is traditionally made in the colder months in Japan and many other countries is miso. Miso is a delicious and highly nutritious fermented food made from grains and beans, usually rice and soybeans. This year in addition to several batches of miso, we are also making our own koji, the fermented rice product that is responsible for the conversion of the beans into miso. It requires lots of coddling to maintain it at the right temperature and humidity. Wish us luck!

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