Memphis Democrat
November 15, 2001

It was another week of beautiful weather. How lucky can we get?! I've been out collecting native plant seeds all over the place. Nate from the Department of Conservation came to certify that we had successfully planted the trees we had agreed to for CRP. All the tree mulching seemed to work! And a bunch of us went out to two of our prairie restoration fields and planted wildflowers, to complement the grasses we planted there.

The weather was perfect for installing solar panels on the roof of Skyhouse. A big team of folks, complete with rock climbing equipment, lifted and placed those big panels on the roof. Then to prove they weren't tired, they moved a bunch of sheet rock onto the second floor by somehow pushing it up a ladder.

It doesn't feel like late fall, but the mice know it is and know we provide comfortable accommodations. They have been very present around the farm, and are getting pretty tame. We are doing our best on our mouse relocation program, but we might have to end up naming some of them and considering them pets.

The vehicles were always off somewhere or another this week. Some of the time they were off helping us work, like carting in sawdust and wood from local sawmills. Megan, Tamar, Zach and I went up to Fairfield, IA to meet with Allette Brooks, a songwriter we all are working with. Unfortunately, she got very sick and had to cancel her local show in Kirksville.

But just as often, the cars were being used for fun. Several folks went to Kirksville to see the Spitfire Tour speak at Truman State. They are a group of four folks who are touring to speak about social and environmental issues. Then the very next day, folks went to Kirksville again to cheer on our ex-intern Emily as she protects the goal for the Bulldogs in the soccer finals. Go Bulldogs!

The garden is still providing a bountiful harvest of carrots, beets, scallions, and more. Even though the garden holds only cool weather crops now, we are still canning tomatoes and peppers, harvested before the frost and ripened indoors.

Don, our gardener, asked to transition from provisional member to full member. We accepted him with joy. We all expect he'll be here a good long while. We have a banner that we present whenever someone becomes a provisional or full member. Then the newest member must hold on to it until the next person joins. It has passed hand to hand quite a bit recently, but it looks like Don will get to hold onto it a little while again.

Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is a nonprofit and a residential community that demonstrates ecological sustainability in Rutledge, MO. We have tours the first and third Saturday of the month at 1pm and the next tour (and last tour until Spring) is November 17th. Please call first at 883-5511.

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