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This bud's for you * Nature Corner * Eco to go * A weekend with the Kellys * "You can't do that!" or How to Shock a "Real" Maple Syrup Producer * Member Bio: Tom Cowan * You tell us!
This bud's for you
Seedlings, seedlings everywhere! It must be spring, since our lives are punctuated by exclamations over what sprouted and which birds have returned and oh-my-gosh isn't this spinach gorgeous (and yummy)...
Things are starting to pick up speed again, as residents and interns galore have arrived from all over to spend some time with us. Bob joins us from Texas, and will be working in the gardens with Don. Erin, from Ontario, Canada, will be helping Skyhouse with construction, as will Jane, who's from the UK. Penn, originally from Mississippi, and Tanya, from Colorado, are both Village interns, which means they'll be learning about many aspects of village life while helping on lots of community projects. Finally, Gare, who's from Ohio, is a new resident and will be working on whatever tickles his fancy.
On a bittersweet note, resident Rainbow has decided to join a community called Abundant Dawn, in Virginia. Of course this means that she must leave DR, and while we're sad for us, we're happy for her, as she is excited about the move. We'll miss her, and hope she takes fond memories of her time at DR away with her.
Before it started getting warmer, we kept busy with indoor construction work, and income labor, and maple sap gathering (see article in this issue). Now, with new faces and warmer weather,, there's a lot more bustle and activity. The gardeners are picking up steam, prepping beds and nurturing seedlings. Skyhouse built a toolshed, and is working on lumber racks and plastering. Folks are preparing to move out of the outdoor kitchen, where they'd been sheltering during the winter, and back into warm-season abodes.
We also had a big Land Clean, where the whole bunch of us, new folks and all, spent a day sorting and demolishing and just generally sprucing up. It's unbelievable how many old farm implements were hiding in the wilds of the machine shed and pond areas. It was quite satisfying to pull them out and cart them off to be recycled or landfilled. Land Clean is one of the few times when everybody is working on one project at the same time. We often get work crews of five or ten folks together, but seeing how much we could accomplish as a group of 22 (including a few unsuspecting visitors) was something special.
It's a season of looking forward, and so we are: to gardens bursting with produce; to getting better acquainted with new folks, our neighbors, and the land; to building projects and land projects and art projects we can't wait to get started on; and most of all to getting that much closer to our vision of Dancing Rabbit. Hooray, Spring!
