Memphis Democrat
May 11, 2008

Hello again from Ted at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage with this week's news.

Happy Mother's Day today to all you moms out there, though you won't read this until after the fact. The sun is out again today for Mother's Day, the fourth in a row called for mostly cloudy but bringing a good amount of sun. Between that and the wind, we're repleat with power, but still getting intermittent rain enough to minimize watering in the garden. I'm pleased to report that since I last wrote we've weathered a few frosty nights, but none low enough to compromise our fruit crop this year. Now that we're past the official frost date, I'm going to tentatively assume we're in the clear and look forward to tree fruits in a few months' time. It also means that we've planted out all of our cool season crops and are starting to harden off our tomatoes, peppers and other warm season plants for planting out in the next week or so. Asparagus keep erupting out of their beds and strawberries are flowering madly, while bindweed and most other weeds are sneaking up every which way. We're only a month and a bit from the summer solstice, so it will only get busier from here on in the garden.

Most of our first session visitors departed this week, with three (including one with a child) applying for residency. That suggests that our population is likely to keep climbing this year, undoubtedly breaching the 50 person mark. Our common building is definitely starting to approach capacity in its many uses, and I've started to hear discussion of various forms of infrastructure, from yoga, dance, and massage studios to quiet buildings, that might reduce some of the pressure on our common space once built. Ironweed is working on what we hope will be a final push to get our strawbale and cob kitchen operational this year, which should offer another release of pressure from our shared infrastructure. Exciting changes are in the works!

Our neighbors at Sandhill Farm hosted another wonderful May Day celebration (whose date doesn't usually coincide exactly with May Day) Saturday, and for the most part the weather cooperated beautifully. The sun was out for the May pole dance and a swim in the pond, and stayed out for most of the potluck supper. As it neared time for the contradance, usually held in the road near the white house, it began to spit, and Stan suggested the hay loft over the cow barn as a rain location. It was a tight fit, and the floor jumped under the weight of our dancing, but the rustic setting was perfect for an old-fashioned barn dance and there were smiles and laughs all around as the house band and a few callers kept us on our toes. Some folks got wet on the walk/ride home, but all had a great time.

Ziggy (formerly known as Brian) has kept his cob house project moving along, bringing home a second load of urbanite (chunks of broken up old concrete) this week and working with various helpers to stack and mortar the first tiers of block. Unsatisfied with his options for a door sill, Ziggy found a piece of the right dimensions at a demolition site in Rutledge, and mounted an expedition with four others to retrieve it, thinking that gathering of muscle would be sufficient. It turned out to be too hefty even for that number, but Zimmerman's Excavating came through with some mechanical muscle, and at the end of the day, Brian's door stoop was secured. I'm looking forward to seeing the cob walls start going up.

I spent much of the week adding successive coats of raw linseed oil to part of Ironweed kitchen's earthen floor, which is the last step to a durable, moppable floor made from our local clay and sand. Earthen floors are very comfortable on bare feet, and cool under foot in summer owing to contact with the earth. One more section of floor remains to be sealed, and then we're on to migrating the solar and wind power system from our house, where it has lived for four years, to the kitchen, its final home.

Juan and Amy returned from their trip, which meant that Amy's cat Dweezil made an escape from Skyhouse's second-floor deck prior to her arrival, as he seems to do every year. Several attempts to bring him home ended with scratches and torn shirts, but Amy had no trouble rounding him up.

With Bear, Alyssa and Zane gone much of the week, a changing cast of characters has been feeding, walking and otherwise caring for Bear's dog Thor at Larkspur across the street, so Sara, Aurelia, and I have enjoyed our porch swing for people watching this week. Hope to see you out our way soon!

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