East Wind Updates

What's Happening: March 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 22:14:00 +0000

Spring

Small signs of spring began to show themselves this month, with daffodils, trout lilies, and toothwort in bloom by the end of March. Cold temperatures and even snow persisted through the month, though many days were sunny and pleasant. The greenhouse is warm and full of life, with onions, peppers, lettuces, brassicas, herbs, and other plants getting a head start on the growing season. Grapes, blueberries, strawberries, carrots, potatoes, chamomile, and hops were planted in the garden this month. Baby animals are plentiful on the ranch; little goats, cows, and chicks are experiencing their first spring. Milk, cheese, and yogurt production are up.

Planning for the 40^th Land Day

East Wind will be celebrating its 40^th Land Day this May 1^st- 4^th. Many former members, people from other communities, and friends will be joining us during this four day celebration. The festivities will begin with a Beltane celebration on May 1^st, followed by an East Wind Renaissance Faire on the weekend of May 3^rd and 4^th. Entertainment will include a play written and performed by East Winders, fortune telling, a magic show, a scavenger hunt, juggling, fire spinning, music, a Maypole ceremony, a catapult, sack races, court jesters, traditional food and drink, costumes and decorations, a time capsule to be opened on the 50th anniversary, a group photo, face painting and hair braiding, an apothecary, workshops and demonstrations, tug-of-war, mud wrestling, jousting, a dragon log, and more. East Winders have been busy with preparations for the festival, including play rehearsal, home brewing, costume design, site preparation, bow making, etc. There is still much work to be done, and even more fun to be had.

What’s Happening: Winter 2013-14

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 23:09:00 +0000

A Long Winter

East Winders endured one of the coldest and snowiest winters in recent memory. Snow that usually melts away after a day or two covered East Wind in a blanket of white for much of the winter. While there is still a lot to be done during the winter, these months are definitely a slower and less productive time in community. Some people struggle to find things to do for work and fun, though many folks enjoy the downtime. When not working, many East Winders spend a good portion of their time staying warm and socializing in our main common spaces. The winter is also a great time of the year to get out in the Ozark woodlands; East Winders enjoy hiking, forestry, and hunting, among other pursuits.

Waiting List

By the end of February, everyone on the waiting list for membership and a room has either received a space or declined to join at this time. East Wind has maintained a continual waiting list for almost two years now, as we have continuously been at population capacity (which is the same as the number of bedrooms in the community: 73). At certain points while the waiting list was in effect, male applicants were waiting for nearly a year for a space, though the average wait was generally only a few months. Now that the waiting list is caught up for the time being, visitors will be able to transition to provisional membership and receive a room after three weeks with no additional wait. We usually receive a high influx of visitors during the spring and summer, and all rooms are full currently.

What's Happening: September 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 01:39:00 +0000

Autumn Begins

Cool nights and warm sunny days marked the beginning of fall in the Ozarks this year. Some foliage has already begun to change colors and fall to the forest floor, though most trees are holding out for a little longer. Ticks, chiggers, mosquitos, and fleas are abundant and flourishing as the summer comes to an end—leaving some East Winders eagerly awaiting the first frost. During the fall and winter, East Winders are able to enjoy limitless opportunities to explore the Ozark woodlands that surround us. Hiking, hunting, forestry, and plant and mushroom foraging are a few favorite activities.

East Winders celebrated the autumn equinox on September 22^nd this year. Party-goers gathered in a lovely little spot overlooking the Mulberry Garden. The party location was once comptoil, cow pasture, and orchard space; but has begun to undergo a transformation this year. The old orchard space is now home to three new fig trees and four new elderberry trees, and we intend to plant more trees nearby this spring. Just south of the garden fence, our new gazebo is finally complete. The cedar pole gazebo is partially timber framed, and houses a beautiful stone and cob table and four benches on a cobblestone floor. Vines have already made their way up the gazebo posts and trellising, producing an abundance of nearly ripe passionfruit and hops strobiles. East Winders enjoyed ten gallons of homebrewed IPA made with our own homegrown hops this equinox.

Natural Building

The final touches have been put on our new cob oven and benches at last, providing an absolutely lovely hang out spot in our beautiful Mulberry Garden. Work on our new cob oven and outdoor kitchen is well underway. The all natural cob oven is being built atop a conveniently located large stone next to our central dining hall, Rock Bottom. The oven is being made using all materials resourced from our own land, including clay, sand, stone, sawdust, straw, glass bottles, bricks, and water. By the end of September, the base of the massive oven nears completion. We hope to be baking delicious brick oven pizza before the first frost this October.

Garden

The last of a seemingly infinite abundance of watermelons and cantaloupes were harvested this month. Okra, pole beans, eggplant, peppers, squash, sunflower seeds, raspberries, and cow peas were enjoyed in great abundance as well. East Wind also grew cow peas for Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, the business of one of our sister communities, Acorn. Fall lettuces have grown to a harvestable size, and salads are once again being enjoyed regularly. Tomato and cucumber production peaked last month and dwindled this month— though we are still enjoying a few fresh tomatoes and cucumbers regularly.

Many of our old apple trees displayed poor production and fungal infections on apple skins, though their fruit was delicious nonetheless. Our 3-year old fig tree has grown beautifully and has produced an abundance of delicious figs throughout the month. Three cuttings from the same fig tree (less than one year of age) are already producing figs as well. Many wild grape vines are without grapes entirely this year, after an extremely productive year last year. East Wind gardeners are hard at work keeping weeds under control to prevent seeding that could cause problems in future years. The bulk of the harvest has already been brought in, and we’re now shifting our focus to fall crops. Lettuces and other greens, carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips, and garlic are just a few of the crops that we’ll be tending to this fall.

Herbs

Oregano, parsley, basil, holy basil, spilanthes, hibiscus, lemon balm, sage, and peppermint were harvested and dried in abundance this month. As we head into the dormant season and plants move their energy underground, we will begin to harvest medicinal roots such as dandelion, burdock, yellowdock, chicory, valerian, marsh mallow, elecampane, and echinacea. Many East Winders have contributed to herb harvesting and processing this year, accumulating the most extensive supply of medicinals East Wind has seen yet. Quality tea blends, individual dried herbs, tinctures, hydrosols, essential oils, and salves are readily available to help East Winders maintain good health. Our herb gardens received a lot of love this September, and are looking gorgeous as ever as we head into autumn.

Sandhill Sorghum Harvest

Eight East Winders travelled to Sandhill Farm, one of our sister communities, this September. East Winders (as well as communitarians from our other sister communities, Twin Oaks and Acorn) participate in an annual labor exchange to help Sandhill harvest and process their fields of sorghum. Sandhill produces and sells sorghum syrup to support their small community, and East Winders are happy to lend a hand during the harvest season. East Wind LEXers were able to help with the entire process— from stripping, cutting, gathering, and milling the cane to cooking and bottling the syrup.

Our hosts at Sandhill were a lovely bunch of folks, and East Winders had an enjoyable stay on the farm. East Wind LEXers were impressed with Sandhillers’ good attitudes, work ethic, and laidback community structure; as well as their never-ending fields of sorghum, and extensive shiitake and beehive operations. LEXers also took advantage of the opportunity to visit two other intentional communities in our home state, Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage and the Possibility Alliance. East Winders were glad for the chance to check out other models of communal and ecological living. The Possibility Alliance is currently in dialogue with and considering joining the Federation of Egalitarian Communities, and we would be happy to have them join the team. The Federation of Egalitarian Communities currently consists of East Wind Community, Twin Oaks Community, Sandhill Farm, Acorn Community, Emma Goldman’s Finishing School, and The Midden. With a growing interest in communal living evident, we hope to see the Federation continue to grow.

Nutbutter Sales Increase

Business for East Wind Nutbutters is beginning to pick up after a slow year last year. A shortage of organic peanuts led to the loss of some of our larger customers last year, resulting in low profits. Business has finally picked up, and we are once again selling nutbutter by the truckload. Production has increased to meet demand, and shifts are being scheduled on evenings and weekends. East Wind Nutbutters has a dedicated general management team working hard to keep the business alive and thriving. East Winders are proud to demonstrate a successful egalitarian business model.

Waiting List

The waiting list is finally moving along, with a number of people obtaining rooms this fall. There are still over a dozen people waiting for membership space and rooms, but they will be asked to leave the farm (until space opens up) by November 3^rd. We are continuing to schedule three-week visitor periods, although visitors must leave after the completion of the three week period (and will be able to return in the spring or when more space opens up). A gender imbalance is still in effect, and so females wanting to apply for membership will still be given priority over males.

Land Bordering East Wind for Sale

A large plot of land with a house, barn, and well bordering East Wind is currently for sale. The current owners of the property have offered to sell to East Wind—for a good deal of money. East Wind would need to take out a bank loan to afford the property, and the matter is a controversial one. East Winders recently had a community meeting to discuss the matter and find out if it’s something we’d like to pursue. Another meeting has been scheduled, and East Winders will vote on whether or not we want to pay for a certified appraisal of the land.

What’s Happening: August 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 15:02:00 +0000

Summer Heat

The beautiful weather of spring and early summer gave way to heat & humidity this August. Temperatures are still tolerable, reaching the 80s and 90s during the day and cooling down at night. Plentiful rains in early August were greatly appreciated, especially in the gardens. Many East Winders are enjoying the creek this time of year, though some are already eagerly awaiting autumn and a break from the heat.

Garden

Tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, pole beans, okra, corn, and potatoes were harvested in great abundance throughout the month. Tomatoes and cucumbers were being brought in by the cartful daily through late August. Our walk-in fridge is overflowing with fresh garden veggies and melons, leaving barely enough room for an aisle to walk through. Production of hot peppers and raspberries dwindled early in the month, but started to pick back up by late August. Squash, sweet potatoes, sweet peppers, sunflowers, and eggplants continue to ripen and grow. Fall carrots and lettuce were planted at the end of the month. Lots of love and hard work has gone into our gardens this year; the land is healthy and lush and the late summer harvest is plentiful.

Dairy

East Wind’s dairy program is still growing and expanding, and already producing an abundant amount of milk. East Winders are currently milking three dairy cows and six dairy goats, and receiving 80 lbs of cow milk and 20 lbs of goat milk daily. We are now able to provide enough milk and cream for the entire community. Some East Winders have been making different types of cheeses from our excess cow and goat milk, but not in large enough quantities to provide for East Wind’s voracious consumption of cheese entirely. Dairy workers hope to be able to provide all of our own butter within the next year. We plan to increase our dairy goat herd to 8 or 9, and switch our dairy cows to a dual purpose (beef and dairy) breed. We recently obtained three Red Pole cows, and hope that these will be a good dual purpose breed for community. Most East Winders are new to running a dairy farm, and are dedicated to learning how to best manage our land and animals. Their hard work is appreciated by the dairy animals and the people of East Wind alike.

Food Processing

Food processing and preservation is a vital part of our community during this time of year. Many garden crops simply cannot be consumed at the rate which they are ready to harvest, and must be saved for the winter ahead. Tomato processing is important work during this time of abundance, and over one hundred half-gallon jars of salsa and tomato sauce have already been put away for the winter. Cucumber pickles of all flavors and varieties are starting to crowd the shelves of our root cellar. Our food processing center, Foopin, is in use almost constantly; whether we’re canning produce, drying herbs, brewing beer or wine, butchering meat, making cheese, fermenting tempeh or kimchi, or engaging in other pursuits of food and drink. Kombucha and kefir are fermenting rapidly in the August heat; producing up to five gallons of each weekly. A wide variety of healthy, homemade, delicious food is important to many East Winders. We are able to provide high quality nutritious and organic foods to a community of seventy people affordably by growing, processing, and preparing as much of our own food as possible, though we still purchase many staple items in bulk. Our food waste is fed to our pigs or composted in our gardens.

Herbs

Basil and holy basil were harvested in seemingly infinite abundance this month, and dried or made into pesto. Peppermint, lemon balm, tulsi, and basil were steam distilled to create potent aromatic hydrosols. Spilanthes, hops, oregano, marjoram, sage, lemon balm, elderberries, and wild carrot seed, among others, were also harvested and processed this month. Our herbs storage shed is overflowing with buckets upon buckets of healthful herbs, and we are already well prepared for the winter months. Our stock of tinctures, dried herbs, hydrosols, and salves has greatly expanded over the past few years, and more and more East Winders are learning about the healing properties of herbal remedies.

August Music Fest

East Wind celebrated our annual music festival this month. Musical talent on the stage included Buddha’s Groove Shoes, Sean Porter, Juli vonZurmullen, Mac McNulty, Aster, Pilfered by Peasants, and more. Twenty East Winders participated in a scavenger hunt to start off the fun and festivities in the afternoon. Later in the day, East Winders enjoyed homebrewed beer and wine, an open bar, and a bonfire. Music on the stage was a hit, and the festival was well enjoyed by all who attended.

Annual Plan

We held a series of meetings to discuss our financial plan for this year. Each summer, East Winders meet to discuss how we will budget our collectively-owned money for the year ahead. Our largest source of income, East Wind Nutbutters, suffered a loss last year— prompting us to reduce budgets and tighten our belts. Our largest budgets are spent on food and medical expenses, while smaller budgets provide for our ranch, dairy, garden, food processing, vehicle use, house supplies, recreation, etc.

What’s Happening: July 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Summertime

This summer has been pleasantly sunny and warm, and definitely a mild summer compared to the extreme heat experienced during the past few years. The plant and animal life of the Ozarks suffered briefly during a minor drought in early June, but was relieved by plentiful rains at the end of the month. Despite the characteristic humidity, the weather has been beautiful. The afternoons are often hot and sunny, but the mornings and nights are pleasantly cool. Many East Winders are enjoying the creek daily.

Garden

Tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, corn, zucchini, carrots, beets, onions, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries were harvested in abundance this month. We will continue to harvest many crops, especially tomatoes, potatoes, and cucumbers well into August. Tomatoes will be processed into salsa, tomato sauce, hot sauce, ketchup, juice, and even wine. Potatoes (including a variety of purple potatoes) are a favorite during breakfast time, and are also enjoyed as homemade fries, chips, and mashed potatoes. Many cucumbers will be pickled, canned, and stored in the root cellar. Our blackberry vines produced prolifically in the beginning of the month, but the harvest is already starting to dwindle by the end of July. Melons and grapes are still growing on their vines, and are expected to mature in August. The gardens are a beautiful sight to behold.

Waiting List Continues to Grow

The waiting list continues to grow; there are currently nineteen people waiting for rooms to open up. Individuals on the waiting list are welcome to live and camp at East Wind for the time being, but will be asked to leave by November 3^rd. East Wind has now been at population capacity continuously for just about a year, and is gradually adjusting to life with a higher population and unending waiting list. Waiting times to obtain membership and a room are variable, but males can expect to wait for up to a year and females can expect to wait for a number of months.

East Wind Community Kitchen at the Rainbow Gathering

More than a dozen East Winders helped run a free kitchen at the National Rainbow Gathering in Montana this year. East Winders loaded up two vans with a few hundred pounds of nutbutter and other food, and headed to Montana on June 23^rd. Everyone helped out, and East Winders were happy to feed hundreds of people during our stay in the mountains. East Wind is closely aligned with many values of the Rainbow family, including the values of non-violence, equality, communal living, peace, love, environmentalism, and non-consumerism.

What’s Happening: June 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 21:36:00 +0000

Spring

We’ve been enjoying beautiful springtime weather in the Ozarks. East Winders are loving the warm days and cool nights. Many of us consider this the nicest time of the year, before the heat and bugs of summer are upon us. Spring has come on a bit later this year, with the catalpa tree on the Reim lawn blooming a full month later than it did last year. Day after day of perfect spring weather greeted us through April, May, and well into June, much to our delight. The landscape is lush, green, and full of plant and animal diversity. Life is good in the Ozarks.

Garden

Sweet potatoes were planted early this month. Potatoes, corn, sweet and hot peppers, zucchini, eggplant, onions, garlic, leeks, melons, cucumbers, broccoli, kale, cabbage, collards, carrots, tomatoes, beets, rhubarb, peas, and beans are growing rapidly in our gardens. The first of the garlic planted last fall was harvested and braided this month. The first small harvests of cucumbers, zucchini, broccoli, peppers, blueberries, and black raspberries came in later this June. Strawberry production dwindled by the middle of the month, but not before most East Winders had their fill of delicious fresh smoothies. We’ve had lots of help in our gardens this spring, with many hours devoted to weeding and removing insects by hand. Our gardens are in good health and good hands, and we look forward to the bounty we expect to harvest this summer and fall. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, melons, and berries are expected in great abundance next month.

Herbs

Yarrow, wild carrot (and poison hemlock, a look-a-like), valerian, echinacea, sage, self-heal, comfrey, chamomile, calendula, lavender, and roses flowered this month. We harvested and dried motherwort, tarragon, oregano, peppermint, lemon balm, catnip, daisies, calendula, passionflower, and chamomile, among others. Chamomile flowers are blooming by the thousands, and harvesting the tiny flowerheads is a daily chore. Chamomile is a favorite herbal remedy, and is very effective for soothing anxiety and digestive troubles. We distilled yarrow, daisies, and cilantro for essential oils and hydrosols. We made salves for community use, including a drawing salve for snakebites, splinters, thorns, spider bites, insect bites, etc., and a calendula-yarrow salve for healing cuts. Late spring and early summer provide bountiful wild and cultivated herb harvests, and we use this time to prepare community for the year ahead.

Building in Community

Progress at our new gazebo in the Mulberry Garden is coming along beautifully. We recently adorned our new cob table with colored ceramic tiles, bits of colored glass and mirror, fossils, and crystals. The top of the table features a colorful depiction of the sun with quartz crystals embedded in the center. The twenty-eight cycles of the moon are depicted with pieces of broken mirror embedded around the edge of the table. The four stone/cob benches are still awaiting finishing touches, and plans for a new cob oven are already in the works.

East Winders held a building meeting to discuss ideas and plans and organize labor for upcoming building projects. There has been a lot of talk about building projects in community, especially with the high number of people living on the farm. Priorities include repairs to Rockbottom, our central building and dining hall, and rebuilding some of our showerhouse that burnt down in December 2011.

Summer Solstice

East Winders enjoyed the longest day of the year and the shortest night of the year on June 21st. Many former members, adults and children alike, joined us for a lovely solstice party by the creek. The weather was warm but pleasant, and many enjoyed the creek throughout the day. Homemade music, snacks, soda, beer, and wine were shared, and a good time was had by all.

Nutbutter Website

We’ve recently launched a brand new website featuring our cashew, almond, and peanut butter, and tahini. The new website includes information on our business, our community, and our products. It also features short bios of over a dozen East Winders, focusing on how they contribute to our community and our nutbutter business. You can check out the new website at eastwindnutbutters.com.

Waiting List

The waiting list continues to grow. There has been very little turnover, and the wait is long for most new people. Females are given priority over males in an attempt to adjust our current gender imbalance, causing males to undergo especially long waits. Individuals on the waiting list are allowed to stay and camp until November 1^st, but will be asked to leave during the colder months. Aside from not having a room, people on the waiting list are unable to enjoy many of the other benefits of membership. Members receive $150 per month, are able to vote after three months, receive medical coverage after six months, can serve on the board, can run for managerial positions, and can operate community vehicles, among other things. Individuals on the waiting list do not enjoy any of these benefits, though they are expected to work the same amount as everyone else.

We recently held a community meeting to discuss our plans for dealing with the issue of ongoing population capacity. Many East Winders felt that improvements to our shared infrastructure, including our kitchens, showers, and laundry, are a priority. East Winders also felt that it would be a good idea to put a cap on the number of people on the waiting list that can live at East Wind during their wait. There are already eight waiting list-ers staying on the farm and camping in tents right now, and limiting the number to ten or fifteen has been suggested. Overpopulation is somewhat of a new issue for East Wind, and there are no simple solutions for the multi-faceted problems that it presents.

National Rainbow Gathering

A dozen East Winders headed to the National Rainbow Gathering in Montana on June 23rd. East Winders packed up a full Rainbow kitchen, including a few hundred pounds of our famous East Wind nutbutter. East Wind Community Kitchen will be on the map again this year, and all are welcome to stop by. Folks from our fellow communities and other communally minded individuals/groups are welcome to join our camp. Peace, love, and peanut butter!

What’s Happening: May 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 29 May 2013 06:22:00 +0000

East Wind’s 39^th Land Day

East Winders past and present celebrated East Wind’s 39^th Land Day on May 1^st. Partiers enjoyed a beautiful sunny day at the creek with friends, food, and drink. At sunset, East Winders and friends gathered around a beautiful old elm tree to take a group photo and wrap the tree with ribbons. East Wind will celebrate its 40^th anniversary on May 1^st of next year, and we are anticipating an East Wind reunion that will be remembered for a long time. Many past East Winders will be attending, and there is talk of organizing an East Wind renaissance fair. You can find out more information here.

Construction in Community

East Winders have been motivated to create and build this spring, and a number of different projects have been undertaken and completed. A new aquaculture greenhouse is being added onto the south side of our exercise room/recording studio. Our ice machine has been moved outside of RB in a new shed built specifically for that purpose. The outdoor shower at Fanshen has been renovated using timber framing and thatching techniques. Sunnysiders built a nice new front porch for Sunnyside, one of the original residences built at East Wind. Natural building at the new gazebo in the Mulberry Garden is well underway, with a cob/stone table and three benches nearing completion.

Plans for the hopefully near future include renovations to the floor and foundation of Rock Bottom, our kitchen/dining hall. A lot of work has been done on a substandard personal shelter, Barnabus, in hopes that it will soon be inhabitable. There are plans to build a new wood shed next to the general shop in the near future. There is also talk of rebuilding part of the showerhouse that burnt down in December 2011. Maintaining, improving, and expanding our infrastructure is a never-ending job at East Wind, and we are always grateful for people willing to take on these kinds of projects. This certainly looks like a promising year for construction at East Wind so far.

Garden

Mother nature has been kind this spring, and ample rain, sunshine, and pleasant temperatures are being enjoyed by people and plants alike. The landscape is lush, green, and growing rapidly. Tomatoes, cucumbers, hot peppers, zucchini, and figs were all planted out into our gardens during the first week of May. Melons were planted later this May. Lettuce, asparagus, and strawberries became harvestable in early May, and are now being enjoyed daily in abundance. Strawberries are a garden favorite of many East Winders, and are being devoured by the bucketful raw and cooked into desserts. Many of us are eagerly anticipating the mulberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries that will come in during the next few months. Garlic, cabbage, and broccoli will be ready to harvest soon as well. Small peaches, apples, and figs have already begun to grow on our orchard trees. Many East Winders have been putting a lot of love into our gardens this year, and we’re about to reap the benefits as we head towards the peak of summer garden harvests during the next few months.

Herbs

Hibiscus, basil, holy basil, sweet marjoram, borage, lemongrass, nasturtiums, and echinacea were planted in our herb gardens this May. Our new copper alembic column still for essential oils is up and running, and herbs are being distilled fresh from the garden. Lemongrass, peppermint, spearmint, wild rose, and catnip were the first hydrosols that we made this spring. We’ve already started drying large quantities of herbs for next winter, including lemon balm, oregano, peppermint, spearmint, tarragon, sage, thyme, violet, chives, etc. Chamomile, calendula, valerian, and sage have already begun to flower and enchant our herb gardens. To support East Wind’s growing interest in natural medicine, we are growing and processing more medicinal herbs than ever before.

Elections

East Wind holds annual elections for the management of different branches, including garden, ranch, dairy, food processing, recreation, medical, utilities, grounds, forestry, house, kitchen, pets, finances, membership, auto shop, nut butters, etc. All East Winders are able to sign-up to run for any of these positions during the month-long sign-up period. The last week of May is reserved for voting, and new managers take their positions on June 1^st. There was a lot of participation this year, with over 35 East Winders running for 40 positions (with some people running as teams and some people running for multiple positions). Eleven positions are being sought after by at least two opposing parties or individuals, allowing voting East Winders to choose their preferred candidate for the job.

East Wind is an egalitarian community that strives to offer a viable alternative to the hierarchical structure that dominates the workplace elsewhere. Managers here aren’t bosses and don’t have employees working beneath them. Managers don’t make more money or enjoy other additional benefits (other than the satisfaction of helping to maintain and improve the quality of life in community). Instead, managers are self-motivated individuals who volunteer to be responsible for a particular aspect of community life. This system has its drawbacks, but generally seems to work quite well for a community of this size.

What’s Happening: April 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 23:03:00 +0000

Spring

Onions, carrots, lettuces, collards, cabbages, broccoli, and potatoes were planted out during the first week of April. Each year, we do our best to grow more of our own food and reduce our reliance on store bought goods. Last year, we successfully grew, harvested, and stored enough potatoes to last our entire community for about four months (potatoes are a major staple food at East Wind). We’ve planted even more this year, and hope to supply community with homegrown potatoes for over six months.

Parsley, dill, oregano, fennel, elecampane, calendula, valerian, marjoram, spilanthes, marsh mallow, hollyhock, hyssop, and hibiscus, among others, were transplanted from our greenhouse into our herb gardens this month. Chamomile, cilantro, and oatstraw were direct seeded and have begun to sprout and grow. Comfrey, lemon balm, valerian, feverfew, rose, and marsh mallow, among others, have broken dormancy and sprouted fresh green growth. The season’s first harvests of yarrow, violet, chickweed, cleavers, tarragon, and thyme have already been brought in and dried. Our new Mulberry Garden has expanded in all directions, and this promises to be its best year yet.

Peach trees were among the first to flower and have been pruned. Apple trees flowered later this April. In the woods, carolina buckthorn, elms, and ashes were among the first trees to leaf out, and by the end of April few trees remained bare. Dogwoods bloomed during the last week of April, dotting the understory with enchanting white blossoms. The forest is green and vibrant and unabashedly full of life. The rains have been frequent and plentiful. Many days have been warm and sunny, though the nights are still often cold and wet. A few late frosts have done some damage to our spring crops and fruit trees, and another cold snap is expected during the first week of May. Because of this, we will be holding off on planting some of our warm season crops like tomatoes and cucumbers until later this May. Even so, spring is undeniably here at last.

Largest Black Gum Tree in Missouri

The largest registered blackgum tree in the state of Missouri lives at East Wind. The tree was nominated recently, after the previous state champion of 30 years fell to strong winds in August 2012. The Missouri Department of Conservation came out and took measurements of the tree, and have verified that it is the largest known blackgum in the state. The tree stands 92 ft tall and has a circumference of 129 inches and a crown spread of 46 ft. East Wind is home to a number of very large and beautiful sycamores, oaks, elms, cedars, and pines. The champion blackgum resides on our New Land, a 700 acre wooded plot set aside by East Wind as a wildlife reserve and nature sanctuary. We practice sustainable forestry on the land as well.

FEC Conference

Delegates from the five communities that make up the Federation of Egalitarian Communities met at East Wind this April to hold an annual conference. Delegates from Twin Oaks, Acorn, Sandhill, The Midden (a community-in-dialogue), and Emma GoldmanFinishing School participated in the week-long conference. East Wind welcomed the delegates from our sister communities, and many individuals were happy to make new friends and hear about life in other communities. Many of us who live communally believe that a strong network of communities is fundamental, and are happy to have the chance to strengthen our relationships with like-minded individuals and groups of people. A strong network of communities presenting viable alternatives to the mainstream culture can help to change people’s lives and make the world a better place.

LEXers from Twin Oaks and Acorn

Ten individuals from Twin Oaks and Acorn spent a week at East Wind in late April. Communities in the Federation of Egalitarian Communities participate in a labor exchange program that allows members of each community to spend time working at other FEC communities. East Winders were happy to host guests from our sister communities, and many of us were glad to spend time with old friends and to make new friends. LEXers were ready and willing to help out around community, and their hard work in our garden and our businesses, among other things, is much appreciated. The LEXers were a lovely bunch of folks, and we hope that they enjoyed being here as much as we enjoyed having them here.

Although there is occasionally a sense of sibling rivalry between the communities, we love our sister communities and appreciate the relationship we have with them and the fact that they exist. Folks from other communities are always welcome to come spend some time at ours (just let us know that you’re coming first). Thank you to everyone who lives communally with the intention of creating a better way of life!

Natural Building

The land we call home offers abundant resources to East Winders willing to use their resourcefulness and ingenuity. Materials for our current natural building project (a stone/cob table and benches in our new gazebo in our new garden space, the Mulberry Garden) are being sustainably harvested from our own land. Clay, stone, sand, and straw are the essential ingredients for our table and benches, and are all readily available in abundance. Our gazebo roof has been completed, along with a beautiful stone floor and steps. The gazebo will soon be surrounded by a lovely nervine herb garden (herbs for the mind, such as valerian, chamomile, holy basil, rose, lemongrass, borage, lemon balm, hops, passionflower, etc). As soon as the danger of a frost has passed, we will begin mixing cob and constructing the table. There has been a lot of interest in helping out with this project in community, and we hope that this will inspire future natural building projects.

Waiting List Continues to Grow

The waiting list continues to grow with no end in sight. Some potential members have now been waiting for over six months for rooms to open up. Even so, six more individuals are scheduled to participate in the May visitor period. Individuals on the waiting list are welcome to camp out during the warmer months, but will be asked to leave during the winter until more space opens up. We’ve heard that many of our sister communities are experiencing similar situations. Hopefully this demand for communal living will inspire the creation of more intentional communities and other alternative ways of life. There are many forming communities looking for members, as well. You can find out more information about established and forming intentional communities at ic.org.

What's Happening: March 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 17:10:00 +0000

Spring Equinox

East Winders gladly greeted the spring on March 20^th this year. We celebrated the equinox with homemade beer, wine, root beer, snacks, and fun. East Winders appreciated the beauty of the coming spring and the anticipation of the warm sunny days ahead. At dusk, many of us gathered to watch a “dragon log”, which was undoubtedly a spectacle to behold.

Forsythias, flowering quince, cherry, and peach trees have all put on a beautiful display of flowers this month. On the ground, toothwort, trout lily, dandelion, chickweed, cress, henbit, dead nettle, and sweet violet are beginning to flower. Elderberries and dogwoods have begun to bud and leaf out, though most hardwoods will continue to remain dormant for just a little while longer. This winter’s spinach and kale are still producing in our gardens, while spring wild edibles appear in abundance along trails and throughout the woods. Some favorite wild salad greens this time of year include toothwort, trout lily, chickweed, chives, violet, cress, dandelion, chicory, and yarrow.

Population Capacity

East Wind is still at population capacity, with 73 members currently residing in the community. There are still 6 individuals on the waiting list for available rooms (some are currently staying in the visitors’ quarters while others are waiting for space to open to return). There will be another visitor period this April, but any visitors wishing to stay after three weeks will be asked to camp. Turnover has been low this year, and some individuals have been on the waiting list for rooms for over six months and are still waiting. Due to the prioritized acceptance of women (to balance our gender ratio), men especially are undergoing long waits for space.

Though we may have a waiting list into the forseeable future, interested individuals are still welcome to visit and apply for membership. Individuals on the waiting list will be allowed to camp in community during the warmer months, but will be asked to leave until a room opens up during the winter. People on the waiting list do not receive all the benefits of membership, but are welcome to live and work with us while they wait. Just remember: good things come to those who wait.

Our growing waiting list suggests that more and more people are becoming interested in communal living. People are becoming more disillusioned with the mainstream consumer culture, and are seeking alternatives and better ways of living in harmony with our planet. We hope that this awakening will inspire momentum in the communities movement, and that more communities will arise and flourish. You can learn more about intentional communities at ic.org and thefec.org.

Garden Season

Garden season is upon us, with onions, garlic, potatoes, and lettuce already enjoying the spring sun and rain. Healthy young leeks, tomatoes, peppers, greens, broccoli, cabbage, kale, and some lettuces are still cozy and warm in our greenhouse, getting bigger every day. Chamomile has already been seeded in our herb garden, while other medicinal and culinary herbs like elecampane, dill, fennel, oregano, parsley, marsh mallow, holly hock, passionflower, hibiscus, echinacea, valerian, and rosemary gain strength in our greenhouse. In our gardens, herbs like peppermint, spearmint, comfrey, tarragon, feverfew, rose, lemon balm, and yarrow have begun to sprout fresh green growth.

Our garden space has continued to grow steadily for the past three years, and this year it is looking bigger and better than ever. Perennial plants like blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and rhubarb have recently become established, while newly planted trees like chestnuts, persimmons, cherries, and figs are still small. What was a cow pasture just three years ago is now a thriving vegetable, berry, and herb garden and orchard. Established perennial herbs in our new Mulberry Garden include lemon balm, peppermint, spearmint, yarrow, oregano, thyme, sage, catnip, tarragon, echinacea, marsh mallow, chives, elecampane, pennyroyal, comfrey, and more. This year’s garden promises to be even better than the last.

East Wind Nutbutters Free of GMOs

East Wind nutbutters, including peanut, cashew, almond, and tahini are officially non-GMO. East Winders believe in healthy quality food for ourselves and our customers, and are proud to announce that all of our nutbutter products are non-GMO. We recently obtained this information from our suppliers, and plan to seek non-GMO certification and to declare this important information on our labels. Whole Foods, a major distributor of East Wind Nutbutter, has now made it mandatory for its food suppliers to properly label GMOs. We hope that this will set an example for other food retailers, and encourage the public to demand the production of more non-GMO foods and require proper labeling of GMOs. Though this is only one small step in the right direction, it is hopefully an indicator of the public’s increasing awareness regarding this issue.

PEACH TOAST

Representatives from our fellow FEC communities including Twin Oaks, Acorn, Sandhill, Dancing Rabbit (non-FEC), and Emma Goldman Finishing School met at East Wind in early March. PEACH is a non-profit organization set up by the Federation of Egalitarian Communities and maintained by the communities themselves. Each community pays into the fund (fees are determined by the number of members and are paid quarterly), and in return is entitled to financial assistance if a member’s medical costs amount to over $5,000 in a given year. The communities themselves are responsible for other medical costs; the PEACH fund is intended for catastrophic events that could cause serious hardship to a community.

PEACH representatives met to discuss issues face-to-face, and spent long days coming up with solutions that we could all agree on. Some issues discussed at this year’s TOAST include the coverage of chronic illnesses, standards for exotic or alternative treatments, the participation of non-FEC communities in PEACH (including Dancing Rabbit), and increasing the $5,000 deductible to reflect inflation, among other issues. The representatives were eventually able to find agreeable solutions for most of the issues discussed.

Emergency Medical Care Preparedness

This month, a small group of East Winders learned and practiced skills that could come in handy in the event of traumatic injuries. East Winders discussed what to do in case of potential spinal injuries, amputations, dislocations, impaled objects, dental first aid, frostbite, sprained ankles, and broken bones. We practiced making splints on each other and demonstrated how to clear the spine in the event of a positive mechanism of injury. In April, we will offer a special first aid course tailored to the treatment of children and babies. Parents and East Winders who watch the children are especially encouraged to attend this workshop, and will learn about choking, poisoning, shock, anaphylaxis, child CPR, and more.

What’s Happening: February 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 21:21:00 +0000

Natural Building in the Mulberry Garden

Some East Winders are hoping to inspire others to try their hands at natural building by starting a few projects of our own this spring, including a cob table, benches, and maybe a birdbath in our beautiful Mulberry Garden. This February, we built a gazebo made of cedar poles harvested from our woods, using a combination of timber framing and conventional building techniques. The gazebo will provide shade and shelter for a stone and cob table, made completely with material from our own land (including clay, sand, straw, stone, and water).

We’ve been saving broken ceramic and glass from our kitchen for over a year now, which we will use to make a beautiful mosaic celestial table top and four benches themed for the four seasons. The gazebo will be complete this March, and we intend to start building with cob after danger of the last frost has passed at the end of April. This new outdoor communal spot will bring shade and leisure to our hard-working gardeners this summer, and will overlook our orchards, herb garden, vegetable gardens, berry vines and bushes, ranch and dairy pastures, and the wooded hills beyond. We hope this will inspire future natural building projects at East Wind and elsewhere.

Mild Winter

It’s been another mild winter in the Ozarks. Though we’ve seen snow a few times and an ice storm recently, most days have been sunny and warm. Daffodils, flowering quince, lily in the valley, and asters have already begun to bloom, and we expect another early spring this year.

Starts in the Greenhouse

We’ve begun this year’s garden in our greenhouse this February. Our greenhouse is warm and full of life already, with onion sprouts galore. We’ve also started many herbs in the greenhouse this February, including echinacea, calendula, hollyhock, marsh mallow, dill, fennel, rosemary, oregano, marjoram, horehound, and more.

Emergency Medical Care Workshops

This February, we conducted another two emergency medical care workshops. The first workshop this month included information on symptoms and treatment for a wide range of life-threatening emergencies including choking, diabetic emergencies, anaphylaxis, seizures, asthma attacks, heat stroke, appendicitis, etc. The second workshop this month focused on wilderness first aid, including snakebite, spider bite, animal attacks, poisonous plants and mushrooms, lightning, burns and cuts, and herbs for first aid. The next workshop will focus on traumatic injuries.

Baby Goats

It’s that time of year again, and all of our dairy goats have successfully given birth to adorable baby goats. There are now six baby girl and six baby boy goats running around in our goat barn, growing bigger and stronger every day. Our dairy program has come a long way in the last few years, and it continues to grow still.

Validation Day

East Winders celebrated Validation Day on February 14^th, a tradition we share with some of our fellow FEC communities. East Winders took the time to validate each other by decorating and writing messages in cards for each and every member of community. Members gave each other the warm fuzzies by writing and sharing what they like and appreciate about their fellow communitarians. We celebrated with a party and open mic, where music and fun was enjoyed by all. Many East Winders partied and enjoyed each other’s company late into the night.

Budget Cuts

The economic climate combined with a poor crop of organic peanuts last year due to droughts has taken its toll on our nutbutter business. As a result of decreased profits in our business, we have had to make cuts to many of our domestic budgets at our half-year financial review. Budgets we are considering trimming include our medical expenses, recreational expenses, discretionary funds, and civic support, among other budgets.

What’s Happening: January 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 20:48:00 +0000

Health in Community

Many East Winders (about half of us) spent some time this January sick in bed with the flu virus. Natural and conventional medicine and treatments were readily available, and most East Winders recovered quickly. Echinacea, elderberry, elecampane, eucalyptus, ginger, peppermint, lemongrass, and licorice root are some herbal favorites for their immunostimulant, antiviral, decongestant, and demulcent properties. East Winders suffered symptoms such as fatigue, muscle soreness, congestion, sore throat, fever, and stomach upset before overcoming this highly contagious virus.

Community is still struggling to rid ourselves of scabies, microscopic parasites that first arrived at East Wind over six months ago. Approximately ten East Winders have been afflicted, and most have overcome these parasites with diligent treatment and hygiene. Most have opted for prescription permethrin treatment, and some have treated themselves naturally with sulfur, neem, tea tree, rosemary, turmeric, etc. We hope to rid ourselves of these pests in the near future.

East Winders have been conducting another series of medical trainings this winter. The emergency medical care workshops are between one and two hours long and take place after brunch on Sundays. The first workshop included information on what to do in emergency situations, when to call 911, symptoms and treatment for heart attack, shock, stroke, and sudden cardiac arrest, how to perform CPR, and how to use an AED. Over a dozen people attended the first workshop, and are hopefully now more prepared to provide confident and competent care in case of an emergency.

New Year’s Eve & Time Capsule

East Winders greeted the New Year in style with a classy dance party extravaganza in our HMX shop. We also sealed an East Wind time capsule that we be enclosed in one of the concrete pillars underneath RB, our central building. The time capsule includes photos, a notebook with messages to the future, and other memorabilia from our time. It will be sealed indefinitely… until someone decides to open it.

Waiting List Still in Effect

There is still a waiting list in effect for space at East Wind. There are over seventy people living in community right now, and all rooms and personal shelters are currently occupied. Five individuals who visited in the fall are still on the waiting list for rooms at East Wind. Space may open up this spring and summer, but we may continue to have a waiting list well into the foreseeable future.

Fig Cuttings

Three years ago, East Wind received a fig sapling as a gift from Short Mountain Sanctuary after their annual Beltane celebration. That tree has now reached about eight feet in height and has provided us with plump, delicious figs for the last two summers. This fall we took cuttings from this fig tree, and some of them have sprouted roots and will be the start of our new fig orchard this spring.

What’s Happening: December 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 21:23:00 +0000

Winter Solstice & Artmas

East Winders celebrated the winter solstice together on December 21^st. Twenty-five people participated in this year’s artmas exchange, an East Wind tradition celebrated by exchanging unique homemade gifts. Though the shortest day of the year was fun, most of us look forward to the days growing longer. The winter has been mild so far, but the cold air and grey landscape leave many of us yearning for spring.

New Sawmill

We recently purchased a new sawmill from Peterson Portable Sawmills to replace our antiquated old sawmill. A site on our New Land was selected and prepared this fall, and our new sawmill now sits securely under a shiny new tin roof. We milled up our first logs on the new sawmill this month, producing oak boards to side the new sawmill building. The new sawmill is more fuel efficient, and can be easily run by a two person crew. We intend to produce lots of quality lumber to be used for building projects throughout community.

What's Happening: November 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 18:35:00 +0000

Thanksgiving

East Winders celebrated Thanksgiving with homegrown food, drink, and entertainment. In 2011, we began a tradition of celebrating this holiday with food from our own land. Thanksgiving cooks were encouraged to focus on foods that come directly from our farm, and many dishes were from the land entirely (though we also traded nutbutter locally for some ingredients). This year’s feast included mashed potatoes, stuffing, baked apples, sweet potato bread, turkey, gravy, ham, venison, stir fried greens, and a salad. We also enjoyed homebrewed wine and beer, and homemade wild grape juice.

There was entertainment to be enjoyed after dinner, and a crowd gathered to appreciate art, music, poetry, and puppetry. The Thanksgiving coffeehouse started off with a puppet show, which was greatly enjoyed by adults and children alike. The puppet show was followed by ten more talented acts ranging from poets to singers to musicians.

Herbs

As we head into the cold season, we must prepare to treat any ailments that may arise during the winter. Dandelion, burdock, chicory, and yellow dock roots have been dug from the wild, and have been preserved by drying, tincturing, and making glycerites. Roots of echinacea, marsh mallow, astragalus, and elecampane have been dug from the herb gardens and processed for the winter. Our stock harvested during the warm season and in previous years is extensive. We now have a sufficient supply of over 100 different types of dried herbs and tinctures, and will be prepared for whatever may come our way this winter.

East Wind Nutbutters Cook Book

East Winders began working on a new cook book for recipes that feature nutbutter and tahini. We have begun by cooking up these tasty treats in our own kitchen, and plan to make the cook book available to the public later this year.

What's Happening: October 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 19:15:00 +0000

Halloween & Day of the Dead

East Winders enjoyed one last hoorah down by our creek this Halloween, where there was fun to be had by all. Kids and adults enjoyed a haunted hayride to the party, bobbing for apples, pumpkin carving, and a costume contest. East Winders built a bonfire around the maypole that we erected on May Day (six months earlier), and set it aflame at dusk. Costumed East Winders celebrated throughout the day, and craziness ensued late into the night.

On November 1^st, some of us gathered in our cemetery to remember and honor East Winders who are no longer with us. We tended to the land where they are buried and adorned the graves with photos. We found the last wildflowers and marigolds in bloom and placed them on each grave. We then dug a hole in the center of the cemetery where we will be planting a weeping willow tree this month. East Winders took some time to sit and reminisce in the cemetery, and left at sunset.

Waiting List
East Wind reached population capacity last month, and there are currently ten people on a waiting list for open spaces. November visitors will be asked to leave at the end of their three-week visitor period (until space opens up), due to lack of bedrooms and limited accommodations and facilities. There are currently over eighty people planning to call East Wind their home this winter. We expect to see a full house throughout the winter with space opening up in the spring.

East Wind has not had a waiting list in effect in a number of years, so we have had a series of community meetings to discuss how to handle our current situation. We have yet to decide if we want to expand and raise our population capacity or to limit the size of our growing community. Many East Winders feel that we need to focus on expanding our current facilities, especially our cooking/dining areas, our showers, and our laundry facilities. The majority of us are currently sharing three showers, two washers and dryers, and eight stove burners (though there are small kitchens and showers in two of the dorms as well).

Hunting Season

East Wind encompasses over 1,000 acres of mostly forested land, and we share this land with many other animals. Many deer live in the woods around our community, and deer sightings are by no means uncommon. This year, some East Winders are taking advantage of this opportunity to provide wild game for community. Some hunts have been successful, and East Winders have already enjoyed venison in a number of community meals this fall.

Wine Cellar

This month, we renovated our wine cellar and installed wine racks that will one day accommodate 760 bottles of aged wine. We currently have nearly 300 bottles of homemade wine, ranging from one month to one and a half years in age.

Wine cellar before renovation

After renovation

Homemade wine racks & table

Wine to be enjoyed in 2013

First Frost

After weeks of beautiful fall colors and weather, autumn is turning to winter as plants and animals move their energy inward and underground. The first hard frost of the year hit on the 26^thof October, and East Winders scrambled to harvest or reemay any crops and herbs that otherwise wouldn’t survive the night. Every last pepper, tomato, and leaf of basil was saved for the winter ahead.

Growing Peanuts

East Wind successfully grew a few rows of peanuts in our garden this year. While our nutbutter business ships in peanuts by the truckload (tons, literally) and has sold millions of dollars worth of peanut butter, we haven’t grown any of our own peanuts until now. This year’s crop was successful and will be enjoyed in community, but would not supply even a fraction of a percent of the amount of peanuts our business uses in any given year.

Herb Garden

Many green and flowering herbs have died back down to the roots this month, leaving our herb gardens looking tidy but gloomy. Herbs that cannot survive the cold winter like basil, holy basil, lemongrass, borage, and nasturtiums have all been harvested or moved inside, or died. Autumn is the time when a plant’s energy moves into its roots, and we take advantage of this opportunity by harvesting the highly medicinal roots of echinacea, elecampane, astragalus, and marsh mallow at this time. We have also harvested many important wild roots such as dandelion, chicory, burdock, and yellowdock. We are sure to keep ourselves stocked with a variety of dried medicinal herbs and tinctures as we head into the winter and cold season this year.

What's Happening: September 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 22:49:00 +0000

Population Capacity

East Wind reached population capacity this month, meaning that there are now more people who want to live here than the number of bedrooms available. The September visitor period was an exceptionally large one, with ten visitors completing a three-week stay and eight of them wanting to continue living at East Wind. Unfortunately, there was only one available bedroom (out of seventy in all), so seven individuals are currently on a waiting list for rooms. These seven individuals have chosen to stay regardless, and will either be camping or bunking up with friends. East Wind has reached population capacity a good number of times in the past, but this is the longest waiting list that we have had in at least five years. Another group of visitors will be arriving in October, though available housing space may not open up for a number of weeks. Some of our fellow FEC communities have recently reached population capacity as well.

Annual Plan

Many members of community attended a series of three meetings to work out our financial budgets for the year. This type of meeting is held annually sometime after the beginning of the fiscal year to plan for the community’s financial needs for the coming year. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend the meetings, and everyone is allowed an equal chance to speak and share their opinions. East Winders come up with an estimated yearly income from our businesses, and we then allot budgets to different areas of community accordingly. Elected managers of branches of community (garden, house, medical, kitchen, ranch, auto, building maintenance, recreation, food processing, etc.) request the amount of finances that they think they will need for the year, and then community discusses the amount and compares it to the budgets for previous years. If a budget seems too high or too low, the East Winders present at the meeting and the elected managers can change specific items during these meetings. Ultimately, the annual financial plan is voted on by the whole community before it is finalized. We meet quarterly to review the plan and make adjustments if necessary. This year, we have a projected annual plan of $646,152. We budgeted $87,500 for food and kitchen expenses, $4,000 for our gardens and $18,500 for our ranch. Some line items that we will vote on whether or not to fund this year include edible mushroom cultivation, circus tent repair, the purchase of a skidding wench, and funds to finish work on small wind turbines that we already own.

Sandhill Sorghum Harvest

East Winders visit one of our fellow FEC communities, Sandhill, around this time every year. A group of half a dozen to one dozen East Winders journey to Sandhill to help with their annual sorghum harvest and processing. East Winders also take this opportunity to visit Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, and Red Earth Farms. All of our communities have ties through the Federation of Egalitarian Communities, and many East Winders enjoy the experience of being able meet, help out, and learn from other community-minded folks across the country. This year, six East Winders spent a week at Sandhill, had a lovely stay, and brought home lot of sorghum.

Wild Harvested Wines

This month, we were able to harvest nearly 50 lbs of wild grapes and make over 20 gallons of wild grape wine. We also harvested 30 lbs of wild persimmons and 25 lbs of autumn olives, and made 10 gallons of persimmon wine and 5 gallons of autumn olive wine. We were able to make 15 gallons of organic apple wines and meads from our apple orchard this year. These wines will be aged for enjoyment at future holidays and birthdays at East Wind. Our current homebrew project has been brewing for just over a year now, with some of our oldest wines aged fourteen months. Some of our favorites so far include blackberry-mulberry mead, apple wine, sassafras wine, wild grape wine, and ginger wine.

Lice in Community

A few minor cases of head lice back in July is still posing somewhat of a problem for community three months later. Over a dozen people have had run-ins with these pests during the past few months, and stopping the spread in a communal living situation isn’t easy. Many options are available for those dealing with these parasites, including homemade and store-bought herbal and chemical remedies. Shampoos, sprays, oils, salves, vinegar rinses, diatomaceous earth, and nit combs are readily available. Individuals with lice are being asked to be conscientious about not spreading them, and some East Winders have cut their hair as a precaution or solution. East Winders are helping each other out by providing regular head checks and helping to remove nits.

Hootin’ and Hollerin’

Many East Winders attended the annual Hootin’ and Hollerin’ craftshow and fair held in Gainesville, MO (the nearest town to East Wind). East Winders set up a vending booth with nutbutters, hammocks, sandals, and a variety of homemade treats and crafts including cutting boards, polyhedrons, nature photography, herb bundles, knit work, cheesecake, cookies, muffins, and more. East Winders had a good time working the booth, socializing with the local community, purchasing foods and crafts, enjoying the musical talent, and dancing throughout the three-day festival.

Autumn Equinox

East Winders celebrated the autumnal equinox deep in the woods on September 22^nd this year. Many East Winders hiked or carpooled to our forested New Land to celebrate in a small clearing amongst the trees not far from our autumn olive grove. Food and drink were plentiful, and East Winders gathered around the fire to drum, sing, and have a good time until late into the night.

What's Happening: August 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 01:23:00 +0000

Canning & Food Processing

East Winders have been diligent about preserving our abundant garden harvests to enjoy throughout the colder months of the year. We have already canned nearly 100 gallons of tomato products this season, including tomato sauce, salsa, hot sauce, whole tomatoes, tomato wine, and more. We deep cleaned and renovated our root cellar this month, and it is now well stocked with delicious homegrown food of all sorts. Dozens of jars of pickled garlic, dill pickles, pickled okra, dilly beans, pickled beets, applesauce, pickled eggs, pepper relish, and pickled peppers are stacked tidily on our clean new shelves. Our wine cellar is also being cleaned and renovated, and wine racks are being built to accommodate our aging wines.

Our walk-in fridge has been amply stocked with fresh garden produce all summer long, which all of us have been able to greatly enjoy. East Wind is also producing more of our own cow and goat milk than we have in years. In addition to fresh milk, homemade cheeses and yogurts have been readily available.

Garden produce for pickling

Nearly 200 jars of canned tomato products (all from our garden this summer)

A clean, well-stocked root cellar

Pickled garlic & jalepenos

Garden

August has been a good month for the gardens at East Wind. The extreme heat that we'd been having since the middle of June ended about a week into August, and we've finally had a month with good rains, the first since March. Harvests of tomatoes have been bountiful, and we have canned much of the harvest for the winter. Sweet and hot peppers are really coming in. Jalapenos are popular here, and two of the sweet pepper varieties have been truly outstanding; "Early Hungarian Sweet" and "Corno di Toro" have had quite impressive yields. August is the peak of watermelon season, and we grow a variety of types with their own unique flavors. "Moon and Stars" and "Orangeglo" are two of our favorite watermelons. Okra is very reliable and bountiful here at this time of year. The eggplant harvests are on the increase as well.

We're still enjoying stored potatoes, beets, onions, garlic and carrots from our harvests earlier in the year. August is also the month that most of our fall crops get planted. There are young carrots, rutabagas, turnips, radishes, kale, lettuce and other salad greens growing from recent plantings. The young greens won't be of harvestable size for a while, so right now one of the main greens we are eating is malabar spinach. Malabar spinach is not actually related to spinach, it just has a sort-of similar taste as spinach when cooked (raw malabar spinach has an aftertaste that is unappealing to most people, and is better as a cooked green). Unlike regular spinach, malabar spinach loves the heat and grows best at a time of year when few other greens do well, as long as it gets enough water. Even in July, which was the hottest on record this year with the majority of afternoons 100 degrees or higher, the malabar spinach was lush and growing rapidly. It is great for the season when the weather is too hot for most greens. We planted it here in mid-late May, as one of the last of the summer crops to go in, as it needs a very warm soil to sprout and grow well.

Strawberries, mullien, and malibar spinach in the Upper Garden

Apples from our orchard

Malibar spinach

Hot peppers from our garden being processed for salsa

Herb Garden
Echinacea, chinese chives, cardinal flower, saint john’s wort, wormwood, and skullcap, among many others, bloomed in our herb gardens this month. Major harvests of lemon balm, lemongrass, basil, holy basil, thyme, and peppermint were brought in and dried. Our essential oil distillation set is up and running again, and we’ve recently produced lovely holy basil hydrosol and essential oil. We’ve begun saving seeds for next year, including milk thistle, marsh mallow, basil, holy basil, and cilantro. As the weather cools and plants focus their energy underground, we will begin harvesting medicinal roots including echinacea, marsh mallow, valerian, dandelion, chicory, burdock, and elecampane.

Lemon balm with mullein in the background

Lower Herb Garden

St. John's Wort in bloom

August Music Festival

East Wind’s annual Music Festival took place on August 18^th this year, and a great time was had by all. Musical talent on the stage included Bruce Salmon, Nora & Gnoll, Mac McNulty, Emily Robinson, Juli VonZurMuellen, Shawn Porter, Max Hills, and the Undomesticated Farm Animals (made up of East Winders: Thaddeus, Pod, Peter, and Cayli J), and a few special musical guests. East Winders and our guests enjoyed the terrific music and a beautiful sunny day by the creek.

Unfortunately, one of our musicians scheduled to perform, Grant Withers, was unable to attend due to medical complications. We wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him on the stage next year.

Emily Robinson on stage

Enjoying the party

Juli VonZurMuellen & Shawn Porter

Forestry
Forestry season is fast approaching, and we have already begun marking dead and dying trees to be cut for firewood or lumber. We mark dead trees by tying a white ribbon around them during the late summer, while healthy trees still have their leaves. We have a lot of work ahead of us this year, with plenty of trees to be cut up for both firewood and milling. Many oaks and mulberries have already begun to lose most of their leaves as a result of the drought, while hickories and elms seem to be faring a bit better in the heat.

East Wind voted to purchase a new diesel sawmill to replace our current sawmill. We have already begun preparing the new sawmill site and making lumber for a wood drying shed. The forestry branch will be undertaking this project in the fall.

What's Happening: July 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 06:28:00 +0000

East Winders Visit Sister Communities
A group of East Winders spent two weeks living and working at two of our sister communities, Twin Oaks and Acorn. Twin Oaks, Acorn, and East Wind Communities are all proud members of the Federation of Egalitarian Communities. All FEC communities have the option to participate in a labor exchange program (called LEXing), which allows members from one community to temporarily live and work at another. Members are able to report the hours they've worked at one of our sister communities and receive credit the same as they would for work done in their home community.

A trip from East Wind to visit the east coast FEC communities is typically arranged once per year, and gives many East Winders the opportunity to explore other communities for the first time. East Winders had a good stay during their LEX trip, and are thankful to Twin Oaks and Acorn for hosting them. East Winders also arrange a LEX trip to Sandhill, another FEC community, every fall to help with their sorghum harvest. Nearby Dancing Rabbit and Red Earth Farm are usually visited during this trip as well. Many of us believe that a strong network of communities is essential to maintain and share our way of life, and we hope to see even more communities join us in the future.

Garden
Summer is well underway, and our walk-in fridge is full of fresh garden produce. Our watermelons and cantaloupes are sweet and delicious, and available in abundance. Thousands of tomatoes have been picked from our garden and processed into tomato sauce, salsa, tomato juice, tomato wine, and more (and they're still coming by the cartload everyday). Peppers (hot and sweet), potatoes, okra, squash, cucumbers, chard, eggplant, and corn are some other garden veggies being enjoyed this summer. Echinacea, sunflowers, roses, feverfew, skullcap, sage, tobacco, and st. john's wort are all in bloom, enchanting our herb gardens.

Drought
This summer has been hot and dry, with temperature rising above 100 degrees on most days and very little rainfall. The leaves of mulberry and sassafras trees have begun to yellow and brown, and dead oak leaves coat the ground and blow in the wind as though it were autumn. The lawns and pastures around community have turned brown and bare. Fortunately, our gardens receive plenty of water and are still green and thriving. Most of us are longing for rain, and the few small storms that have blown through have been welcomed with enthusiasm.

Peanuts
East Wind Nutbutters is now once again producing our famous natural peanut butter. We were unable to purchase any peanuts for our business due to massive droughts throughout the country, but received our first shipment of new peanuts this month. You can check out our nutbutters and other products on our website.

What’s Happening: June 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 19:30:00 +0000

National Rainbow Gathering
A dozen East Winders spent nearly two weeks in the Cherokee National Forest in northeastern Tennessee during the National Rainbow Gathering this year. East Wind donated over 1,000 pounds of organic peanut butter, cashew butter, and almond butter to help feed thousands of people free of charge. East Winders also set up a free kitchen in the woods, and cooked and served delicious free food to the masses day and night. East Wind Community Kitchen offered a free 24-7 self-serve peanut butter & jelly bar and handed out sweet gooey nutbutter treats after dark, in addition to serving wholesome, tasty, mostly vegan meals throughout the day. The East Winders in attendence already understood what communal living is about, and everyone lent a hand by helping to build our earthern kitchen, haul water and supplies, wash pots, tend to the fire, and cook food to share with our larger human family. This year, East Wind teamed up with a neighboring kitchen, Green & Purple, to serve dinner at Main Circle, where hundreds to thousands of people gather to share a meal every evening.

The Rainbow Gathering is a completely free and nonviolent assembly of people from all across the country and the world. There are international Gatherings across the globe as well as smaller regional gatherings, but the annual U.S. National Gathering of Living Light is by far the largest Family Gathering. The Gathering aims to focus our collective consciousness on the goal of world peace, and a six hour silent mediation for peace is held every year on July 4th. The silence is eventually broken by the sound of thousands oming and then cheering as we stand together and hold hands in unity. The Gathering promotes acceptence, love, and community, and encourages us to treat our brothers and sisters on this planet as family. Native American prophecy reads, "When the earth is ravaged and the animals are dying, a new tribe of people shall come unto the earth from many colors, classes, creeds, and who by their actions and deeds shall make the earth green again. They will be known as the warriors of the Rainbow." You can learn more about the Rainbow Gathering at welcomehere.org or welcomehome.org.

Working Hard to Grow More & Buy Less
East Winders are making strides towards becoming more self-sufficient by growing, producing, and processing more of our own food than ever before. Though we still purchase the bulk of our food, East Wind is currently producing all of our milk and the majority of our produce right at home.

Our gardens are bringing in an abundance of sweet and hot peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, onions, green beans, beets, carrots, greens, corn, melons, and more. Our orchards are berry vines are providing us with fresh blackberries, raspberries, black raspberries, peaches, and a few plums. Our three dairy cows and four dairy goats are able to provide us with a plentiful supply of fresh milk-- which is also being used to make cheese, yogurt, butter, cream, and ice cream. Beginning in July, we will be able to provide organic homebrewed wine and beer for all of our monthly holidays. Wines and meads made of blackberries, mulberries, and plums are fermenting speedily in the heat of the summer. Fresh oregano, basil, thyme, sage, nasturtiums, dill, cilantro, parsley, and many more spices are readily available in our herb gardens. The first sunflowers of the year bloomed this month and are already beginning to droop under their own weight.

East Winders are working hard everyday to keep our farm and community thriving. At any given time, a walk about community may find East Winders hard at work harvesting or weeding in our gardens, caring for our animals or working on our new barn, cooking a meal or cleaning the kitchen, repairing a vehicle or a computer, working in the offices or factory, playing with the children, or any number of other valuable jobs. Whatever is being done on a given day, there is the unmistakable sense being part of a growing, thriving, working farm.

The Idiocractic Life
Film maker/ photographer/ good friend of East Wind Kent Kessinger has completed “The Idiocratic Life”, a documentary on intentional communities in the United States. The documentary is composed of dozens of interviews from people involved in communal living across the country. Kent spent time living and working at East Wind as well as Black Bear Ranch in California and Zuni Mountain Sanctuary in New Mexico. East Winders gathered to enjoy the new documentary together as soon as we received our copy, and most of us responded with a lot of laughter and positive reviews. The film is beautifully done and captures a wide range of perspectives on the advantages and obstacles of communal living. Check out Kent Kessinger’s work here.

Summer Solstice
East Winders celebrated the longest day of the year on June 20th. We honored the occasion by gathering at our creek to enjoy the sun, the land, and each other’s company. Fun and music filled the shortest night of the year, and drums sounded until dawn.

T-Ball Season
The Gainesville Golden Eagles (also know as the Lil' 'Iggles) played their last game of the season this month. Three East Wind children played ball on the local little league team this year, and two East Wind dads served as coaches for the team. East Wind children and adults enjoyed participating in the local community, and many good games and practices were enjoyed by all.

What’s Happening: May 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 31 May 2012 22:20:00 +0000

Land Day

East Winders celebrated May and the 38^th anniversary of purchasing our land on the 1^st of this month. Our Land Day celebration was complete with a maypole, bonfire, mud pit, drumming, and musical talent on our stage and around the fire. Nature smiled on us by giving us a beautiful sunny day for our celebration, and a good time was had by all.

Garden

Tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, and melons are soaking up the sun in our new Mulberry Garden. Thousands of mulberries ripened on the mulberry tree in the center of our garden, and the first delicious blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries were harvested. In our upper garden, strawberries were harvested daily during the first few weeks of the month. Fresh broccoli, snap peas and snow peas, and greens and garden salads were greatly enjoyed in the kitchen, and the first of the summer garlic harvest is beautifully braided and proudly hung in the dining hall. Caldendula, echinacea, chamomile, bee balm, hyssop, and milk thistles bloomed in our herb gardens, while the enchanting pink flowers of the mimosa trees continue to bloom into June.

Elections

May is the time for East Wind’s annual managerial elections. Members of East Wind are able to run for year-long terms in positions such as Garden Manager, Ranch Manager, Membership Manager, Kitchen Manager, Recreation Manager, Food Processing Manager, etc. The term ‘manager’ is used very differently at East Wind than in most places. At East Wind, managers do not have the authority to hire or fire or give commands. Managers are just East Winders who volunteer to see that a job gets done, and are given access to a budget agreed upon by the community as a whole. Managers aren’t bosses here; they’re coworkers. Some managerships are very big jobs and can become overwhelming, and managers often need a lot of help and teamwork to accomplish their goals. There was a lot of community participation this year with over forty members voting in the elections, and new managers take on their positions on the 1^st of June.

What’s Happening: April 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:20:00 +0000

First Aid Training

This spring we began offering first aid training for East Winders interested in learning these important skills. This month East Winders learned CPR, how to move injured or unconscious persons, choking care, as well as how to react in various medical emergencies such as heart attack, stroke, shock, anaphylaxis, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, hypothermia, frostbite, poisoning, and diabetic emergencies. We plan to continue these workshops and to include wilderness first aid, drowning care, and giving sutures, among other relevant topics. East Wind is located in a very rural setting (an ambulance can take thirty minutes or more to reach our community), so knowing how to properly respond to an emergency situation is of the utmost importance. By learning this knowledge, we are more able to help ourselves, our loved ones, and anyone in need.

Garden

Garden is in full swing, with the last of the warm season crops being planted out over the next few weeks. An abundance of delicious ripe strawberries are coming in everyday now, and greens and wheatgrass are readily available. Blueberries and chokecherries are nearly ripe, while peaches and apples continue to grow larger still. Our herb gardens are lovely as ever, with chamomile, echinacea, calendula, comfrey, and sage in flower. We have just begun a small new culinary garden directly next to our main kitchen, which will offer cooks fresh basil, dill, peppermint, spearmint, fennel, cilantro, tarragon, sage, rosemary, marjoram, lemon balm, lemon grass, oregano, thyme, nasturtiums, and chinese chives, among others.

Ranch & Dairy

Baby animals are abound this month. Our ranch and dairy programs are now caring for adorable baby goats, pigs, cows, ducks, and chickens. Our dairy program has begun milking our first dairy cow, Marmalade. Raw goat and cow milk are now readily available to community, fresh from the farm. Our dairy barn is finally nearing completion, with East Winders finishing up on electrical and plumbing in the near future. A new duck hutch located in our Mulberry Garden has been built, made completely from wood sustainably harvested on our land and milled on our sawmill. The ducks will be raised in the garden and used for pest control, eggs, and meat. A new coop-on-wheels is also being built for our egg-laying chickens.

What’s Happening: March 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 22:19:00 +0000

Spring!

It’s spring in the Ozarks, and all of us are loving it. The days have been sunny and warm (warm enough to jump in the creek for many of us), and winter is far behind us. The Ozarks are vibrant and alive with plant and animal life. Chickweed, toothwort, trout lily, plantain, wood sorrel, dandelion, cress, wild grape, and violet are just a few favorite wild edibles popping up in abundance this time of year. Many trees and smaller plants have already begun to flower, with our many dogwoods and red buds putting on a brilliant show of spring color.

Garden

Our gardens are looking better every year, and this year’s gardens are definitely a sight to behold. Our garden beds are planted with garlic, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, rhubarb, cucumbers, strawberries, greens, and more. Tomatoes, melons, peppers, and other warm season plants are still cozy and warm in our greenhouse. Seedlings of healing herbs such as chamomile, calendula, milk thistle, lemon balm, valerian, and echinacea are being lovingly cared for in our gardens and greenhouse.

Goats

Nine baby goats were born in our goat barn this month. The births were assisted by dedicated East Winders, and the new babies and playing and running around already. Our dairy program is able to provide more and more milk, and we hope to stop purchasing milk in the near future.

What’s Happening: February 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:10:00 +0000

An Early Spring

A very mild winter transitioned into a very early spring as daffodils bloomed all over East Wind starting in the second week of February. Later this February, elms and elderberries began to leaf out as an abundance of wild dandelions, chickweed, toothwort, and trout lilies began to flower along path sides and out from beneath the dead leaves that still carpet the forest floor. We are just beginning to see the first sunburns and barefeet of the year, along with the first wild-harvested greens in our salads.

Our greenhouse is up and running, filled with warm earthy smells and trays upon trays of veggies and herbs. In our herb gardens, peppermint, tarragon, and other perennials are beginning to arise under the soft spring light. We will soon be planting our spring potatoes, carrots, and onions in our vegetable gardens. The first signs of the spring and the start of the garden season have many East Winders in high spirits.

The Schwag Play RB

Locally renowned Grateful Dead coverband, The Schwag, played a free show at East Wind this February. The Schwag are good friends of East Wind, and their visits are always welcomed with enthusiasm. Many East Winders have attended Schwagstock, a local music festival run by The Schwag, to enjoy the music and good times, to vend our sandals, nutbutters, and crafts, or to help The Schwag by working the gate, stage, trash, or other odd jobs. The Schwag played a great set in RB, our main kitchen/dining/hang-out area, and welcomed a few of our own to play and sing with them. Many East Winders gathered to enjoy the good music and good vibes.

Validation Day

On February14th, East Winders celebrated Validation Day by sharing songs and poetry at a coffeehouse held in RB. During the weeks beforehand, East Winders had fun making and decorating cards for each member and then writing positive, validating notes to each other to fill the cards. East Wind celebrates Validation Day annually, and the holiday gives East Winders an extra opportunity to share their warm fuzzy feelings with those who they share their home.

Communal Art

Some East Winders have been spending their evenings working on beautiful collective murals to decorate our common spaces. The artists have already completed two beautiful works of art and begun a third even larger mural. Many East Winders enjoy creating and admiring art, and these newest communal works have brought beauty to their creators and to our community as a whole.

What’s Happening: January 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:34:00 +0000

Winter Festivities

East Winders celebrated the winter solstice on December 21^st, many of us enjoying the shortest day of the year but eagerly awaiting longer days and warmer weather. Solstices and equinoxes never go without celebration at East Wind, as the change of the seasons profoundly affects our lives on this land. Over a dozen East Winders participated in this year’s Artmas celebration by exchanging homemade gifts, songs, and works of art. East Winders greeted the New Year with another party, this time with a homemade bonfire-heated hot tub.

Generosity Shown in Response to Showerhouse Fire

East Wind is extremely thankful for the generosity shown to us by our friends and local community this winter. During the first few days after our Showerhouse burned down in December, East Winders graciously offered their own clothes and personal items to those who had less, and our community ensured that no one went without. Within weeks, clothes and other thoughtful gifts from past East Winders, friends of East Wind, and our local community filled over a dozen large boxes and bags and were piled high on our couches, our foosball, air hockey, and pool tables, and the floors of our Hammocks shop. A crew of dedicated East Winders have been working hard to organize and sort through our new Commie Clothes, and their efforts are greatly appreciated. East Winders are also very appreciative of all of the kindness demonstrated by our larger human family— thank you all!

What's New: December 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 20:27:00 +0000

Showerhouse Fire

In the early morning hours on Friday, December 16, a fire broke out in our shower, laundry, and community clothes building. We are extremely happy and lucky to be able to report that no one was injured. One of our members, Yellow Sun, had been living in the building, recuperating from a serious fall while doing some forestry work. He was able to detect smoke and yell for help, and three of our own worked to get him out through the window of his room.

While the building isn't a total loss, the damage was severe. The northern side of the building, where we kept our clothes, medical supplies, towels, bedding, and sewing room, was destroyed. The southern side of the building, where our laundry and shower facilities are, is intact but currently unusable. We don't know at this point if the building is structurally sound, and if we will be able to rebuild using any of what remains.

Over the last few days we have been able to pull together to find enough clothes and bedding to get everyone by, and a team of East Winders have worked hard and fast to revamp our old showerhouse and make it usable again. We are not currently accepting any cash donations, but we are accepting donations of clothes, bedding, towels and medical supplies. We want to sincerely thank everyone for all the generous donations we have already received.

Solar Panels

Over the last few months we have been discussing and planning a project to reduce our ecological footprint and take a step towards sustainability by installing a solar array on the top of our nut butter facility. We completed installation the last week in November. The array will provide 35% of the electricity needed to run our industrial operations. Craig Wiles of Preferred Energy in Mountain Grove, Missouri has been an enormous help in the planning of the project and selection of components. Craig oversaw the installation of the array, which was done by community members. By doing the installation ourselves, East Wind saved close to $20,000 off the cost of the 22 panel system.

Dairy Barn

Six months ago we began building the exterior of a brand new dairy barn. The decision to reintroduce a dairy operation to East Wind was made in the Fall of 2009, after the purchase and breeding of dairy cattle. The foundation was poured before the first frost of 2010. We were stalled by a spring of heavy rains and flooding, but with the receding waters came a surge of work. The exterior will be completed by the first of 2012. Plumbing and electrical will take another couple of months. We are expecting to have the facility operational by the spring of 2012. We are already able to provide goat milk and goat cheese, and within 5 years we hope to supply all our dairy needs.