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 3rd. 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.