What’s Happening: April 2012

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.