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 22nd 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.
