What’s Happening: August 2013

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.