Yarrow Ecovillage Community Farm: Photos from around the Farm

Yarrow Ecovillage Community Farm: Photos from around the Farm: Well its been awhile since I posted some pictures of the farm, so here are some great shots of the current state of the farm. Enjoy :) T...

Nutshells and Niblets Community bulletin #36

Nutshells and Niblets (The highjacked, completely biased, news and whimsy from Yarrow Ecovillage)

Testing.... Testing.... We want you to read all about us! Do I have your attention?  We are going to try something new with this newsletter.  This is a Newsletter system that promises to make my life easier- and reading about the village more fun.  Let me know what you think! Okay... Ready... Set... GO! (first things first!)  A BIG Welcome to Camille and Alex with their three children Gabe, Chloe, and Claire  and a BIG Welcome to Kirsten and Rob with their two children Mimi and Orwin.  You'll get to know these fine families as they blog about their experiences at the village.  We are very lucky to have them in our midst.  (Yay!)

10th Anniversary Camping Weekend is coming August 4-6 Are you considering moving here?  Have you been a part of our history in a small, or maybe large way?  Come and help us celebrate ten years of hard work, joy, learning growing and great food!  Ann has the planing boards out.  We're looking for people to help with the details.  Soon well know exactly what we'll be up to!  For now I can tell you that saturday night will be the big night.  We'll be singing and dancing... and of course there will be great food.  Want to join us?  Come camping?  Or just come saturday night.  An RSVP as soon as possible would really help.  Email us! Maureen sports a bright orange demolition permit! Only Maureen could smile in a colour this... well... orange!  Okay.  I'm lying.  We were all smiling when Maureen found us hanging out on the Quad porch.  We were already having a lovely afternoon and seeing here parade about with our demolition permit for the barns made our day even better!  Yes, it is true we'll miss the barns.  But we have our eye on the prize now.  We see more and more of the village we are aiming to be everyday and those barns coming down are a mile stone.  So Yip Yippee!

Groundswell Cohousing Represented at US Cohousing Conference Nat and Viv headed down to California mid June for the National-gone International cohousing conference.  The biggest take away?  A deep sense of pride and awe at how much international attention our project has received.  Our project is still learning and growing, and others are learning from us!  People are impressed by the wholistic approach to community in our project.  They love the farming combined with walkability.  We were also the only project at the conference that is combining a seniors and intergenerational cohousing in close proximity.  Something that we take for granted here was a huge inspriation for the project builders of the future.  The other thing?  People already living in built out communities tip their hat at our three community dinners a week despite not yet having our common house.  Eating together is a pillar of community building and we take it very seriously around here. One Mile Ale brews first batch! Paul and Joel have bottled their first batch of test brew.  The barley is in the feild.  The Hops is... well the hops is the next big hurtle.  The guys are determined to brew a one mile organic ecovillage ale.  Want to try some?  Email me with "beer tester" in the subject line and I'll see if I can get you a personal invitation to the guys testing party! Kids and Slides David and Denali are the proud owners of the ecovillage kids!  Well- not all the kids- just the funny little white ones that like to slide down their wooden ramp.  As you can see they are an ecovillage treasure and are enjoyed by all the kids onsite!  Imagine the breakfast when the chickens start laying eggs and the goats are giving milk!  mmmmmmmmm! How Food should taste! My CSA basket brings me so much joy!  This week's pick up meant garlic scape pesto on pasta for supper last night. (Same as normal pesto but scapes replace basil)  This pretty picture is of a swiss chard, young garlic, and roasted almond stir fry that made up my lunch last week.  Why is this important?  Because we're here!  I remember when I first started reading the newsletters myself.  Before I had even visited the village.  I remember Ann wistfully discussing her hopes for the day when she could pick up her veggies from the neighbour farmers.  Now we have that.  And a farm stand.  And amazing neighbours.  And more amazing neighbours to come.  We're almost there!  Amazing! Thanks to our amazing musicians at the bye bye bunker silo party! When I counted- there were 8 different people playing instruments that night!  What a rockin place we're going to be!

Nutshells and Niblets Community Bulletin number 37

Nutshells and Niblets (by Ann!)... maybe... 

Ann has been writing about the village again.  It seems fair to call this a Nutshells and Niblets and share it with you all.  Even if I did officially highjack the Nutshells... I can share!

Our wetland marsh 

The last phase of our waste water treatment system is due to be installed in the next couple of months. It'll look like some duck ponds in not very many years, but has to go through a moon-scape phase right at first, because of the heavy-equipment-operators-on-bulldozer--gone-a-muck, but-not-amok,  in a careful plan of constructed wetland installation.    

Peter has trimmed back the Red Osier Dogwood, that wades in the creek on the left of the bridge,  to make the bridge crossing safer for the large gravel trucks that are expected.  Dogwood grows with vigour--- it'll either spring back in the spring, or its replacement will.   Nevin has mowed a couple of acres on the east side of the bridge,  in preparation for engineers to come fairly soon, and place random   sticks in the ground with sophisticated flagging tape on them.  

Yonas tells me that George, a marshian installer, will be working with the flag engineers to dig a series of four holes with two accompanying very long trenches that will look like crop circles from outer space....( how appropriate that we hired a martian to install them)  and will take our waste water in a 'last ditch' effort of cleansing.  Cleaner than clean!

Upon request, I will undertake a drawing of the marsh flow system on a poster.  :>)

Many loads of gravel will be delivered down the farm lane.  It'll be graded and gravelled first, so the trucks don't get stuck .  An improved road will make the farmers happier too, won't it? 

Fire up the barbie! A corndog planting party may be required in the near future.  Punk music will be played.  Cimbungis optional, but do wear boots.  

Typha

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Typha"
"Typha latifolia"
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Typhaceae
Genus:	Typha L.
Species
See text

Cattail, narrow leaf shoots

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	106 kJ (25 kcal)
Carbohydrates	5.14 g
- Sugars	0.22 g
- Dietary fiber	4.5 g
Fat	0.00 g
Protein	1.18 g
Water	92.65 g
Vitamin A equiv.	1 μg (0%)
- beta-carotene	6 μg (0%)
Thiamine (vit. B1)	0.023 mg (2%)
Riboflavin (vit. B2)	0.025 mg (2%)
Niacin (vit. B3)	0.440 mg (3%)
Pantothenic acid (B5)	0.234 mg (5%)
Vitamin B6	0.123 mg (9%)
Folate (vit. B9)	3 μg (1%)
Choline	23.7 mg (5%)
Vitamin C	0.7 mg (1%)
Vitamin K	22.8 μg (22%)
Calcium	54 mg (5%)
Iron	0.91 mg (7%)
Magnesium	63 mg (18%)
Manganese	0.760 mg (36%)
Phosphorus	45 mg (6%)
Potassium	309 mg (7%)
Sodium	109 mg (7%)
Zinc	0.24 mg (3%)
Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient Database

Typha ( /ˈtaɪfə/) is a genus of about eleven species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. The genus has a largely Northern Hemisphere distribution, but is essentially cosmopolitan, being found in a variety of wetland habitats.

These plants are conspicuous and hence have many common names. They may be known in British English as bulrush, orreedmace,^[1] in American English as cattail, catninetail, punks, or corn dog grass, in Australia as cumbungi or bulrush, and in New Zealand as raupo. Typha should not be confused with other plants known as bulrush, such as some sedges (mostly in Scirpus and related genera).

Their rhizomes are edible. Evidence of preserved starch grains on grinding stones suggests they were eaten in Europe 30,000 years ago.^[2]

The right hand farm on the other side of the bridge--- Ohm 

Nevin tells me that they've been planting the last of the fall crops---turnips.  And that the farm will still be producing vegetables right through to Christmas.  And it looks like we'll have some  opportunities to buy them past the end of our CSA season, which is due to finish at the end of October.  Nevin said something about having grown some watermelons, but I didn't really believe him.  Water melons come from Mexico, we all know that.  Not Chilliwack.

Nevin and Tammy, Shauna's mum, have been going to an extra Abbotsford market  on Wednesday nights.  It's in its first year and isn't in full flow yet.  They expect it''ll be much better next year.  In the meantime, Ohm's regular customer base for the Saturday market there, is ever expanding and becoming more solid.  Sales have been gratifyingly big.  Sort of like a zucchini on the vine.     

    

The left hand farm- Osprey 

Joel reports that vegetative life is great on the left side.

Demolishing

Krishna the finishing carpenter is finishing off the bunker silo.  He and his crew of sweating teenaged slaves ( who look like they're having fun ) have made large holes all over it by peeling off and  throwing down large metal sheets onto the ground.  Very soon, there won't anything left

Julia is hoping that Krishna's plan to sell the structure to a neighbouring farmer will come true, so that she can schedule a commemorative community dinner in its new location on the wettest, nastiest night of the winter.  It'll be awesome to still be friends with our beloved bunker silo plastic dining room wherever it goes. .  Oh nostalgia!  It's beautiful! 

Do you remember the crowded silo dinners, the kids running around the tables, the heaters turned up as  high as they'd go,  with the adults ---wool-socked, toqued  and huddled--- yelling and laughing because the wind was making the plastic roof heave in great noisy billows above the range of the human voice? Food has never tasted better. 

And there are other hopes and plans for another wooden structure in demo-land --- very likely there will be exciting news announcements soon,  when the plans land.  And there will be ways that you'll be able to help the farmers with a new barn.  When's there's news, believe me, they'll be sharing it with you... they are that excited!!!    Is this intriguingly cryptic and confusing news??  Good!  Keeps you on your toes! 

The second half of our village - the new units to be constructed 

We have wonderful news from our other half.  Friends of the village and neighbours-in-waiting have been investing their hard-earned resources into the finances of the next phase of development in a big way.  I'm looking forward to sharing more details with you soon, but in the meantime, please know how many pledges of confidence in our good development work and its management are coming to us --- bringing our longed-for new neighbours and commonhouse that much closer to reality.  ( Yay!)

Farmhouse

Our friends, Dave, Denali, Claudia and Sophie - with Mimsy the pooch- have moved out of the farmhouse now, and into their new home in Garrison. Congratulations to the Mosses,  in finding a good place that suits their family!  Luckily, it's not far away, so friendships and connection can maintain.  Much happiness to them in their new adventure!

The Farmhouse awaits its new inmates.  Hmmmm....  :>)  there are indications of lovely  interested new tenants... hmmm!  Fingers crossed!   

Other random news

Drinking straw birds have been coming to sip Beverly's nasturtiums.  

Paul-Julia-and-gang's chickens are now laying eggs - in two decorator colours -brown and green.  

Apparently, they've been inspired by the trampoline that's next door to them and have been vaulting out of their pen.  So Paul has extended their safety net to six feet.  Wouldn't it have been easier, Paul, to have moved the tramp farther away so the chickens did't get so many bad ideas from watching the kids? 

And in the pen, there is  one fancy bird with a fluffy pillow-thing  on its head ... it crows and don't lay eggs.  I wonder what it's useful for? 

Terry_Beebe-3.jpg

 

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