Halloween Harvest Hoopla - November 1, 2008

Announcing: Ahimsa Village 2nd Anniversary Celebration

Saturday, November 1, 4-8pm

Ahimsa Friends, please join us celebrating the fall transition and a second year of activity at our community.  

Schedule of Events: 4pm property tour, 5-6pm lite meal and year in review presentation, 6pm bonfire & music.  Bring your favorite instrument!!!!!

Location: Ahimsa Village, 4022 S. Eagle Valley Rd, Julian, PA 16844 

PLEASE RSVP so we have an idea of how much food to get:

814-355-0850, magicjubilee@yahoo.com

Boyle-Martin Engagement

A year ago in November, Tammie Lyn and Greg had their third date at Ahimsa Village just in time for  AV's one year anniversary party. Last month Bob and Kelle joined Tammie Lyn, Greg, and others in York for some Bridal and Bachelor party fun. As they both have various degrees of interest and involvement with AV, we thought their introduction as a couple would be fun to include in this months newsletter.

Tammie Lyn and Greg both grew up around South Eastern Pennsylvania and currently live in Santa Cruz County. Tammie Lyn has a masters degree in occupational therapy and is currently Director of Rehabilitation at a long term care facility. Greg is a web editor with a BA in international and East Asian studies. Both try their best to make sustainability and nourishment of body, heart, and spirit a guiding force in their lives.  While in Pennsylvania, Tammie Lyn volunteered for three years on an organic farm helping to establish a CSA program, selling at farmer's markets, and participating in PASA conventions. She also holds a certificate in herbology, enjoys expressing herself artistically, has a background in martial arts, and is involved with the Dance of the Deer http://www.shamanism.com/.

Greg met Bob in college and kept in touch waxing poetic over the years, and then joined Bob and Kelle helping to make Ahimsa Village a reality. Greg participates in a book discussion group, a neighborhood road association, and other support groups. He also dabbles with painting, 

writing, and gardening. Greg has worked as a painter/carpenter, ESL teacher, cross-cultural trainer, web editor, and technical writer. Both Greg and Tammie Lyn look forward to supporting the growth of Ahimsa Village as they themselves begin a rich loving life together with a 

ceremony planned for December.

2008 Garden Season Wrapping Up

The 2008 garden season is wrapping up at Ahimsa Village.  Despite all the deer, woodchucks, crows, mice, rabbits, and bugs we still had a fairly successful gardening year at AV.  Its a constant battle living next to the mountains!

Summer Camp a Big Success

The 2nd annual Ahimsa Summer Camp was a big success.  Attendance was much larger and more consistent.  We had anywhere from 7 to 14 children each week.  The camp ran from June 19 thru August 28. Activities this year included bread baking, bird watching, hissing cockroaches, boat building, honey bee class, dances of universal peace, yoga bowling, cooking, swimming, cooperative games, drawing, hiking, making flower pots, gardening and more. Check out our web site for details for the 2009 camp.  A special thanks to all those who helped make the camp a success: Kelle Kersten, Tammy Badger, Frank Hidgon, John Cierpy, Ann Wilken, Deb Fisher, Chuck Cave, Kanji Ruhl, Jean and Robert Forsberg, Lamizsah Brown, Half Acre Farm, Huston Township Park and Rec, Julian Woods Community.  (view pictures).

PA Renewable Energy Festival

Ahimsa Village played a role in the fourth annual Pennsylvania Renewable Energy & Sustainable Living Festival held on Fri., Sat., & Sun., September 19, 20 & 21, 2008 on 66 acres in Berks County, PA.  The event attracts thousands of visitors.  The purpose of the festival is to empower regular people and demonstrate practical solutions to America's energy crisis.

         The festival featured over 60 lectures, workshops and hands-on demonstrations promoting solar, wind, hydrogen power, biofuels, green building, organic farming and sustainable living. Examples included an introduction to wind power, vegetable oil for fuel, alternative farming techniques, solar site selection and solar panel installation, biofuel auto conversions, and alternative heat sources.

         AV member Kelle Kersten taught 4 workshops on becoming a localvore and eating less meat.  Bob helped with AV support for all the speakers and keynotes.  Frank volunteered at the School of Living table (SoL sponsored a table at the event).  The SoL table generated a lot of interest - book sales were brisk!

Honey Harvest Postponed

The bees have been busy but they haven’t been making honey—at least not fast enough or in large enough quantities for us to harvest honey as planned for late September. Our beekeeper, Liam Goble, explained that dry weather makes it difficult for bees to make honey and we’ve been very dry in Centre County this past summer. The weather pattern has changed in the past few weeks. Rain, rain and more rain. Liam believes that we could try to harvest honey later in October once the colonies have taken full advantage of the moisture and the prolific golden rod crop that is bursting out all around us. The main concern is that the bees have enough honey to get themselves through the winter months. The farmer’s almanac is predicting a colder winter so we have to be cautious. It is possible to supplement the bees with a sugar solution, but they do best with their own honey which contains an untold host of nutrients vital to their survival. So, honey lovers and hive owners will need to be patient with our experimental apiary and we’ll keep our eyes on the prize: seeing most if not all of our resident bee colonies make it through the winter. Next year our patience could pay off with stronger colonies and a bumper crop of honey. Thanks for your involvement in the apiary. If you have any questions about the hives, please contact Liam at 814-574-2273 or half-acrefarm@hotmail.com