Friends of Ahimsa Village Annual Fund Drive

We want to thank all the Friends of AV for their support over the past year.  Our major 2008 project was the Permaculture Orchard.  The orchard is in and is doing well despite the 17 year locusts, japanese beatles, and gyspy moths this past year.  Read more about the orchard.  As we did last year, in lieu of holiday gifts we are asking our friends to make a donation to AV.  This money goes to supporting the mission of AV.  We certainly do understand if things are tight this year and a donation is not possible.  Our standard request is for a $50 donation to continue as a Friend however any amount is appreciated.  Friends can make checks out to "Ahimsa Village."  If you would like to make a tax deductible donation, please make check out to "School of Living" and indicate "Ahimsa Village" in the memo line.  Alternately you can donate online via JustGive - it is linked to our website in the upper left corner - in the box that says "designate my donation" please enter "Ahimsa village."  Friends are kept informed of seminars, lectures, demonstrations, and meeting updates through the Ahimsa email list. Friends can hike in the woods, participate in Ahimsa programs, and contribute to Ahimsa projects. Friends will receive our monthly e-newsletter and be the first to know about Ahimsa events and workshops.  Friends receive a 10% discount on all Ahimsa workshops and programs.  Thanks and have a great holiday season.  We look forward to seeing many of you in 2009!  

Upcoming program: Sustainable Landscaping, Friday, December 12, 2008 at 6:30PM

Learn about the philosophy and practice of sustainable landscaping.  Topics will include promoting the landscape as a system to be used in conjunction with the home, rainwater collection, xeriscaping, greywater recycling, composting, and vegetative roofs as part of the garden.  Bring your ideas and questions to discuss.  Program by Jason R. Grottini, environmental scientist at Matson & Associates and founder of EarthW.O.R.M. International, a small sustainable development/ engineering consulting firm in State College.  Jason has research experience in environmental pollution control and green engineering practices.  He has performed research on vegetative roof systems, stream bank restoration, and has designed several models for alternative waste water treatment systems for educational purposes.   Visit our web site for complete details.

Cider Press Co-op

Ahimsa is looking into purchasing a good quality cider press and sharing it with our neighbors i.e. establishing a cider press co-op.  We are seeking a number of people to invest in the cost and thus have shared ownership/use of the press.  The idea is to keep it local - preferably close to the Bald Eagle Valley so that it will be easily accessible to all owners.  If you are interested please contact Bob Flatley at e4bob@yahoo.com

Vegetarian Homesteading

Came across this great web site. The couple who host it are vegan homesteaders in Minnesota and they make a great case for the benefits of vegetarian homesteading over traditional homesteading: http://www.geopathfinder.com/9628.html

Introducing our newest resident, Olivia!!!

Olivia arrived at Ahimsa Village on the afternoon of November 4th from the Centre Hall SPCA.  She quickly made herself at home and stole our hearts.  She is very playful, friendly, and talkative.  She caught a cold at the shelter and we had to take her to the vet the weekend after she arrived.  Now she is doing much better.  View more pictures.

Friday Night Light: Bill Toretti

We had a wonderful Friday Night Light Program with Bill Toretti of Spring Mills.  Bill is a local homeopath.  The evening featured an introduction to homeopathy followed by an opportunity for people to ask questions.  We had 15 people attend the lecture and judging by the many questions and comments raised people were obviously interested in the presentation.  A big thanks to Bill for presenting! Those interested in Bill's services can contact him at btorretti@yahoo.com.

The Bees and the Bear

The Half Acre Farm - Ahimsa Apiary is no more thanks to a regular visitor, a large black bear.  All eight hives were methodically destroyed over a period of a month.  Despite efforts to strap down the hives and secure the bee benches, our visitor was persistent.  Liam is committed to re-establishing the apiary in the spring.  We are currently researching solutions to this problem.  One piece of advice from a local farmer was to put up electrified barbed wire fencing and scent it with food smells to attract the bear so that he gets a good shock.  Research on the Internet suggested putting up a regular electric fence at least 6' high.  We continue doing research and will keep people posted on our progress.  We want to thank those who invested in this experimental program and hope to have better news in 2009.