- Two babies were born this summer at the ecovillage! Luken arrived on the 4th of July to patient parents Maggie and Marcelo (who moved in to the ecovillage in April), and baby Fayla soon followed on July 27 to join her brother Lamai and parents Rose and Casey. What a blessing to have this new life start right here in our community!
- A new super-insulated ecological home was completed, with Marc, Zhaleh, ShAE and Orion moving in during October after a dedicated year of housebuilding, including lots of help from friends and community during work parties.
- Kees and Helen's house is now about halfway done; Jim, Terri and Bekka broke ground in the spring and have been working on the foundation.
- Had a vibrant cooperative garden with participation by ecovillagers and the wider community
- Long-time collaborators of the EcoVillage, Sebastian Aguilar and Kelly Gelino, — along with their children Emma, Ezra and Noah — moved in to the east side of the CoHo in October, bringing us to a whopping 17 people living at the ecovillage (plus 5 other members living nearby)
- Held our second wild and wacky Zucchini Festival: an autumn afternoon and evening of family fun including veggie car races, games, a potluck, open mic and fire circle
- Enclosed the central part of the ecovillage in deer-proof fencing from recycled fishermen’s netting, and took down fencing around various plots. Now we can grow food anywhere inside that core, moving toward our permaculture visions.
- Accomplished lots of maintenance work on the main house (CoHo)
- Planted native plants, took down trees to make space for homes and transplanted 6 other trees that are doing well
- Set up a new composting system
- Held a barn dance to inaugurate a large community space on the second floor of the Shop/Arts Center and celebrate finishing the shop floor, 2 gorgeous handmade doors, and creating a Youth Space in that building
- Completed and consensed on our Regulations, refining and consolidating many previously agreed-upon policies that are now part of our legal documents
- Started a car-sharing cooperative
- Built a whimsical driftwood arbor and gathering spot on the edge of Ruth’s newly landscaped yard
- Held regular Monday night community dinners, with up to 24 participants
- Relaxed into a schedule of only one business meeting and one work party per month
- For the second year, Kelly Gelino and Sebastian Aguilar and family grew tomatoes, onions, potatoes and other crops to sell commercially on part of the land we call the “panhandle," and Jim and Terri grew abundant garlic once again.
- Rose, Casey, Lamai and Fayla moved out of the CoHo (main house) at the end of the year. We miss them and wish them well in their new home on San Juan Island.
Looking forward in 2012 to…
- Lots of housebuilding! We expect two of the houses started in 2010-2011 (Kees and Helen’s, and Jim, Terri and Bekka’s) to be finished or big advances to be made. Laurence and Deanna, and John and Gretchen plan to start building homes on their adjacent lots this year.
- Some of our hopes for 2012 are:
- Selling the five remainint lots!
- Integrating more animals (chickens, goats?) into our community
- Making the Shop/Arts Center a more functional space for multiple activities
We offer tours now once a month on the Sunday of our monthly business meeting. We also hold work parties once a month at which guests are always welcome! Check out our website at www.ptecovillage.org/eventsnews.html, email us at info@ptecovillage.org or call 360-353-1355 for further information. |
