In 2014 the EcoVillage focused on homebuilding and growing our community. We are eager to welcome new members, especially families with children.
- We are now 26 residents and core participants, including 5 kids.
- Great progress was made on 3 new houses being built:
- Laurence and Deanna’s innovative and beautiful home with light clay straw walls was signed off for occupancy at the end of the year, thanks in part to lots of help from a gang of natural builders from Olympia who came for multiple convivial stints of building, singing and bodywork.
Laurence and Deanna’s home and keyhole garden beds
- The Jim/Terri/Bekka home got a cool pyramid roof over the second floor and earth berming, and the John/Gretchen home got windows, doors, and siding with a mountain profile made out of their site-milled fir boards, and stucco applied at a big party in November.
- Ruth had a two-bedroom addition built on her house, making it a much roomier, functional and flexible space. We celebrated winter solstice there to Ruth’s delight.
Stucco party at John and Gretchen’s
- Kees and Helen completed a sunroom with multiple energy-boosting functions and a Trombe wall that will supplement their already super-efficient home and provide a warm space to enjoy year round.
- Zach and Judy have the latest EcoVillage baby in the oven, due in March 2015.
- Brian and Sarah departed for Portland and Bob Simmons has become our most recent and valued addition to the residents of our large shared house, which we call the CoHo.
- After almost 9 years in Port Townsend, Gretchen finally moved onto the PTEV land, joining Kees and Helen in their home, while her house is being completed.
- For food-growing, we experimented with a community garden approach in which each participant chose a crop to plant and tend, with guidance from Zach and Judy, resulting in a great abundance of delicious veggies and fruits.
- We planted a fedgerow of hazelnut bushes and huckleberries along the east side of the village.
- We cleaned up the boneyard and made huge progress on insulating and wiring the woodshop and finishing the youth space in our large Shop/Art Center building.
- Our kids and visiting grandkids have graced the land with their happy youthful energy.
- We considered only a few proposals and focused more on process, including seasonal celebrations and the creation of a haybale gathering circle near the center of the property, bedecked with flags of the 6 directions.
- We continued Monday night community meals attended by most ecovillagers and share yummy community meals after our monthly community meeting and work parties.
Looking forward in 2015 to…
- Welcoming Laurence and Deanna full time on site, when they move into their beautiful home (still not quite done) in March!
- Welcoming the arrival of Zach and Judy’s baby and supporting them as a growing family.
- More homebuilding, completing the woodshop, and organizing the Shop/Art Center.
- Community gardening and adding to our perennial plantings.