Earthaven Week 4

Merry Meet Friends!

Michelle here bringing lots of love and light.  So I’ve ended another week at Earthaven.  I spent the Easter weekend in Greensboro, NC with my friend Octavia and her family.  I had a great time. Can we say flush toilets?  Her family likes to have a good time and they can cook as well.  I’ve been used to eating all organic, non GMO food, which I was mostly doing before I left VA, so the food, while delicious wreaked havoc a little with my stomach.  Of course I didn’t want that to happen because it meant more trips to the compost toilet.  Oh well. LOL. 

I’ve been doing some planting and transplanting this week: beets, carrots, collards, arugula and other culinary herbs.  These were in the orchard.  In the greenhouse I planted melon, cantaloupe, peppers, tomatoes, leeks, and gourd seeds.  I enjoy planting seeds and transplanting seedlings.  In the orchard I also direct sowed corn seeds.  While I’m on the subject of corn, let me take a moment to write about GMO’s.  GMO= Genetically Modified Organisms.  IT IS BAD FOR YOU!  I thought it was mainly found in corn and soy but it’s more widespread than that.  There was a lecture in Asheville on Tuesday night.  Over 90% of canola oil is a GMO.  Monsantos is the company behind most of it.  If a product does NOT say non GMO, then more than likely it is.  Lab rats given GMO developed tumors in four months.  Please, please, please try to stay away from it and eat organic when you can.   I know it’s more expensive but isn’t your health worth it?

I’m ready for the next leg of my gypsy journey.  I know that I’m supposed to be here until the end of May but I’m antsy about starting another chapter.   I want to get in the car and drive without knowing exactly where I’m headed.  That’s so exciting and adventurous to me.  Oh, living with the woman in Asheville for the month of June may no longer be a go.  She was moving because her partner was going to Europe for a while and now he no longer is.  I wanted to find a place in Asheville to rent inexpensively and the Universe provided a place rent free.  Whether it actually happens or not doesn’t change the way the Universe supports us.  I had some doubts about taking the work exchange because it would have tied me to the house every night.  One of the points about this journey is the freedom to be, do, go and come as I please.  A wild woman can’t really be contained, can she? 

As much as I like the idea of Earthaven and what it stands for, I couldn’t live here.  There is no ethnic diversity and I like living around different ethnicities.   The world is made up of all types of people.  That’s one of the reasons I’m an interfaith and interspiritual minister: it takes all expressions to make up the world.   Some of the people are extreme with their views.  I don’t trust the government or large corporations either but I don’t see a conspiracy everywhere.  One woman is always passing out pamphlets about taxes and the government.  She has nothing in her name, has no running water or electricity.  She says “they” can’t find her if they tried.  Who knows, her thoughts may have validity.

On Friday night there was fish fry pot luck.  The food was more varied than Tuesday pot lucks.  It was very good and a great time was had by all.  Most of the exchangers went to Georgia for a “primitive skills” weekend so only four of us remained in the house.  Two of us went into Black Mountain on Saturday to Hillary’s (a work exchanger) job for guacamole.  We had fun.  Following this post there are pictures of some of the places I described last week.  I will have pictures of the neighborhoods next week. 

Until next Sunday, Merry part and merry meet again.

Blessed be,

Gypsi Mama Michelle