There is a lot happening at Heathcote these days.  We've had several new people join us, which has brought our numbers up to 15 adults and 6 kids.  Mike & Larissa, with their two boys Galen and Noah, have moved in and are now doing their provisional membership.  Also Gloria has completed her 21-day visit and is waiting for the room in Polaris (the staw-bale building) to be ready for her to move into so she can start her provisional membership.  We also have Betsy back, who used to be a member and is now back and taking over as lead gardener.  And then we have Anne who will be joining us to start the membership process later this month, and Steve the intern who is thinking about applying for membership.

It's been really fun to start using the wood-fired cob hot tub.  We've had a couple of hot-tub parties so far.  We're still trying to figure out how to control the fire to get just the right temperature, but we're starting to get the hang of it. 

It's hard to invite the entire wider community to these parties, since we can only fit about 5 people at a time, but if you're interested in coming to one just send us an email and we'll let you know when the next one is. There are some pictures of the cob workshop where we built the hot tub in the photo gallery if you're interested in seeing more.

There are also pictures of the new hoop greenhouse that we are building in the garden.  We got a grant from the Koinonia Foundation to build it. We're really excited about having greens and other vegetables all year 'round!

There are several new things happening at Heathcote to talk about. First, news of members coming and going. Thia, who was going through the membership process, decided to move on, so she left us around Thanksgiving. Then Andrea decided to become a member so she's currently a provisional member. And we've got Nick joining us for his 21-day visit (an early stage of the process). Also, we're glad to have Devin here as an intern for the 2009 gardening season. He's here now getting an early start on the gardens plus helping out with the open classroom homeschooler program and a little bit of maintenance here and there. It's exciting to have all the new faces around contributing their energy and enthusiasm!

The other big news is that Karen and the education committee are planning a really big year for permaculture education. Starting in the spring we'll be having permaculture design courses and a whole lot of weekend workshops. They're working on the calendar now, and it'll be on the website in a few days. We'll also be emailing our events list with updates, so please consider signing up so you'll be notified about the various classes.

Our new strawbale building is in the final phases of trim work and painting. Greg, Juji, and their family hope to move into it in the next couple of months. The major work was done last spring, so we have the occupancy permit, but who wants to move in when the trim work is still happening. Hopefully by the next update we can announce a major milestone! If you haven't seen it yet, think about coming by for a visit -- it's really beautiful!

Another piece of news is that Bob is going to start on a boat building project. He already has one that he finished, which you can either sail or row. Now he wants to do the project again and pass on his knowledge to others. So he's looking for people to do it with him. Give him a call if you'reinterested at 410-343-3478 #6.