For the past 35 years, generations of Heathcoters have gone up to Anacker Acres to swing in the swings, play cards, pick apples and blackberries, and enjoy the generous hospitality of Bill and Margaret Anacker.  Now, their property us up for sale, and we are very excited about the possibility of being able to expand our community to include this special place. The Anacker property is 24 acres including areas of bright sun with ideal crop growing conditions, and unspoiled wetlands – in contrast to Heathcote’s steep shaded valley.  This once in a lifetime opportunity provides some wonderful possibilities for expanding our ecological / permaculture teachings, improving food security, and accessing alternative energy sources (solar, micro-hydro).  We’re also hopeful that we’ll be able to house new members, ongoing interns, students and guest educators on site.  As this is a large and expensive endeavor, we have begun a fundraising campaign.  Please consider making a donation, or contact us to find other ways of getting involved.

The community continues to be pretty full.  We've got several new members finishing up their provisional membership, plus there are currently 6 interns here!  Three of them, Kwame, Patty, and Matt, have been here for quite some time, and the other three, Kat, Eric, and Tori just got here at the beginning of June and will be here for 1 to 2 months.  But it's great to have such energy and enthusiasm in the community!  We've been having weekly intern nights where we get together in the evening and hang out and socialize with the interns.  We've had a bonfire, game night, drumming, and almost had a hot-tub party so far. 

Thanks to Betsy and Matt, the gardens are going strong and keeping all these interns busy.  They've got a huge master plan for lots of greenhouses, and Matt has been clearing the hill above the hill garden to make room for more crops.  We really appreciate all the work that they've put into it.

Patty and Karen have been keeping the education program going with permaculture design classes.  It seems like almost every weekend there's another group here working on their designs.  This coming weekend they'll be presenting their final designs and everyone is welcome to come hear them.

While the homeschooling open classroom is winding down for the summer, the energy being put into it isn't.  Gloria is putting together a business plan to expand the program and bring in more kids for next year.  If you know of some homeschoolers that might be interested please give us a call.

Oh, and let's not forget Bob who is starting up his spiritual practice group again.  If you like meditating you might want to get involved in that weekly group.

If you haven't been to Heathcote in a while you might want to come for one of our visitor weekends.  With all the people here and the stuff going on, it's pretty lively when we all get together!