d i s s o l u t i o n

Listening Tree Cooperative voted 2 to 1 on Monday night to disband. Those of us left at the end could not get along, lost track of or did not know how to resolve conflict, and no longer wanted to live together.

Maybe just another COVID casualty. Maybe another caterpillar melting in a chrysalis.

Addendum: when I wrote the above, I was being very generous. What is more true for me is: Listening Tree died due to a crisis over sexual ethics. The major unresolved conflict was about whether people in positions of relative power have a right to sex with those with less, such as students, WWOOFers, potential renters, renters, and younger people; whether those with less power can freely consent in those situations. Intentional communities have to grapple with this issue if they expect to create a healthier and less oppressive culture than the mainstream.

-Karina Lutz, co-founder

Violets

Violets are everywhere, especially in the old compost pile, and we are eating them in salads and drinking them in tea for their vitamin C, purple, and sheer joy. Our resident herbalist, Anna, has been making an extraordinary COVID-19-resisting immunity-boosting elixir, an elderberry syrup with other immune- and lung-supporting herbs. When the violets popped up their sweet little heads, they got added to the mix. And yesterday, Tim started the first batch of my favorite kombucha of the year–the ever-ephemeral fresh violet flavor.

Harvest before you weed, is our mantra here as we prepare the beds that have been too sodden to work, and finish getting the early crops in. Tatsoi and bok choy are so happy to be in the ground!

 

The last thing we want to do is go more virtual. But we don’t want to miss Russ Cohen this year, either!

We have canceled our Events at Listening Tree workshops for the year. We regret not being able to learn in nature and garden together as we usually do in spring, summer, and fall. But we are also hopeful that we will see the COVID-19 curve flatten soon.

While the coronavirus has put a temporary pause on public connections, it doesn’t stop our ability to learn nor stop our relationship to nature. At the co-op, we’re walking in the woods and fields, digging in the dirt, planting apple trees, sorting worms from compost, and caring for our new baby lambs. We hope you, too, are not nature distancing at this pivotal time, when the air is cleaner, the climate gets a breather, and the opportunity opens to the profound social and economic changes necessary to reverse humanity’s deathly environmental trajectory.

One small solace in the wake of events cancellation is that one of our favorite presenters, wild edibles expert Russ Cohen, will present a live, one-hour webinar this Friday, April 24 at 5:30 pm. He’ll discuss how to identify edible wild plants, what seasons these plants are available, how to prepare these wild species, and how to forage in a manner that is environmentally beneficial. Rhode Island is host to over 150 of these species of wild plants, many of which are edible and provide more nutrients than cultivated plants. How we would love to taste, smell, and touch these plants in real life! It would be one way to feel closer to the natural world and cure us of the delusion of separation. We will do that again, and we hope you are finding ways to do it in meanwhile. Perhaps you might also learn some juicy tidbits from Russ’s webinar:

Tasty Wild Edibles Friday

Sponsored by NOFA Mass.

Postponed until the curve is on the downslope: Spoken Word! @ Listening Tree Workshop & Performance by Christopher Johnson

Spoken Word! @ Listening Tree hosts a workshop and performance by Providence-based spoken word artist Christopher Johnson. He’ll guide and teach folks how to create and perform spoken word pieces for the day-long workshop, then perform his own piece, “Invoice for Emotional Labor,” at 7 pm Saturday evening, Mar. 28 at Listening Tree.

“Invoice for Emotional Labor” is planned to be a multi discipline solo performance answering the asked and not so obvious unasked questions about race and racism from the perspective of poet and 2018 McColl Johnson finalist and RISCA Playwright fellow Christopher Johnson. The lexicon of race in matters of social justice has been rapidly evolving over the last 3-5 years, the responsibility of explaining phenomena like micro aggression, black face, and what is considered racist, has fallen upon the shoulders of people of color. Being a person of color answering these questions while dealing with racism in daily life is draining and repeatedly opening or enlarging psychological wounds. The process of caring for those wounds while continuing to explain, clarify and teach about one’s existence is emotional labor.

In the workshop, Christopher will reveal his creation process and guide participants in the development of their own piece and performance.

Workshop & performance will be at the main house @ Listening Tree, 87 Reservoir Rd., Chepachet, RI 02814, Saturday, Mar. 28. Workshop is 10 am – 6 pm & performance at 7 pm.

Spots are limited! Register Here.

Spoken Word! @ Listening Tree

Well, summer workshops have packed up and left, and fall is breezing in. Time soon to turn back to storytelling. Our first Spoken Word! @ Listening Tree event last spring launched with Jackson Gillman inspiring us to plant trees. This fall are working on getting Christopher Johnson to Chepachet to read his new play. And next up is Karina Lutz, cofounder of Listening Tree, reading from her upcoming book, Post-Catholic Midrashim. Here’s a bit about it (and how to preorder): https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/post-catholic-midrashim-by-karina-lutz/ If your favorite season is the fall of the patriarchy, you’ll like this one.

We’ll do it at the main house @ Listening Tree at 7 pm, Sept. 27, 2019. After Karina reads, we’ll open the mic, first come, first serve.

Listening Tree is at 87 Reservoir Rd., Chepachet, RI 02814.

Come on by!

Last potluck of the year *and* National Solar Tour

The last of our open-house potlucks for 2019 is Oct. 5, 4-8 pm. Please come if you are interested in living and/or farming here, or just to connect, stay in touch, enjoy the farms and home, and hear more about what we are doing.

During that weekend, homes and other solar installations around the country will open their doors for people to see, get inspired, and learn more about what it takes, what it looks like, and just what it’s like to live solar. So we’ve added this open house to the National Solar Tour, so there will be more emphasis on the solar, energy efficiency & conservation, and carbon farming aspects of life at Listening Tree.

If you are interested in Listening Tree Co-op owner-membership,  but the Oct. 5 date doesn’t work for you, please call to arrange a tour at another time.

Winding Down Events (no potluck in September)

Open-house potlucks are almost over for 2019. The last one is Oct. 5, 4-8 pm. Please come if you are interested in living and/or farming here, or just to connect, stay in touch, enjoy the farm and home, and hear more about what we are doing. Tour will start at 4:10ish. Please call to RSVP.

WE’VE CANCELLED THE SEPT. 7 POTLUCK. Call to arrange a tour at another time if the Oct. 5 date doesn’t work for you.

The educational workshops and college immersion week are over, harvest is full blown, people are moving out and new people preparing to move in, and flux is our middle name, even while our relation to the land deepens. Sorrow and gratitude, just like autumn.

We are hatching a plan for a poetry reading as part of the Spoken Word! @ Listening Tree series–stay tuned!

The Phillest Thing We Ever Saw

Kale harvest in a cardboard box. If you know Phil, you’ll recognize this as one of the Phillest of the famous “Phil Things.”

The harvest is officially coming in. Let the freezing, dehydrating, pickling, and canning begin!

 

A Whirlwind Tour of Compost: from vermicompost to humanure

July 6, 2-4
with Conor Lally

Inside the worm composting operation at Listening Tree

Take a whirlwind tour of compost – including various backyard methods, worm composting at the home and farm scale, composting humanure and the many options for eco-toilets and urine diversion. We will discuss the basic science of composting, various technologies and methods, and how to select a system that best meets your needs and preferences. We’ll cover some key points on how to get started and how to approach misinformation and misconceptions that persist. We’ll take a look back at the history of synthetic fertilizer, waterborne sanitation, and industrial farming to better understand how we arrived at our current state, and how we can shift towards a better system that eliminates pollution, protects water, and builds healthy soils. 

Conor Lally of Nutrient Networks will introduce principles and practices, with an insiders view of all three types of composting in action at Listening Tree Co-op.

$20

Register here.

Last chance for bees

“Due to the use of pesticides — along with climate change, loss of flower meadows, and parasites — bee populations are in decline. Three quarters of all crops around the world rely on animal pollination. But due to pollinator loss, between $235 billion and $577 billion in crop value is at risk,” ThinkProgress summarizes part of the UN extinction report released this week. But it’s not about the money so much as it is about food security. Which the report does mention:  ecological collapse threatens horror upon horror.

This is the last chance to save 500,000 of the one million species that don’t have a fracking home on the earth, or to go back to the technical language, have insufficient habitat to survive as a species.

Coincidentally, or not, it’s also the last chance to sign up for our bee habitat workshop next Saturday, May 18. You can learn right now how to make life easier for pollinators. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Get those rush tix! Coexist!