Solar Panels

Steven and Pawpaw built and installed the solar panels.

EarthShip EcoTraining

Construction has begun on the new EarthShip here at Terrapin Hollow. From 6/11/2012 through 6/16/2012 we'll be hosting an EarthShip EcoTraining. Learn how to build an earth friendly home out of tires and aluminum cans. Based on the work of the orginal Garbage Warrior, Michael Reynolds, an EarthShip home is a beautiful, low cost, highly sustainable homage to Mother Earth.


Come to the beautiful Ozark Mountains of Northern Arkansas for a week and we'll feed you and teach you everything we've learned in the last 7 years on our homestead, Terrapin Hollow. You can check out the home-made wind-mill and solar panels, rain water harvesting, organic gardening, chickens, and even learn to make your own earth friendly laundry detergent and cleaning supplies. We'll have some indoor sleeping space, and/or camping. Bring your grubby clothes so you can get your hands into the dirt while you gain first hand experience in sustainable construction.

Why lend your back to this project? Terrapin Hollow is not just our home, it is a place of peace and renewal for others. As soon as the EarthShip is done, we'll have indoor lodging for up to a dozen people in two attractive cabins. At that time we'll launch our non-profit retreat center. We'll host spiritual events, sustainability workshops, writer's retreats, leadership development training, meetings, etc. There are other blog posts about Terrapin Hollow.

We hope you'll trek our way and have some fun in the sun with us. We're 36 miles from the Folk Music Mecca, Mountain View, AR. Most summer afternoons there are dozens of circles of musicians picking and grinning 'round the courthouse square. Also, we're in very close proximity to Blanchard Caverns and to the Buffalo National Wild and Scenic River. Heck, you could even borrow our canoe... Friend E. Steven Newby and/or Tree Newby on FB. Or reply to this post.

Oh, and as for the food, we'll be providing farm fresh eggs and veggies and store bought lean meats and carbs. I will probably get a keg. And I can cook a variety of dishes for vegetarians and omnivores. If you're vegan I'll need your help making sure you get what you need. The nearest health food store is in Mountain View and is quite small, but there's a Whole Foods in Little Rock.

In love and light,

Tree of Terrapin Hollow

Going Green for Gaia

Here at Terrapin Hollow we're getting ready for a very exciting summer. On Memorial Day Weekend (2012) we're hosting Going Green for Gaia, a fun filled pagan festival with rituals, drum circles, workshops and activities including:

• Make your own earth friendly laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, and cosmetics (with Tree and Brightwing, bring empty spray bottles and empty gallon jugs)


• Tour the home-made windmill and solar panels (with SuperDad)


• Pick blackberries (on your own, bring a bucket)


• Check out the organic garden and say hello to the chickens and dogs (pullets may be available for sale, depending on how many hatch this spring)


• Learn about rain barrels and other rain water harvesting methods (with SuperDad and Talon)


• Hoop dancing: the significance of the circle, oneness, and the spiritual practice of losing yourself to a force distinct from your physical self (with Innergy)


• Renaissance Topic Workshop (with Felicia)


• Free hand massages (get your mind out of the gutter, BellaDonna massages your hand!)


• Other spiritual workshops/topics are available by request. Reply to blog post or write on the event wall inside of FB.

GGG is free and we're taking the first 50 people to sign up. (As of this post we have 30.) For an event invitation, friend Tree Newby on FaceBook, then send a direct message and mention you're interested in GGG. We're open to vendors, but so far most of our favorite vendors have opted to have the weekend off to enjoy themselves.

Friday night is a potluck. The rest of the weekend food is your family/clan/group responsibility. Fire rings will be permitted in group campsites, however we are in a fairly windy valley and extra care will be required. Please don't leave your fire unattended. We'll have both a "home fire" and a ritual fire to cozy up around and play music.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Elemental Living

At Terrapin Hollow we embrace concepts of Permaculture. We strive to live in balance with the Earth. One way to consider the degree of balance and connection with Earth is to notice and honor the four elements: earth, wind, fire, and water. All life requires some form of all four, in fact, you could argue that there is nothing but these four elements and that all of creation is some mixture of the four.

Water
We harvest our rain water. We can store up to 1750 gallons at a time. The water is collected from the roof of our house and then funneled into an underground cistern. Then we pump the water through the house. There's nothing like the smell of rain in your shower!

Wind
Over the summer we installed a wind generator. My dad built the generator in his garage in Florida and then he and my husband spent the summer clearning trees, building the tower and guide wires, and installing the new electrical system. We chose to remain grid tied because the grid is a billion dollar infastructure through which many people can share clean energy. If you're going with renewable resources I encourage you to stay grid tied so we can diversify the nodes of production.

Fire
We heat our home with a wood stove. Cutting back small diameter trees for fire wood also benefits the forest and wildlife. In fact, the forests in most of the US are not all that healthy due to years of total fire suppression. We understand that fire has a natural role in the ecosystem and that is why Terrapin Hollow is enrolled in the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Project sponsored by the Natural Resource and Soil Conservation agency of the US Department of Agriculture. We received funding to doze a fire break around our land. Over the next 10 years our 40 acres will receive three prescribed burns. We also planted fruiting shrubs for deer and bunch grasses to create bobwhite quail habitat.

Earth
My husband is crazy about using rocks and dirt to make stuff. All our garden beds are raised beds made of stacked rocks. He's building a green house out of cob (dirt, straw, and sand mixture). Our next home will be a straw bale and cob mixture. When you use local resources you save loads of money and petroleum. We compost all our table scraps, news papers, ash, cardboard, and even some of the junk mail. It all turns into rich dirt to feed our organic garden.

The more you realize Gaia Consciousness, the more elemental your life will become.

Terrapin Hollow

Terrapin Hollow is a 40 acre nature preserve in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. The land is mostly forested and is surrounded by thousands of acres of forests and meadows. Home to kids, chickens, dogs, cats, bear, birds, turkey, and deer; Terrapin Hollow is a wild green curve of land embraced by the Little Red River. Walk leisurely along a trail through the ancient bolder strewn hillsides as you ponder your connection to Gaia.

At Terrapin Hollow we harvest rain water for household use as well as to water the organic garden. The 102 foot tall wind generator provides all our power. We will soon start construction on a cob/strawbale home. When that project is complete the home we are in now will become a guest house, at that time we'll begin hosting retreats and workshops.

If you are interested in short term work in the areas of gardening, renewable energy, or green building techniques, please contact me. We'll provide room, board, and a wage in exchange for your contribution to Terrapin Hollow.