This last week has seen big equipment working on the land scraping out the road and roughing it in. The contractors will also put in the surcharge, big piles of dirt where the buildings will be, in order to compact the soil in preparation for building next spring. They have also put in a lot of silt fencing. We’ve been blessed with sunny dry weather for this work, and hope it continues for a little longer.

Another exciting development is that DRZC has rented a house right across the street from the property. Genko will move there for now, and in June others will join her. In the mean time, we will have the house and garage for storage, a kitchen, and bathrooms.

The next work practice day will be Saturday, November 16th, 10am-4pm. We will be doing orchard planting, and focusing on DharmaGarden. Everyone will have the opportunity to plant a tree with their family, which will be labeled with family names so that you all can come and check on it in the months and years to come. Other sangha members are also welcome to participate, of course.

You may bring your own fruit and nut trees. Alternatively we will have available a number of trees which families may plant and then offer a donation toward their cost, should that be an option for you. These will include cherry, persimmon, apple, pear, plum, quince, mulberry and more. We hope that you will choose one that particularly resonates with you. If you would like to bring your own, please send an email describing it so that we can make an overall list of what will be planted. Diana Rempe and Patrick O’Herron are coordinating this project and have a list of desired types of trees for this particular location on the property.

We are so excited about getting some trees in the ground and hope you all will be able to participate.