Adamah

Adamewsletter- Summer 2006 photos

2006-08-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first ever Adamah Newsletter. Shamu and I have been marveling at the success of all of our work and the ways its becoming part of the everyday lives of those here at Isabella Freedman. So this newsletter is a summary of what’s been happening ‘round these parts so y’all can read up on how our Avodah has evolved through the seasons.

I’m writing from a chair by Aitan’s milking stand up on Beebe Hill. He has three milking goats in Alan’s old barn, and Moriah’s sons- Yisroel and Eliyahu- over in a pasture across the road. He’s been making cheeses and made his first three sales today, slowly expanding his operation. Aitan is amazing, he can prevent the hoofy with his eyes closed. He wants to appreciate the 8N fanclub and says that soon- once his cheese empire is vast and grand- he will invite you all to a pool party from Beebe Hill to Bangkok. And he wants to tell you that if he can start his own enterprise, so can y’all… or at least join others’s.

I just saw pink lightning behind a cloud and then one of 8N’s ‘ladies’ came running in to be milked. So yeah, things are evolving quite naturally here. I’ve been up at Freedman for the past week and am happy to report on the current scene, since everyone else is way too busy to do it. Somehow we haven’t found a way to incorporate Newsletter writing into the Adamah schedule.

So here’s what’s been happening this summer from the kfar to beis adamah and beyond (with photos to phollow). Our old timers- Ian and Aitan have been living in the kfar with the other kfarniks, a few porch plants and a freshly gutted composting toilet. There are more leaves than stars these days, and the Geese are flapping like its nobody’s businness. They hold a pretty simple schedule as do the beavers and wildflowers. The clouds have no schedule… at least none that we can get access to. The cucumbers and squash keep a tight schedule of doubling their size about every half hour, and, as I type, there are adamanix in the main kitchen (with the fifth Mashgiach of the summer) processing pesto, pickles and p…squash.

From the kitchen, the food scraps go down to the pasture where they are fed in troughs to the goats and chickens, and then their leftovers go to feed a hungry crew of rat proof compost bins, (carefully designed as they were constructed by Gabe and Shoshana (fall ’05)). Two of the three bins are full. After resting and digesting for some time, their contents will be emptied into a pile in the Sadeh.

Speaking of Sadeh… it is so beautiful- emphasis on full. The Serious Summer Shefah is well under way. Three big hurrahs to this summer’s fellows for taking such good care of our Sadeh. Under the melodic and organized guidance of Tali Weinberg (this year’s Farm Manager) they have carried out our largest Sadeh planting plan ever- about 180 beds of produce. The only transplants that we purchased this year were some of our peppers. The rest were started on site in our new greenhouse/ Chammama.

Now the challenge is to know where all of this food is going. There have been three big donations each week to food banks including a soup kitchen in Torrington, where the Adamanix have been working on their Sadeh cooking skills. Every week, yeah!
At the beginning of the week, the Adamah fridge down in Rootie was packed full and today, Bruce (the new Chef) has just what he needs for Shabbat in the dining hall. Plus, I’m sure some of each veggie will be making an appearance in Beis Adamah this evening. We are also getting ready to sell some veggies to Robbie and Shema for their wedding (first Adamah wedding ever!) and the Hazon riders and crew will be eating righteously next Shabbat before they take off to the big Tapuach. So like the Hollenbeck, our produce abundance ebbs and flows.

But Shuv- let’s return to the present: The weather could not have been more perfect this past week. Rosh Chodesh/ new moon= good time for planting seeds for fall greens in the greenhouse, seeing stars in the sky and loving life. But Shuv, that was last week- now it’s Friday, the Adamanix are on a drizzly bike ride training for Hazon, I’m helping Aitan make Feta Cheese and the forces of transition are fully steeped.
From the week into shabbos, summer into fall,
From the field into our bellies, can we really use it all?
From everything to nothing, back to everything again
We strive to find the balance… every now and then.
But back to now, or rather, soon
What will we see under Elul’s moon?

Transition… Transition! Yai dai dai dai… Transition!
Teva Arrived today, It’s the last day of Senior camp and Elat Chayyim is coming after the Hazon ride, and the new Adamanix too. The bees are on the move too. Last week half of one of our hives swarmed off into the treetops, and Jaimie is ordering a new queen from the internet to rule over the remaining bees in that hive. Our second hive is kickin’, getting busy in the field, and we await the second honey harvest of the year in September.

And what would Honey be without Biodiesel and their beautiful offspring named Yonah! Yonah and Jaimie went on the swings today in their rain gear. But Biodiesel- yes the Adamah Chevre has been running on Biodiesel for the past three months. The Ofenshmaltz Center for Alternative Transportation has been pumping out 30 gallons of fuel a week. It’s rather incredible. Meanwhile, we are gearing up the Chmmamah so it will be heated with used veggie oil. Preperations for the cold season are under way to feed us tomatoes through the winter.

Speaking of transition, here's a bad transition: Naf (Summernik ’04) is using his landscaping wisdom and skills to lay the foundation for relocating the Sephirah Garden. It will also double in size in its new home on the lawn infront of Kaufman. In its place will be a new yurt, which will expand the amount of programming space at Freedman. Yay for transition!

The garlic is in transition too. From the Sadeh to the wire netting under the new cob oven roof (courtesy of Stuart, and whose posts could not have been possible without Rebekah Robinson and her chainsaw last fall). The eight beds of garlic that we planted at the reunion were harvested last month and I had the pleasure of sorting through all of it for our seed stock. I am pleased to report that we have 715 heads of garlic being saved for seed. This is way more than we need, beacuase I am playin’ it safe by trying two storing methods, one in the garlic closet of B.A. and the other, in mesh onion bags from the cob oven roof in the gan. And we’re praying and awaiting the reunion when we’ll plant 8 beds of garlic again. Tradition, tradition! Yai dai dai dai…. Tradition! In the making…

And finally, a word from the goaties (as translated by Aitan):
It’s Angie, Zilpah, Omer and Nes here- we’re all doing fine, eating well, drinking well, pooping well. We’re horny… not the way you think, you dirty people. We have horns and we play with them ok?! We’re really living our hoofprints out here. Berman would be proud.
We’re feeling the oncoming transition too. So we didn’t feel left out in this influx of new faces, Adamah brought us 24 new young pullets with whom we shall share our paddock. They’re not getting in the way too much, but they’ve definitely been laying more than the old ladies. They try to come cuddle at night but our responsible caretakers shuttle them over every evening back to the coop.
We can’t wait to nibble out of your holy hands in November.
Love,
The Goaties

I hope you enjoyed the first Adamewsletter and before I end this, I’ll say-
The Reunion Committed has little to report right now- but I can tell you these two things:
The reunion will take place on the first weekend in November and it will be an option to arrive on Thursday afternoon.
Camp Isabella Freedman will cover a portion of the costs of transportation, namely, %60 of the total cost up to $200. Bring you receipts and you will get back %60 of what you spent, but no one will get back more than $200.
So from the Tachlis to the Sublime=
I bless that you are all finding sparks of the Adamanik in you on a daily basis!
We hope to send out more photos soon!
Love and hugs,
Krigs

Adamah

2006-08-25T10:50:00.000-07:00

Adamah

gan this!

2006-07-04T18:06:00.000-07:00

So this was mid-March...

Everyone was waiting to get in to the hot chamma-mama party

And the Magen David was screaming "Don't leave me naked!"

sunshine and omer <3

2006-05-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

IN MEMORIUM

2006-03-23T10:41:00.000-08:00

Barrel

1997-2006

we think

2006-03-23T10:22:00.000-08:00

it worked! aitan and i were trying to upload these before, and it wasn't working. so here's a taste of life here now- sap quality control and moonlit, snowy hikes....... i'll add some more soon. love, rebecca

Aitan in a min...

2006-03-20T07:21:00.000-08:00

Aitan came into the office with his large beard and orange hat wearing glasses this morning. He was frantic about the blog and wanted me to let his most current entry "simmer for a while." He went on to encourage me to comment on his recent thoughts, but insisted that I not add my own. Well I feel as though I have been able to honor Aitan's wishs.

This issue of "Aitan in a min.." was brought to you by the number 8 and the letters T and N.

long time no blog

2006-03-15T15:07:00.000-08:00

did you miss us?
guess who?
its your favorite blog artists: "buTT-kickin" bloomfield and mc pourincrete.
so where's da flow?
drippin from the sweet sugar maple, bella's salty teat, and adam's non-stoppin feet.
fire fills the belly of a salvaged metal drum,
yohushua feeds the beast
4o gallons of tree water
done!
syrup is being bottled, for...... funders, and y'all thought the tasty sap would grace your lips. heh heh heh.

CHAMAMA HAGDOLAHAHA (sung to torah trope-telisha gedolah) its a massive greenhouse for all ya evreet-challenged adamahnikim (fellows of a jewish-organic-farming-leadership program)
is up and about to be rockin!
can i get an, "amen, halleluyah!"
yosef ben duvid has been workin' like a lunatic from "sunrise, sunset; sunrise, sunset" (please sing along)
and krigeropolis has been working her green magic placing babies to bed.
let's not forget Cara "hugmeister" Silverberg who, currently transporting herself along this lovely landscape we call the u s of a, had been tucking seeds into soil, applying a warm-toned paint in sheuer, and .... occasionally stopping to share a "quick" hug or two.
quick chamama details:
26'x48'
12' high
600 sq. ft. of table space
used-veggie oil boiler
water and electrical infrastructure is ready to roll
in the chamama ha-k'tannah (hoop house) 2000 onions are rising up through the soil along with beets, leeks, spinach, and salad greens. from their trays they'll take a short walk to beds dug within the hoop house.

now. goaties! yeah, ok y'all calm down. i agree it's exciting and all but let's not make the other projects jealous. bella, not pregnant. moriah, definetely pregnant. sunshine, not pregnant. angie, pregnant (maybe). kidding should begin on or around pesach. we brought another buck, CHADVICK THURSTON III, to help ameliorate the situation but instead will be throwing him a coming out party this week.

now. yours truly. me. i will be living in the kfar. working a couple days a week on a goat cheese farm up in monterey, mass (15 minutes from GB). working a day or two up on mount canaan with joan making cheese. and all the other time, other than shabbos, i'll be working on starting my own goat cheese operation. a few acres off of beebe hill road, a half a dozen milkers, lots of time over pots of warm milk, and some creative marketing and i hope Ge'vina (the tentative name, feedback greatly appreciated) will be a success.

the "butt-kickin" begins. when not entering data, the lovely bloomfield is baking tummy treats, conquering CATAN, and illuminating freedman with her glowing smile. she's keeping all the loose ends from floating away. settling the nerves. calming the sea. it's all good.

adam is... not here. was here for 22 hours but is now gone for the weekend, mind you it is now wednesday. hmmm, makes you scratch your head.

shamu has half a beard. hmmmmm, makes you scratch your head.

jaime, found a dead bee colony. hmmmm, makes you scratch your head.

close call. vlastick almost busted us for working on his confuzer. hmmmm, makes you scratch your head.

i had the honor of working with clarkson today. he didn't stop talking or laughing at his jokes. hmm, makes you scratch your head.

zim, is around if by around i mean a mercedes stuck in the middle of the road, then.... hmm, makes you scratch your head.

yonah. hmmm, makes you scratch your head.

enough already. we miss you all more than can fit on a blogspot. i still find it odd how being allergic to computers i end up blogging. hmmm, makes you scratch your head.

anywhos. lots and lots and lots X infinity of peace, love, light, torah, booty-shakin, belly laughs, goat milk, and deep breaths.

8n
rebecca bloomfield

check back soon for a link to snapfish photos

Shabbath Shalom

2005-12-16T11:48:00.000-08:00

"With Shabbath rolling in and no one cooking in the house, things feel a little more peaceful and lonely. As a good friend once expressed to me... When the light of shabbath comes in I will think of you to share in it with me. I hope Shabbath stays special to you regardless of what it is you do to keep it holy. Unless your way of keeping it holy is eating my techina."

"dearest adamaniks,
i bless you that as you light the candles you remember that you are a vessel for hashems light and that you have the power to bring that light into every space you enter. I bless you that this shabbas you know howperfect and beautiful you are. And i bless you to experience true rest, to give up all control, and to really bask in creation. i love and miss you all so much good shabbas," - shoshana

THINGS I'VE LEARNED....

2005-12-16T11:42:00.000-08:00

1. that josh was a closet yoga instructor....has led a couple of cozy classes in the yurt in the dark with the fire going.... very nice. at least for the four minutes that it lasted until he fell asleep or interrupted himself to ask if anyone had food.
2. that michal and gilad's food is actually as incredible as we'd thought all along.... we (teva, adamah, freedman staff....including clarkson with a nice sweater and combed hair) went out for dinner at a restaurant in lakeville for a teva goodbye...a beautiful event, and we all felt really lucky to be included. it took a while for each course to come out, and none of it tasted nearly as good as M&G's food. luckily yosh was still around at midnight to keep us from falling asleep by contorting napkins into such things as boobs, chickens, penises (one of these things just doesn't belong....) and putting on puppet shows with his silverware. the night would not have been complete without nearly getting killed on the way home in the freezing rain.
3. that if goat milk is chilled right away, it doesn't taste goaty at all. and that if you (by which i mean josh) leave it out in the snow for a couple of hours, it will become icy-- perfect for adding chocolate syrup and walnuts for our own goat milk ice cream... or shall i say gmicecream. (gabe can we still be friends? for those who don't know, the only rule in our kvellowship is that there will be no more combining of words. so be careful. or shall i say: bareful).
4. that we're doing a great job, if by "move into cedar by monday" adam actually meant "live in BA for another week." and that if the group decides to watch a movie one night: zim decides, we watch.
5. that growing up with two sisters has caused me to be totally incompetent when it comes to noogie-giving and things such as this. gabe and linda, on the other hand, have spent the past two days proving their worth in this area. i wouldn't so much call it "wrestling" as i would "gabe-sitting-on-linda-while-she-half-squirms-and-yells-a-mixture-of-'I can't breathe'- and-'i'm kicking your ass'-for-half-an-hour."

and finally.....
7. that this will be a hard shabbat, missing all of you. SHABBAT SHALOM- may it be a peaceful shabbat for you, and may we all carry with us all of the light from our adamah shabbats- enough to keep some for ourselves while giving some to others.

i love you,
becca
ps. zim just pointed out to me that i missed #6. jo, maybe you can help me find it.

a taste of winter here at isabella.....

2005-12-13T12:32:00.000-08:00

kedush levana atop the overlook... trying to make the adamah-vinterkvellowship transition a little easier...

Vinter Kfellowship day 2

2005-12-13T06:58:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd put this up. These people aren't here anymore, but they were recently. Day 2: working on cleaning the house and around Freedman. Last night, a screening of Star Wars III at Adam's . Weak sauce! Predicted temperatures for tonight in Falls Village: 0 degrees fahrenheit. Who will remain on Survivor: the Kfar?

Winter Fellowship kick off

2005-12-13T06:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon/evening: Group hike to the overlook.  A beautiful kiddush levanah
celebration lead by Ian R.H.  Followed by sliding down the mountain, an intimate
dinner-meeting with Mr. Berman in the  dining hall, and a cozy night had by all. 
This morning, a fellowship breakfast at hillside, including Bloomfield  making her
world-renowned snow-and-maple-syrup concoction. Yummers!

Post from Krigs

2005-12-12T08:50:00.000-08:00

Hi all you crazy Adamah Alumni,

here's a short update: fall adamah 2005 is officially over, though some of us are lingering on here for the vinter kfelloship '05-'06 we are having our first kfellowhip meeting at lunch today. the sadeh is covered in snow and the deer have eaten anything left that was green. other than that we have frozen radishes and some frozen leeks in the frozen ground. the lakes at camp is frozen everything is white brown and green. prince william (a goat buck) was here for about a month to "expand the herd" and we will be taking him back this week to his owner.

In the last snow storm the hoop house folded in half lengthwise and is now more like two long hoops. Josh and i will be fixing that this week and making it more supported to prevent this in the future. I am officially done being the farm manager and am excited to remember who i am when i'm not responsible for the whereabouts of fellows. I am excited to do lots of reading and inner growing this winter. and as always, you are all welcome to come visit so please let me know when you are coming.

Peace and love from Falls village.
love,
krigs

schechiyanu

2005-11-29T16:55:00.000-08:00

"make time in the schedule.?!"

as an alumni i am not bound to the schedule. so while i our beloved cast of characters are discussing the "fall of rome" (fellowship meeting) i sit in the office typing out my brain crumbs.

throughout my time spent in adamah last year i wondered how grand it would be to return and feel connected. i wondered what role i would play and would i feel useful. i wondered what connection we would share from dor l'dor. i wonder no longer.

i have been welcomed with an abundance of love and light. this fall generation is a most awesomest collection of neshamot. the communal arms of support have embraced me as a member of their family. sharing sacred ground, sacred experiences, and sacred intentions we grow deeper and fuller with love for hashem, love for the universe, and love for our neighbors. together we continue to take the steps forward, as pioneers of new and exciting terrain. we build with the appreciation of those who have come before and look forward to sharing with those next in line. to stop and count our blessings for being members of such holy chevre would take muchas tiempo. so maybe a little everyday. im not a big computer guy so it's a bit ironic that im entering the pseudo-first statment but, being that this is the case and my tolerance for sitting in front a computer is extremely low i must continue on to some additional news. but before i do that a deep, deep, deep, deep todah to my admahnikim that reside here now. for we are just dust but at least we're dust together.

first things first. the goaties. we gotta buck. yee haw. a handsome fellow from the nubian tribe. at the age of three, prince william is in his prime. now you ask, "why nubian?" well nubian goats have higher fat content in their milk. you say, "that's great for making cheeses, yogurt, and butter." but shamu says, "we're not keeping any of the kids." and you say, "why nubian?" and i say, "why not, he's a stud." so, there should be a link for y'all to check out some pictures i took (check sidebar); but me being the technologically savvy goat herder that i am.... today slick willie was courting sunshine. the teva kids were astonished, proclaming to one another that, "this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this act of creation." yee haw. we're returning prince william to his home in a couple of weeks. hopefully by that time all four does will be set up for the winter.

other projects. kriegs and her crew are steadily getting the hoop house and all those winter veggies nice and warm for the expected coldness knocking on our door. we had our first snow last week but in the last couple days it's been warming up and rain is expected in the immediate future. lulu and ian are building an industrial strength bike shelter over at beis adamah. jo and sabs are repairing our fleet of two-wheelers. gabe and zim are tearing down fences shirtless. avodat bayit is keeping everyone else out of trouble. talking about trouble....

carmiya's wedding was last weekend and did we fufill the mitzvah of bringing simcha to the chatan and kallah with deepest kavannah? boy, did we ever. so much beauty flowed from the couple it uplifted our souls and kept our feet dancing for hours. we danced and sang and ate and drank. the party overflowed into the yurt where love was in abundance. we were also blessed with the presence of one miss rachel tali kaplan, a dear friend of carmiya, a wise teacher, and an Adamahnik. her return is another fine example of our deep connection to a home that remains close to our hearts whether we find ourselves near or far.

things are winding down. folks will be scattering to the four corners in the next few weeks. some brave souls have decided to face the new england winter. send them your love, warmth, and admiration as they continue along the path of bio/pio-neerism. as for me, i had/have plans to be in israel to assist our holy brother, yigal, bring his vision into fruition but, yesterday shamu made contact with a local businessman that runs a mid-size goat dairy and is looking for a dedicated young soul to run the cheese-making facility. well when opportunity knocks do you answer? yigal - i will call you tomorrow, so deepest apologies if you read this before we talk. i haven't committed to anything yet and will be talking to our new friend more tomorrow. i hope i can make both dreams a reality.

be brave. stretch often. laugh much. stick your hands in the soil. do good cause it is the right thing to do. smile to those who pass you on the street. hug your momma and poppa and sisters and brothers. laugh much. kiss a cloud. study torah. honor your tummy. shabbos. drink raw goat milk. pursue justice. give praise to the HOLY COMPOSTER.

if i could sit in front of the confuzer for an hour and a half to share with y'all, i know this blog thing won't stay empty long. add on....

peace, love, light, and torah
8n

Meeting

2005-11-06T07:57:00.000-08:00

We had a meeting to discuss the future of Adamah today. In it we all expressed a hope to see a blog to log our activities. He it is. I hope you all like it.