There were loud cheers and applause when everyone at Colrain Town Meeting voted to instruct Congress to support an amendment to the US Constitution to make it clear that corporations do NOT have the same rights as people and that money  is NOT speech for purposes of election-related spending. Paul Mark, our awesome State Rep came to Town Meeting and the potluck dinner preceding it. Please thank him for supporting the statewide initiative. We also thank Joe Kurland for bringing this article to Colrain.

Last week we planted our new field with potatoes. In the main garden we planted onions and leeks and finished forming paths. And, we also managed to socialize and have fun!

Join us at Katywil

Saturday, May 26

10am-1pm

to see for yourselves why It takes a farm community to raise a child!

10-11  Q&A about life at Katywil

11-12 Trevor the Games Man for pre-school to adults

12-1 Fire roasted pizzas from our cob oven (gluten free available)

Tours available of Katywil & and the folks from Regenerative Design Group
will show you the cool permaculture projects that we have been working on together

Questions, call Nancy: 413.624.3040 or email: nancy@katywil.com

Directions

She wasn’t sure how the conservative newspaper would describe the unconventional life style of cohousing. But they appreciated the advantages of living in community. Read the article: Cohousing

Donnie Tatro (top left), Bryan Waryjasz (top right), and Ray LaBombard (below) of Berkshire Photovoltaic Services, Adams, MA, take a quick photo break from installing a new photo-voltaic (PV) array at Katywil.

We initially organized our efforts around a cooperative business entity, Katywil Power & Light, LLC, that allows us to add new shareholders at various affordability levels. Thanks to Massachusetts’ Net Metering regulations, shareholders receive a credit on their electric bill in excess of what they consume and in accordance with their investment in the array. Electrical production is monitored by a single meter which basically runs backwards whenever the sun is shining and the array is producing power.
Katywil Power & Light, LLC also plans to take advantage of Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) and a US Treasury grant to offset our costs. The SREC program allows generators of renewable energy to sell credits to businesses like utilities who need them to comply with government regulations. These credits accrue automatically to solar panel owners and are paid to them by check every month.
The idea of renewable energy production has always been part of Katywil’s vision, but when we looked at the various federal and state financial incentives we learned that following a “green” vision also has an attractive pay back. We expect our solar array to break even in about 7 years with a lifetime return on investment of over 8%.
Along with producing electric power, our vision also includes a community electric car which can be charged by the solar array. We hope to be able to drive into nearby towns using only fuel from the sun. Our savings on gasoline will increase the lifetime return on investment of the array and as fuel prices go up we will feel less of a pinch in our household budgets.

Final touches on the community solar array

Katywil Community PV solar array is finally up!

This year we are concentrating on breeding stock, perpetuating heirloom breeds many of which date back to the pre-Civil War era and are now in danger of disappearing. Here are pictures and a brief description of the three breeds we chose to hatch from eggs.

The Chocolate Turkey was common in the southern U.S. and probably originated in France. The Chocolate turkey, named for its brown-colored feathers, is a very rare breed. Chocolate turkeys thrived in France and the Southern U.S. in the early 1800s, but many breeders were lost during the Civil War, which led to a dwindling number of this variety today.

The Narragansett Turkey is named for Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, where the variety was developed. It descends from a cross between native Eastern Wild turkeys and the domestic turkeys (probably Norfolk Blacks) brought to America by English and European colonists beginning in the 1600’s. Improved and standardized, the Narragansett became the foundation of the turkey industry in New England.

Blue Slate Turkeys are named for the blue slate color of their plumage. The breed is one of the most subtly beautiful of all standard turkeys. Blue Slate Turkeys have a fairly obscure origin and have never been very common, and their first mention in literature appears in the 1800’s. They were recognized as a standard breed by the American Poultry Association in 1874.

Haynes and Andrew researched and learned how important it is to keep the incubator humid.