Dear friends of Dancing Rabbit,

I was incredibly heartened to hear from many of you that last week's email really struck a chord. It’s clear that something fundamental is out of alignment, and we are starting to see some very real consequences because of this. Dancing Rabbit has a unique role to play in how we adapt, resist, and construct viable alternatives to systems which are failing so many of us. Thanks to your encouragement, I feel motivated to delve deeper into these themes.

Towards this end, I want to tell you about DR projects we recently funded through our second annual Resilient Systems Grant. This grant is largely funded by the Mycelium Foundation and Ed Pultz, but also through many individual donations. Being able to offer this grant has contributed immeasurably to the sense of abundance and possibility at Dancing Rabbit.

First, a short reminder that Thursday, May 8, is Give STL, which is a day of raising money and awareness for regional nonprofits. Your donations directly support the types of projects I describe in this email, as well as our educational and outreach efforts. If you have the means, consider marking your calendar and bookmarking this giving link.   

We had many project submissions this year. The Grant Selection Committee, composed of Rabbits, nonprofit staff, and board members put a lot of thought and effort into narrowing it down. Here are recipients of this year’s grants. 

• Moonlodge renovation by the Queer Collective.
  As the political, ecological, and legal environment becomes increasingly hostile to queer people, it is essential to build diverse, resilient networks of mutual aid and material support. Queer communities face disproportionate rates of abuse, false convictions, homelessness, and medical malpractice. As part of a larger inter-state mutual aid network, this collective aims to build queer resilience at Dancing Rabbit.
  
  The Queer Collective will renovate Moonlodge (a two-story straw bale building) and transform it into a beautiful and functional living space. To do this, they will host up to eight work exchangers (wexers) at a time. The funding they have been awarded covers the basic costs of hosting the wexers, including food, community fees, and transportation costs. In addition to repairs and improvements to the building, they will create and manage a tool library out of the enclosed porch.

• Resilient pasture projects by the Dairy Co-op.
  Installing 20 Tree Swallow houses across our grazing land. An adult pair of Tree Swallows consumes 8,000 flies a day. Most fly control methods involve dousing livestock with harmful chemicals which harms soil biology. Increasing Tree Swallows in the area avoids negative side effects, and takes a holistic approach to pest management with multi-species, symbiotic, relationships.

The cow’s eagerly await the arrival of their fly-hungry companions.

Establishing a native hay field. On a small section of prairie, we interseeded native legumes (nitrogen fixing, high protein content plants) into existing stands of native warm season grasses to create a diverse native hay field which supports our livestock, native pollinators, mammals, birds, and soil life. The majority of hay fields are comprised of non-native (often invasive) grasses and legumes. We hope that we can contribute to a growing trend of managing our prairies to support humans, and domesticated and wild forms of life. 

Installing a larger water tank. Fed by a solar-powered pump from our swimming pond, a larger water tank will allow us to store more water for livestock, and get us through longer cloudy periods.

• International residential code certification by Mae.
  A persistent issue at Dancing Rabbit is the need for more high quality housing. We often talk about how awesome it would be if we could build two- and three-story, multi-unit, multi-family, apartment or dormitory style housing. The benefits of this style of building are many: increased density, energy efficiency, cooperation, and comfortable, accessible, and functional homes for a range of incomes, family structures, and preferences. One step of many on this path is to increase our knowledge about how to build code compliant buildings. In addition to improving the quality and safety of what we can build, our hope is that this will increase our odds of securing outside financing to build homes here. Toward this end, CSCC provided funding for Mae to take courses with the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors in order to pass the International Residential Code exam.

• Hoop house rehabilitation by Apple.
  Apple will repair Dan’s hoop house. The frame is in excellent shape, but the plastic covering and wooden end walls need to be replaced. In late summer, Apple and some Rabbits will prep the beds and plant fall crops with an emphasis on greens that last into the winter. By extending the growing season, we improve our health and reduce our dependence on distant food sources which are vulnerable to disruptions. Growing food together is also a great way to build social connections by sharing time, skills, and labor with each other.  

Wine tasting in the hoop house, and present state.

• In support of pollinators by Alline.  
  The goal of this project is to make Dancing Rabbit an oasis for native birds and pollinators. While we have fostered our native flora and fauna within the village over the last 27 years, the broader picture is still quite bleak, with less than half  of one percent of Missouri’s native prairie remaining.* As our village grows, we want to take active steps to balance the impact of building roads, homes, mowing, and grazing. With this project award, Alline is heading up a new effort to plant native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers to provide resilient and abundant food sources for birds and insects. In addition to a strategic scattering of plants throughout the village, there will be a dedicated pollinator garden at the front of the village, serving as an educational and aesthetic treat for visitors and Rabbits alike.  
  *https://moprairie.org/mission/outreach-and-education/what-is-prairie/

• Finishing Critter Kitchen by the Critter Collective.
  Critter Kitchen is a scrappy, off-grid, non-hierarchical kitchen co-op which serves as the home kitchen to many Rabbits who are engaged deeply in food production, land management, village building, as well as much of the behind-the-scenes work of community. Co-op members are encouraged to contribute homegrown produce, meat, and dairy, or labor on the kitchen build. Since our last kitchen burned down in 2021, we’ve been working steadily to build a truly impressive outdoor kitchen and community space, utilizing local and reclaimed materials. This year, we’re pushing to get the kitchen portion of the structure up and running, and move out of the temporary kitchen we’ve been using for three years now. The nonprofit awarded the Critters with funds to purchase the materials to finish the living roof, install a rainwater collection system, plumbing, lights and outlets, and to build walls, shelves, counters, and a cob oven. As a member of the Critter Collective myself,  I’m excited to begin welcoming more folks under the boughs of the great osage trees and sharing our food, casual conversations about revolutionizing land use, and hands-free long bean eating competitions, with the world. 

Long beans and log beams.

That’s all for this week. Mark your calendars for May 8, and enjoy the springtime. 🌼

In community, 

Eric  

--

Eric Mease 

Villager // Land Steward // Development Lead

Center for Sustainable and Cooperative Culture at