Here in Oak View we’ve got a few more raised bed boxes to build and some drip lines to install, and then we will have completed our garden infrastructure.  We had a good crop of onions and garlic from the winter, and the tomatoes, chile, melons, tomatillos, squash and five kinds of heirloom beans are all growing, and the fruit trees are almost ready to harvest.  We keep learning about soil, seed-saving, and watershed-wise methods of growing food.  Thanks to a trip to the Channel Islands with local friend Eric Hodge, we’ve been making lots of ceviche and fish tacos with the slabs of fresh white sea bass he caught spearfishing. 

 Visitors this month included Maree Crabbe from Australia; John Jensen, his wife Raquel from Long Beach, and their Australian friend Chris; several of the Abundant Table Farm women; and the BCM board for a meeting.  Elaine and I were both interviewed by seminary students about “alternative ministry.”  We’ve been reading and discussing the history of the Russian Revolution in preparation for her trip to the Ukraine in October.   The last third of the month was taken up by U.S. Social Forum in Detroit, where we worked with Word and World colleagues to facilitate a Sabbath Economics track (for more info. see www.ussf2010.org).  We also participated in a Mennonite Church U.S. Interchurch Relations conference in Wichita.

Elaine and I enjoyed a camping trip with Dennis Apel, Tensie Hernandez and their kids, Rosella and Thomas.  These are the dear friends with whom we did hospice for Ladon Sheats in the spring of 2002—eight long years ago!  We then pulled the last of our cilantro and lettuce and planted our bean starts as well as tomatoes and chile for the summer garden.  We are slowly building more raised beds that will eventually double our capacity—striving for a measure of food self-sufficiency.  When I then climbed on a plane to fly to Toronto, it was the first time I’ve traveled out of state in six months—the longest stretch in 20 years!  I’m deeply grateful for the time at home, and we are trying to move in this direction for the sake of our physical and emotional health.  But less travel and speaking means declining program revenue for BCM, so do keep that in mind as you think about your support of our work.  Meanwhile, you can follow BCM on Facebook now!

The steady stream of visitors continued this month, including Eileen, Les, Simon and Emily Klaassen-Hamm from Saskatoon, my sister and her family, Dave Kleschold and Larry Dunn from Fresno, and Charlie King and Karen Brandow, who gave a benefit house concert for the Abundant Table Farm Project.  In the garden we are transitioning from the winter garden to spring planting, harvesting peas, onions, cilantro, lettuce and artichoke.  Elaine and I enjoyed hosting a “locavore recipe swap” for the Ojai Valley Green Coalition.   We are pleased to announce that Yale Divinity School student Russell Powell from Charlotte, NC will be with us this July for a short BCM internship.

We are sad to report that on March 10th, Christian Peacemaker Team co-Founder Gene Stoltzfus passed away. He was headed out on his bicycle on the first spring day of the year when less than a kilometer from home in Ft. Frances, ON, his heart stopped. Gene (left) was a friend and esteemed colleague in the work of peacemaking; learn more about his life and witness at www.cpt.org. ¡Presente!

We have enjoyed having Josh Bleyerveen as our Bartimaeus Intern (right with Elaine in front of his “cabin”). He’s now headed back to Australia, where he will work with TEAR Fund Australia, a Christian global justice education organization.

He’s been helping us prepare for the February Institute, which had 30 participants, 2/3 of who were under 35 years old, which was one of our goals! Watch for a report on that and some of Josh’s reflections on his time with us in next month’s E-News.