Fall 2012 Newsletter

…The summer's life has yielded
Itself into my keeping.
-Rudolf Steiner "The Calendar of the Soul

FALL 2012 Newsletter (for the complete newsletter follow this link)

In this issue:

• Summer Reflections
• Capital Campaign Update
• Summer Highlights
• Reflections from our Staff

Dear Friends,

Looking back on this summer, we can say that the tone set early on in the year––bees collecting pollen in January/February and the extreme amount of swarming in Spring (seemingly all over the country)--found its rightful, harmonious continuation and amplification in the ensuing months. We can summarize this summer with three words:

busy – productive – rewarding

Of course, the swarms and splits kept us occupied providing homes, inspecting, adding more boxes or top bars, etc. Our "old girls" allowed us again this year to harvest absolutely wonderful honey. We are pleased when it scratches the throat a bit, a sign of real/unadulterated honey.
With the great help of Jane, our sanctuary assistant and coordinator, much expansion and growth was possible in the gardens. Thanks to her hard work, the Sanctuary had much to offer this season, a true feast for the eyes with the beautiful flowerbeds - and for the mouth with the delicious biodynamic vegetables.

The work on our tutorial DVD, which was stopped in February by James not being able to continue with it, went through a real crisis until we found the video firm "VPS Studios" in Roanoke this summer. A great team is working on it right now. One good outcome of the delay is that we had a whole new bee season for more shots. We feel relieved that the incredibly difficult and creative activity of editing has begun and look forward to the DVD release date.

As we head into fall, our main concern lies in getting all the hives ready for the winter. Perennial flower beds as well as the vegetable garden also need to get 'winterized'. Workshops and screenings will take place in Tennessee, on Long Island www.marders.com and in Wisconsin at the Biodynamic Conference. Next month we also look forward to all of our board members joining us in Floyd for lots of work preparing for the following year.

Gunther & Vivian