Author: Jane Lawson

John and I spent the weekend at the Lake Eden Arts Festival, where we had a booth and taught a class on sustainable living. It's such an eclectic, joyous and family-friendly event and it was a pleasure to meet so many new people, many of whom told us that they had been hearing about the events at Laughing Waters and Hickory Nut Forest Eco-Community. It's exciting to know that the LEAF energy resonates with what we are co-creating here: fun, conscious and family-focused events and living.

Grandmother Red Leaf, a Cherokee Elder, and Uncle Bob Randall, an Aborigine Elder, combined forces last Saturday, October 23, and presented a day of wisdom at Laughing Waters. Though their cultures have existed for centuries on opposite sides of the planet, it was inspiring to see and hear how similar their worldviews are. As evidenced by their names, both cultures place great emphasis on family relationships. In fact, families are considered to consist of everyone in the tribe or clan. Uncle Bob said that he didn’ t know who his real mother was until he was grown because all of her sisters were mothers to him.

Is your dream is to live in a multi-generational, eco-friendly community with a center for healing arts and celebrations in a gorgeous setting? The seeds of this dream are already sprouting at Hickory Nut Forest Eco-Community, and we are eager to hear your ideas on ways of growing it further. We want to invite you to our first exploratory meeting of like-minded folks who may be interested in living in Hickory Nut Forest and helping us in realizing this common vision.

ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES FOR FALL APPLES Eco-Community hosts 3rd annual AppleFest: Free apples for you, the community and beyond. Click here for flyer... Hickory Nut Forest Apple FestApples. They’re not just for pies anymore! In addition to applesauce and butter, there is caramel apple bars, apple buttermilk bread, apple kugel, apple-cabbage ravioli with thyme, apple mulligatawny and so much more.  To find fall apples for these creations, visitors and the community are invited to the Third Annual Hickory Nut Forest Eco-Community AppleFest on September 25, from 1-5 at on Rt. 74-A in Gerton/Bat Cave, NC.  It is free and family-friendly event.

What: The Ancient Art of Dowsing with Marty Cain Date: Saturday, May 29 Time: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Where: Laughing Waters at Hickory Nut Forest, Gerton, NC WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE… Learning how to see the hidden through the ancient art of dowsing. (Gerton) Clean, fresh water is vital for human existence. Before the advent of bottled water and city wide systems people had to find it in nearby streams, or more often underground. Since living near water determined one’s survival, many homesteaders turned to professionals – dowsers.  Today, developers, health seekers and many others still rely on their expertise to find hidden objects.

Founder of the Honeybee Project empowers locals on the plight & flight of the honeybee Gerton , NC ) It is estimated that thirty-three percent of everything that reaches the American table is pollinated by the honeybee. In North Carolina this equates to $80 million of the state’s economy. Yet, honeybee colonies are dying or disappearing in record numbers. One of many theories is that chemical pesticides and herbicides are causing colony collapse disorder. In contrast to commercial operations, which use direct chemical fumigation, organic bee colonies are not experiencing major declines.