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News from Reevis Mountain School
April 2009
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A Division of the PAAK Foundation, an Arizona 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
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 They say April showers bring May flowers - in our case, they bring plantain, cleavers, and wild oats! But despite our rain prayers ("Let it rain, oh lord" to the tune of "Kumbaya"), and despite two days of showers during the Nature Retreat the second weekend of the month, we just didn't get enough. Because our plantain harvest was very small, we may run out of Spider Bite Remedy before next spring - please keep this in mind if you've been meaning to order it.
What April did bring, and generously, was visitors ... six guests for the Nature Retreat, sixteen for a special plants class for SWIHA students (thanks, Pete Maynard!), and five students for Bigfoot's Herbal Pharmacology class last weekend. Nate, our intern-cum-gourmet-chef, not only provided fantastic meals for all of these guests, but also kept up with his single-handed maintenance of the garden, orchard, and livestock - we're amazed and grateful to have his help. Big thanks also to Troy at Preparing Wisely, the preparedness shop at 144 S. Mesa Dr. in Mesa, who contributed a 25-lb. bag of brown rice and helped us feed all these folks!
We also enjoyed a fun visit from Nancy, R.J., Jennifer, and Ruthie of the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy ... an organization that has, amazingly, accomplished the preservation of 17,000 acres in north Scottsdale, between Thompson Peak Parkway and the McDowell Mountain Regional Park. We hope this is the beginning of a fruitful friendship between RMS and MSC.
Another partnership we are nurturing this spring is with Simply Sarah, the women's clothing boutique on Broad Street in Globe. Sarah Bernstein, the proprietor, has supported RMS for years, and recently began helping us sell our produce by holding it in her store for our customers to pick up and her own customers to purchase. Now she will be converting a corner of her shop to a mini-farmer's market, with culinary items for sale in addition to RMS produce. We will make deliveries to the shop every Thursday during the growing season, and the produce will be available at Simply Sarah until it is sold out. You can visit Simply Sarah at 386 N. Broad Street in Globe.
April also brought baby birds! In addition to the two ducklings pictured in the March newsletter (which, unfortunately, we lost to a hawk), we now have five more ducklings ... plus Araucana chicks! (Araucanas are the chickens that lay blue eggs.) It has been a long time since any hens volunteered to set, so we are delighted that one did in April, and we hope for more peeps this spring. Speaking of small animals, we are also thrilled to be hearing a symphony of frogs at night. The frogs had been missing for the past couple of years, because the crawdads in the creek were eating them. But our ducks - a gift from our friend Michael Harrah - have been doing their job - eating the crawdads! - and now the frogs are back! These ducks are the best crawdad remedy we've ever experimented with.
For more
information (and pictures!) about the farm, Peter Bigfoot's herbal remedies, and classes and events, please visit www.reevismountain.org.
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Coming Events
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stone Masonry, at RMS, June 1-6, $152
RMS's Fall Class & Event Schedule will appear in the June newsletter (end of June).
Please see below for more information about classes and events.
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Featured Remedy: Pollen Allergy Relief
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ During the winter at RMS, we often turn to Bigfoot's Magic Stuff for what ails us - colds, flus, sore throats. In the springtime we start reaching for Pollen Allergy Relief. Bigfoot makes this remedy mainly from the leaves and flowers of the brittlebush plant ... as usual, the remedy for our ailments is something growing close at hand! We use a dropper or two in a cup of water as needed to relieve symptoms of pollen allergies. We've heard that it also works for cat allergies. Pollen Allergy Relief comes in a 2-oz. bottle with a dropper.
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Stone Masonry, at RMS, June 1-6, $152
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 Hands-on experience in the art and skill of stone wall construction: selecting native stones, mixing concrete, placing stones, esthetic and structural considerations, choice of tools and materials. Bring work gloves and work clothes. Help build something that will virtually last forever and never need paint. Five days. Limited to four students. For this class, shuttle pickup on the first day is at 10 a.m.
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Planning to attend a class or event?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Classes held at Reevis Mountain School include: meals (arrival night meal is a potluck party - bring a healthful, natural dish to share!), class supplies, hot showers, and campsite. Camping is free, or stay in a yurpy ($10 per night) or cabin ($25 per night) (availability permitting). Yurpies and cabins have beds and pillows; bring your own sheets and blankets or sleeping bag.
Complimentary shuttle service from Roosevelt, 10 miles one way - or caravan in your own 4X4. Shuttle pickup is at 5 p.m., first day of class (except for the Stone Masonry class - pickup is at 10 a.m.), at M&S Marine, Hwy. 188, Roosevelt (between milepost 233 and 234).
Early Registration: 10% discount if you register with full payment 30 days prior to class date.
To Register: Send your name, phone number, postal and email addresses, and a 50% deposit to the address below. Indicate whether you will need shuttle service from Roosevelt and/or wish to rent a yurpy or cabin instead of camping. Balance due prior to class.
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What We're Growing, Harvesting, and Eating
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 We'd like to share with you what's going on in the garden, the orchard, and the kitchen - the vegetables we're planting, the bounty (fruit, veggies, livestock, and herbs!) we're harvesting, and how we turn our harvest into nourishing, delicious meals.
What We're Growing
Lots of romaine lettuce, spinach, and red onions! Plus cabbage, garlic, and leeks just about ready for harvest. Very soon we're going to start planting for the summer: arugula, collards, chard, more lettuce, green beans, corn, cucumbers, watermelon, summer squash, tomatoes, and bell peppers! And we're already salivating over the peaches and apricots, which we've been thinning this month, and will be ripe in June and July - along with figs and, soon after that, grapes!
What We're Harvesting
We're enjoying the asparagus while it still lasts - probably just another week or so. In April we harvested several wild desert herbs, including porophyllum gracile (yerba del venado), plantain, and chia ... as well as peppermint, catnip, burdock root, and milk thistle seeds from the garden.
What We're Eating
Every meal at RMS is built around greens, whole grains, and meat or eggs. We're transitioning to a summer diet of more yin foods - eggs, green salads, more fish. In the meantime, on cool days we still enjoy steamed greens (usually spinach and a bit of chard and collards that are hanging on in the garden). With the warm days, the brassicas have bolted ... we're sad to lose the greens, but the yellow flowers are wonderful on salads ... and the honeybees are enjoying them the most!
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| Wilderness Retreats at RMS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  RMS is a sanctuary free of most modern-day distractions and pollutants (including television!), a place to reconnect with Earth and Spirit, while enjoying the school's organic/whole foods cuisine and wilderness surroundings. Yurpys and cabins are available for overnight, weekend, or longer retreats, for individuals, couples, or groups. We provide meals, shuttle from Roosevelt, a meditation lesson, and suggestions for local hiking. Please visit www.reevismountain.org or email us for more information. |
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Looking Toward the Fall
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This fall we plan to offer Bigfoot's Oriental Touch Healing class again. We will also introduce a new class: Homestead Living. In four or five days at RMS, students will learn how we live here: how the power and water systems work; the management of the garden, orchard, and livestock throughout the year; maintenance of the buildings and equipment; how we treat illness and injury ourselves; and much more. Please look for the Fall 2009 class and event schedule in our June newsletter. And if you're interested in a farm-raised Thanksgiving turkey, it's not too early to make a reservation!
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How to Purchase RMS Remedies
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peter Bigfoot's herbal tinctures and salves are available to order by email (orders@reevismountain.org), phone (928) 467-2675, on our website (www.reevismountain.org, click on Country Store), by mail (7448 S. J-B Ranch Rd., Roosevelt, AZ 85545), or at retailers in Phoenix (Healthy Habit, 6029 N. 7th St., and Total Body Awakening Legacy, 3747 W. Montebello Ave.), Scottsdale (The Natural Medicinary at Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, 8010 E. MacDowell Rd.), Mesa (Preparing Wisely, 144 S. Mesa Dr.), Tempe (SWIHA's bookstore, 1100 E. Apache Blvd.), Flagstaff (New Frontiers Market and Village Healing Center), Sedona (New Frontiers Market), Cottonwood (Mt. Hope Foods), Camp Verde (Healthy Thymes), and Globe (Back to Basics, corner of Broad and Cedar).
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We Welcome Donations
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RMS is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational organization; donations may be tax deductible. We're currently wishing for the donation of a commercial-grade riding lawnmower, a second solar water pump to replace the gasoline pump, and two or three sheep. We also appreciate prayers for rain! Cash donations are always welcomed with deep gratitude and will help us with the costs of feeding our work-exchange residents, who are not required to pay for their room and board.
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Quick Links...
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"Choose a path that has heart, something you love to do. And always choose the middle path, neither extreme asceticism nor extreme indulgence, and the path becomes self-actualizing. If you hone your talents to that which you love to do, then you will have the highest inspiration to pursue that path, and thus you will harness all of your resources." - The Ancestor John
"Live what you love." - Bigfoot
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