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News from Reevis Mountain School
June 2010
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A Division of the PAAK Foundation, an Arizona 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
Peter Bigfoot, Founder and Director / Patricia Sanders, Office Manager and Editor
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 Apricots ... blackberries ... early peaches ... wild mulberries ... polliwogs in the creek ... western tanagers and hooded orioles ... rattlesnakes - all signs of June at Reevis!
This month we have enjoyed visits from our friends Zack, Thaine, Schuyler, Zoe, Lyn, and all the RMS trustees - and we're grateful for all the help with projects this month. During the stone masonry class at the beginning of the month, we finally reached the top of the wall of the multi-purpose building (which has been under construction for 30 years, if anyone is keeping track)! This month we also built a new nursery pen for baby chickens, up next to the chicken coop - a duplex design for two mamas at a time.
We have treasured the presence of our intern Annie - who actually has piloted the tiller, in spite of its weighing twice what she does, just like she said she would! She is also a fantastic cook, helpful and reliable around the farm, and she has a big smile all the time. She makes Reevis a sweeter place.
Speaking of sweet, this is a good year for fruit, probably thanks to the rains this past spring. We've had little interference from birds or bees so far - this year our competition is mainly with the squirrels. They like to open up the apricots, take the pits out, and run away with them in their fat cheeks, leaving the delectable flesh on the ground. Then the javelinas come along and eat that up with gusto. Despite those darned rodents, we are still getting wonderful apricot harvests, and looking forward to peaches and figs very soon.
Below you'll find announcements of our fall events: a weekend nature retreat in October (beautiful time at Reevis, with the trees turning and the weather cooling off), an Herbal Pharmacology class also in October, and our annual Thanksgiving celebration, for which we will roast one of our own turkeys and prepare farm side dishes and homemade pies. We hope you can join us sometime this fall.
This is a short newsletter this month, as we have about 200 pounds of apricots to harvest today for delivery tomorrow ... and that 20-pound cabbage to shred for cole slaw and sauerkraut! May all your endeavors produce such abundant harvests!
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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Nature Retreat at Reevis Mountain School, October 8-10, $178
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Enjoy two full days and nights in RMS's magical wilderness sanctuary - a
place of inspiration and peace, a space to experience inner tranquility.
Includes lodging in a cabin or yurpee (as available); a one-hour herb walk,
one-hour natural healing session, and meditation lessons with Peter Bigfoot;
healthful and hearty organic meals from our garden; informal nutritional
counseling; and ample time for relaxation or hiking in nature's beauty. Shuttle
picks you up at 4 p.m. Friday and returns to Roosevelt on Sunday at 4 p.m. Please see details and registration info below.
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Herbal Pharmacology, at RMS, October 15-17, $178
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peter Bigfoot has been making herbal remedies for over 25 years. In this
class he teaches how to gather, dry, process, and store herbs; methods of
preparation (tea, decoction, fomentation, poultice, salve, tincture, and more),
and the properties of medicinal and culinary herbs. Two days. Please see class details and registration info below.
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Celebrate Thanksgiving at Reevis, November 25, $40
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You're invited to join us for Thanksgiving dinner and a day in RMS's
magical wilderness sanctuary. We'll serve turkey raised here, side dishes from
our organic garden, homemade whole-grain bread, and fresh pies. Relax in our
beautiful valley or hike through the surrounding mountains, then gather for the
meal at 2 p.m. Overnight option for camping ($10), cabin ($35), or yurpy ($20)
includes breakfast. Complimentary shuttle from Roosevelt (leaves 10 a.m.). Please see details and registration info below.
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How to Buy Reevis Produce
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Throughout the growing season, our garden, orchard, and chickens will produce a cornucopia of fruit - including apricots, peaches, plums, grapes, figs, quince, pears, pomegranates, and persimmons - a variety of veggies, and multicolored fertile eggs from pastured chickens. We'll also have pastured turkeys for the holidays, and occasionally we have Muscovy ducks.
We visit Roosevelt, Globe/Miami, and the Phoenix metro area on an irregular schedule, so the best way to buy our produce is to be on our email list. We'll email you the day before our trips to let you know what we have and the prices - then you can let us know what you'd like to have, and we'll harvest it just for you. To get on the list, just email Patricia and let her know your location and a phone number where you can be reached during the day.
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What We're Growing, Harvesting, and Eating
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  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
Remember that little ankle-high corn sprout pictured in last month's newsletter? What a difference a month makes! That corn is now over Patricia's head. We also have carrots, beets, lettuce, arugula, kale, summer squash, melons, zucchini, cucumbers, sweet corn (the pictured corn is grinding corn), tomatoes, peppers (sweet and hot), collards, okra, beans, basil, and chard!
What we do not have growing, to our disappointment, is new crops of lettuce and parsley. We have sowed lettuce twice without any of the seeds germinating, and the parsley also did not come up - whether because of bad seeds, too little water, or some other reason, we don't know.
What We're Harvesting
We've just harvested our onions and garlic, planted last fall - the prettiest crop of onions and garlic we've had in a while. We're also beginning to harvest the veggies that we planted in May - beets, carrots, arugula, summer squash, zucchini, and basil. In the herb department, we harvested several types of bark (actually, the cambium) in June - cherry bark, walnut bark, and willow bark ... as well as desert willow leaves, and peppermint, spearmint, and red clover blossoms from the garden. What We're EatingEvery meal at RMS is built around greens, whole grains, and meat or eggs. In the early summer we love our purslane - not only is it a delicious and healthful vegetable - the highest vegetable source of omega-3s - but it is also a simple remedy for the stings of bees, yellow jackets, and scorpions (just mash or chew up some of the plant and hold it on the sting for instantaneous relief). We harvest the purslane when it is about six inches tall, cutting it off
just above the ground. Then we rinse and chop the whole plant, leaves
and stems. Here's our latest favorite way to cook it: Purslane with Summer VegetablesChop an onion and one or two cloves of garlic and saute in olive oil. When the onion is soft, add chopped purslane and saute until the purslane has begun to soften. Now add sliced zucchini, summer squash, and other summer veggies of your choice, and continue to cook until they are tender. When ready, sprinkle with fresh chopped basil, plenty of lemon juice, and sea salt. We serve this over a whole grain, such as rice, millet, or quinoa. Please visit our website for lots more farm recipes! |
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Pick Your Own Produce Emails
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 Would you like to come pick your own fruit at Reevis this summer? Not only will you have some of the most luscious, juicy, vital fruit you could find anywhere ... but you'll enjoy an outing at Reevis (where it's about twelve degrees cooler than the Phoenix valley), and a snack lunch, if you request a day or two in advance.
If you would like to be kept informed of what fruit is available, please send an email to Patricia and ask to be put on the Pick Your Own list. Through the season we will have five kinds of apricots, nine varieties of peaches, figs, blackberries,
plums, pears, quince, jujubes, grapes, olives, pomegranates, and
persimmons.
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| Wilderness Retreats at RMS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RMS is a sanctuary free of most modern-day distractions and pollutants (including television and cell phones!), a place to reconnect with Earth and Spirit while enjoying the school's organic/whole foods cuisine and wilderness surroundings. Yurpees and cabins are available for overnight, weekend, or longer retreats, for individuals, couples, or groups. Please email us for information. |
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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 yurpee ($10 per night) or cabin (single $25 per night, double $50 per night) - availability permitting. Yurpees 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 4 p.m., first day of class (please note exceptions listed in class descriptions), 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: 3 ways: visit our website and register online; or mail your name, phone number, postal and email addresses and full payment or a 50% deposit to the address below; or email us with this information and mail a check or request Paypal instructions. Indicate whether you will need shuttle service from Roosevelt and/or wish to rent a yurpee or cabin instead of camping. Balance due prior to class.
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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 (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 (602-774-0160), 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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Quick Links...
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We Welcome Donations
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RMS is a division of the PAAK Foundation, an Arizona 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization; donations may be tax deductible. Currently our highest priority to is replace our gasoline creek pump with a solar pump, and any assistance toward that goal will be greatly appreciated. Cash donations are always welcomed with deep gratitude and will be put toward the pump fund, ongoing expenses, or the costs of housing and feeding our interns, who pay for their stay here in work rather than money.
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"I want you to live! Does the rose remain the seed, hushed deep in the ground, and refuse to see the sun? No. Does the bee turn its face to the tempting flower and seek a weed? No. Does a man turn his eyes from a beautiful woman? No. Does the sun refuse to come up because the moon is still in the sky? And does the greatest star outshine the least of them? No. Why should you come out and see the things that exist in a simple coexistence? For then you will understand the Source, God, infinite Life!
"There are those that go into caves, that go into temples and partake of learning and discipline themselves to be greater than life, to elude life, to hide from life, to calm their beautiful bodies, to restrict their loveliness and vision. But they will never know life unless they have been a participant in it." - Ramtha
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