Mustard Seed Community Farm winter events
and
Nicholas is back in town this week, after months in New York City working with Habitat for Humanity. Nate and Nicholas and I were working on the farm today, a beautiful sunny, not very windy, cold Iowa day.

It was great to be with Nicholas, great to work with Nicholas. Nate was lamenting a few weeks ago that he's always had Nicholas to help with the fall tree protection, and how much he misses him, so we were all lucky that there was still some of that work to do. (and we were lucky that the deer hadn't eaten those trees yet.) We also did some carpentry, taking advantage of Nicholas' improved skills and confidence with power tools. This picture is not from today, it's probably from years ago, but it's still nate and Nicholas.

winter Potlucks and Roundtable discussions –
Saturday Dec 6: 5:30 – 8pm potluck, Swap, and discussion on gift economy. Location – Wheatsfield Co-op's east office space (soon to be the new store expansion space.)
How our swaps work: Bring anything that you want to give away and take anything you need. It's ok if you bring more than you take away, or vice versa – there's enough for us all if we keep an attitude of generosity. This is a great alternative to holiday shopping – let someone else re-use or re-gift those wonderful treasures that you are neglecting. The leftovers will be taken to the shelters or to Goodwill.

Please bring your own dishes, and Wheatsfield asks that we not drink any alcohol.

The rest of the winter potlucks do not have locations, but we have the dates and topics. In general, food at 6pm and discussion at 7pm. It's hard to watch movies at the farm in the summer, so we thought we'd have a part of a movie every other month in the winter.

Friday January 9, 6-8pm. Excerpts from a movie about haiti, labor, fair trade and more
Friday February 13, 6-8pm. Sustainable living.
Friday March 13, 6-8pm. Drone warfare, with excerpts from a movie.
Friday April 10, 6-8pm. Citizen Science and on-farm research
Friday May 8, 6-8pm. Racism with excerpts from a movie

we are looking for locations in the town of Ames for these potlucks – please contact Alice 515-460-1467 if you are interested in hosting us.

also, we plan on having another swap in the spring, perhaps with a square dance and fundraiser.