Dear friends of Dancing Rabbit,

Last week I talked about resilience; what it is, why it’s important, and what role Dancing Rabbit has in creating more of it. For a quick recap:

• While we MUST continue the work of de-carbonization and mitigation, we also need to prepare for a world irrevocably altered by climate change. This is where resilience comes into play. Resilience is the ability to foresee, cope with, and manage the impacts of climate change, as well as changing economic and societal conditions.



• In order to build resilience more generally, we need to be experimenting with diverse and regionally adapted societal structures and technologies. Just like in a natural ecosystem, resilience comes from diversity. Dancing Rabbit is one such experiment.

It’s important to distinguish between sustainability and resilience. Dancing Rabbit was explicitly founded to be a village which “allows and encourages its members to live sustainably” - so says the mission statement, which goes on to define sustainably as: “In such a manner that, within the defined area, no resources are consumed faster than their natural replenishment, and the enclosed system can continue indefinitely without degradation of its internal resource base or the standard of living of the people and the rest of the ecosystem within it, and without contributing to the non-sustainability of ecosystems outside.”

While sustainability will always be a core principle at Dancing Rabbit, the impacts of climate change are already being felt. With those impacts increasing as the century progresses, we must also be resilient.

Shortly, I’ll get into some ways Dancing Rabbit is building resilience in our community and region. If you wish to support this work, you can join us for Give STL on Thursday, May 9th. Our goal this year is to raise $7,500. For every dollar raised up to this point, we will allocate an equal amount into our Resilient Systems grant fund.

Ways to get involved:

• Mark your calendar for May 9th, bookmark this giving link. Maximize your impact by donating during the following “power hours” (listed in Central Standard Time):
  9-10 a.m.
  12-1 p.m.
  3-4 p.m.
  6-7 p.m.
  9-10 p.m.


• Donate now. Early giving has already begun! If you’re uncertain that you’ll be available on May 9th, giving now is a great option.


• Help us spread the word by forwarding this email to your friends and family.

So, what are we doing at Dancing Rabbit to build resilience? This is not a simple question to answer. In some ways, our existence itself is a form of resilience; we are an experiment in creating an alternative society, one based on cooperation and harmony with natural systems. Many of the systems, technologies, and lifestyles being enacted right now in the village are significantly less reliant on external systems, and are very adaptable to shocks to or from those systems. Below are a few of the most prominent examples.

Resilient Systems Grant fund

Early this year with the help of some truly incredible donors we were able to distribute $15,000 to projects at Dancing Rabbit which are actively building resilience. The following three projects were funded to various degrees by this grant:

• Chestnut orchard - This spring, the Agroforestry Co-op put 250 high-potential Chinese chestnut trees in the ground. The trees were bred as part of the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry’s Chestnut Improvement Network. To date, this will be the only planting in their network using organic practices, providing an invaluable research data set. Nutritionally, chestnuts are a carbohydrate-dense food, similar to brown rice. A planting of this scale can significantly provide for the community’s nutritional needs, even in climate extremes, as tree crops are much more resilient in the face of high-impact weather and climate events, as opposed to annual staple crops like rice and wheat. This orchard also has the potential to serve as a powerful economic engine for the village. We also hope that this orchard demonstrates the viability of chestnuts in the Midwest, and aids in the large-scale adoption of perennial and resilient food systems.
  
  
  
  Many hands, and some appropriate technology, come together to plant 250 trees in two days.



• Dairy Co-op - The Dairy Co-op uses management intensive rotational grazing to raise a few modest herds of cows and goats. Systems involving grazing herbivores can be quite resilient to a changing climate. As long as there is green vegetation to eat, and water to drink, they can persist through extreme weather events and droughts. All our pastures contain trees, either intentionally planted or naturally occurring. These help greatly in improving animal welfare (through shade and diverse nutrition), holding and building soil, and increasing biodiversity. The animals also bring fertility to the land by converting growing vegetation into readily available nutrients through urine and manure. There’s also the delicious and nutrient dense food that they provide all year round, providing many in the community with all their meat and dairy needs.



• Galleons Lap Vineyard - For over 15 years Dan has been growing organic grapes and making wine. He’s learned a lot about which varieties of grapes do well in our unique climate and soil, as well as what organic and permaculture techniques help them thrive. Examples include using comfrey, instead of herbicide, to suppress weeds, and netting to keep birds from eating the grapes. Though wine is considered a luxury good, it’s one that (in moderation) can add to our quality of life. Being able to produce this product locally increases the economic resilience of our community.

Other ways we’re building resilience

Rainwater capture - Between many cisterns and ponds we are capturing a ton of rainwater. All of our major buildings, and a few homes, use cisterns for all of their domestic water needs. Ponds hold water in the landscape, prevent erosion of precious topsoil, provide habitat for many species, and allow us to sustainably water crops (vineyard, chestnuts, and gardens) and animals. In our region, rainfall is predicted to become more irregular; with fewer but more intense rain events. Being able to capture more water when it rains and dispense it as needed will be crucial for thriving in the near future.

Natural building - Dancing Rabbit has the largest collection of natural buildings in the Midwest. Using timbers harvested from our forests, local clay from the earth, straw from our neighbors, and salvaged materials from just about anywhere, we’re able to build beautiful and well insulated homes for a fraction of the price of conventional houses. To a large extent, this protects us from the shifting prices and availability of building materials, and empowers our members to take a more active role in securing housing for themselves and their families.

On-site waste management - The entirety of our organic waste is managed within the bounds of our property. Food scraps are composted or fed to livestock, greywater is filtered by aquatic plants and stored in wildlife ponds, and our excrement is thoroughly composted and spread around fruit and nut trees. This system not only saves an incredible amount of water, but is entirely self contained and managed by us. There are very few economic or societal disruptions that could negatively impact these systems.

Self governance, conflict resolution and community - These are what I consider the “soft skills” of resilience. While a bit more abstract, they are perhaps the most important. All the previously mentioned projects would not be nearly as impactful, or achievable, without a community to carry them out. So many of the challenges ahead will require us to work cooperatively with those around us, and even reimagine the economic and social structures that shape our lives, as the ones we’ve inherited are not serving many of our needs. This is a huge part of what we’re doing at Dancing Rabbit. The fact that we are able to govern ourselves, address and resolve our conflicts, and generally take charge over our collective wellbeing is absolutely crucial in the face of shifting environmental, economic, and societal conditions. As the great anthropologist, David Graeber, said: “The ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently.” This simple yet profound realization has contributed, in no small measure, to my decision to pursue a life in a radically ecological community. It’s important to keep in mind, when we’re faced with systems that are ill adapted to our present moment, that we CAN create something different, but not alone.

In community,

Eric Mease

Villager // Land Steward // Development Lead
Center for Sustainable and Cooperative Culture at