The word change comes from the Latin, cambire, to exchange, and so this potentially abstract concept of growth and evolution can be understood as a mere conversion from one way of being to another. Change can be one of the most difficult things to actively initiate and requires a sustained passion and intention if any improvement is expected and as a human race we are in constant “grass is greener” mode, we are continuously craving betterment. As the Hostel in the Forest passes hands once again there is the renewed faith in the fact that the intentions to make change, to be change in the world continues and the lights that turn on in our minds will continue. Whether we choose to be ‘better’ for our selves, for our community, for a deity or for the recovery of our planet it is so simply obvious to notice the difference that this positive, creative choice makes. Whether the change be buying local produce, making intentional choices when buying, limiting energy use, refusing to use toxic chemicals to cleaning our homes, thrifting or just choosing to be aware and to educate ourselves and others the wave becomes greater and you become part of a superhero team that is doing rather than thinking, is creating rather than destroying. The Hostel is a catalyst for change and is in constant dynamic expansion as guests and staff move through and share knowledge and skill and leave, taking that creativity into the world. I say thank you, namaste and know that the Forest will always be with me. Faryn…

May the Forest Be With You

The Hostel Staff

How often do you buy fresh fruit or vegetables and where do you purchase/obtain fresh fruit and vegetables? These are just a couple of the questions on a Food Access Survey taken by the Savannah Local Food Collaborative which is a small collective of residents dedicated and passionate about providing access to fresh, local food.

From this sprouted the Forsyth Farmer’s Market and Teri Schell, a founding member visited us this weekend with her daughter. There was an exchange of creative crafts, from handbags made from old tshirts to Sockits®, adorable creatures made from socks or salvaged fabrics. We savored yummy gluten-free vegan meals as usual which included a garlic ice-cream made with coconut milk and a raisin, brazil nut paste as well as some vegan mac-and-cheez made with a decadent three nut pesto. Our Figs are coming in pretty late as the heat continues to beat down but otherwise we’re harvesting peppers, almost harvesting eggplants and are still harvesting okra. If you have any recipes for okra that we haven’t tried feel free to send them over. I guess this is what preserving is for…May the abundance of okra and . . .

May the Forest Be With You

The Hostel Staff

With chlorine and other unpronounceable three-letter anagrams flowing out of city faucets with our water I am proud to say that at the Hostel in the Forest we strive yet again to create a local source of quenching and cleaning from our own forest. This past week invited the construction sounds of a bustling city into the Forest but what came out was a 750 foot brand new well that will provide us with our much needed water source.

We said goodbye to two rock-star team members but not before sharing another spontaneous workshop on the wonders of fermentation. Matt, on exchange from Omaha, Nebraska, helped us get started on repairing our recycling alley and with that comes the requirement that guests that float through the forest be oh so mindful of the containers that they bring into the forest. Because everything that is brought in has to be taken out to be recycled we ask guests to take with them on leaving all that they have brought as well as some of the recycling that we produce here as we supply our kitchen.

When we buy we can make choices to refuse the extra plastic bag to carry onions, bananas (which already have their own protective, natural casing), we can buy in bulk and refuse the excessive amounts of plastic, we can refuse before we have to decide how to reuse. Teri Schell and her husband will be presenting this next weekend on Building a community food system in the nation of plenty and the artistic creations that can come out of using recycled materials. Until then,

May the Forest Be With You

The Hostel Staff

Our waxing week ended with howls to the full moon here at the Hostel after another incredible sweat lodge ceremony. Sunday was a day of pure celebration of the full moon, day out of time, Guru Purnima and a few birthdays too and as we commit to healing the earth rather than unconsciously destroying it there should be much to celebrate. We were able to get hold of some figs from a local farm this week and what a treat to crack open an eco-friendly, intentionally grown piece of fruit. These fruits, fresh harvested, can also be used to make home-made ferments like cider or blueberry wine.

A couple guests from New Orleans shared their home-made ferment with us just a little while ago and Alex shared his secrets on fermenting herbal teas. We currently have an airlock jumping like crazy as peppermint tea becomes a wine. We made mung bean injera this weekend with a millet and rice flour sourdough starter to keep things gluten-free and it is so wonderful playing with the plethora of grains and beans that can substitute the bleached white flour that fills market shelves. How did you save the world today? As you play with the wonders of the natural world.

May the Forest Be With You

The Hostel Staff

Where is the love Hostelites? Well, it has most definitely been in our garden and our Soul kitchen this week. We have been harvesting Pink Eyed Peas (terrible pun I know) all week and still have okra, tomatoes and pungent basil coming in. We have started playing with ferments again, harvesting the last of our garden’s cabbage for a kimchee with garlic, onions (garden fresh too), ginger and pepper. We made a sourdough pizza this weekend with a cashew creme cheez and sunflower basil pesto, me oh my and our newest troop member, dressing meister Alex is making a peppermint wine which we’ll be enjoying a couple of weeks thanks to this heat. We thought we’d have a week of fermentation to celebrate the magic of wild yeast and so starting tomorrow we’ll kick off with the peppermint wine, move into kombucha, a mead, sprouted grain bread, and whatever else our magical chefs can get their sparkling fingers around. We said goodbye to some family this week but said hello to a clear and expansive future of skill sharing and world healing.

May the Forest Be With You

The Hostel Staff

As the summer rolls in with a Georgian vengeance we find solace in the morning with a bell waking us for fresh herbal teas and for work in the garden. We have been harvesting cucumbers and speckled pink eyed peas daily but our heirloom tomatoes have taken a knock. Our compost pile has gotten to enjoy many of them after we marvel at their magnificent yellow plum hues. We tackled the bamboo this week as early in the morning as our bodies would allow and used some of the harvested stalks to make dream catchers. The rest will be used, once dried, as fencing and such as we make sure to utilize the resources that we can from the forest. One man’s invasive weed, is another man’s doorway or dinner even! We recycled and revamped used paper too this weekend making a pulpy mush with water in a blender and then straining it in a rectangle mold and letting it dry. It is great to stick leaves or pressed flowers onto the paper and even greater to send love letters to fellow peacemakers who live just a little too far away (saving electricity and giving the postman something to do so that our stamp prices stop rising). We look forward to Batik making and drum immersion workshops this month and continue to be inspired by the spirit of sustainability and creative evolution that passes through the forest.

May the Forest Be With You

The Hostel Staff

Happy days, birthdays and summer days, independence days and abundance days. We waved our green, white and brown colors proudly this July 4th celebrating our 35th year of life here in the forest. Our morning began in silence until midday where we gathered around the fire pit and shared the intention to live with peace while connecting and projecting this rainbow around the world. Other ways that peace has shone here in the forest this week is in the sharing of knowledge which is an integral part of every day in the forest. We had basket fulls of chantarelle mushrooms arrive, foraged from a forest nearby and while those were being sauteed up with a bunch of our garden’s garlic, colbert, one of their discoverers led some brave staff and guests on a forest walk pointing out the do’s and don’ts when it comes to wild edible plants.

Our vegan baking workshop week was as much of a success as our willing bellies could handle. All of our treats used flax as an egg substitute and non-dairy milks and we got to enjoy Banana Bread, Granola Bars, Fresh-picked blueberry cobbler, Carrot cake mmm, and raw (you betcha) flax crackers. Whether we take on a vegan, local or conscious omnivore diet, whether we choose to use CFL’s in our homes, whether we ride a bicycle or carpool, whether we begin our mornings with yoga to bring our mind in to a relaxed state of peace or whether we take re-usable bags when heading out to get groceries every conscious chose for improvement that we make is an improvement. We make these choices so that for another 35 years we can enjoy our forests and our water and our seasons together.

May the Forest Be With You

The Hostel Staff

Didn’t think pantyhose were versatile? Shoulda been here this weekend. From poi spinning to soy milk straining, that nylon/spandex sheerness was busy and in the meantime I found the best homemade soymilk recipe I’ve ever tried. The dry beans were soaked overnight and drained (these measurements are for 1 cup of dry beans). They were then thrown into a pot of vigorously boiling water (4 cups) and baking soda (1tsp). After 5 minutes of blanching we rinsed the beans with hot water and threw them for another 5 minutes into another pot of boiling water and baking soda. Rinsed again. We then put the beans in a blender with 5 cups of very hot water and blended for 3 minutes to get a silky smooth, mushy liquid. We strained this through the pantyhose (you can use nut bag, cheese cloth or even a pillowcase) and then stirred vanilla and cinnamon into the liquid on a low heat. The leftover soy guts (okara) can be used for all sorts of goodies like okara veggie burgers or in quick breads. yum! Pantyhose aside we’ve had an electric week in the forest. Lots of afternoon showers, crackling lightning and puddles. Here we come summer.

May the Forest Be With You

The Hostel Staff

This weekend was a celebration of Dad, the creative force that brought us into the world. At the same time we celebrate our mother earth who is experiencing the longest days in the year as the northern hemisphere rides through the solstice of summer. Our secret garden is busting at the seams as we harvest homegrown, love-filled veggies daily. We have the largest cukes i’ve ever seen, the yellowest squash, onions, okra, corn waiting in the wings, watermelon peeking through under lush leaves, edamame pods ready for steaming and salting, tomatoes too green but toppling, and garlic garlic garlic.

With the understanding of the revolution in growing food and watching the magic of a seed becoming such nutritious and magnificent fruit it is a blessing to produce meals at the hostel with food that has traveled just a few hundred yards to the table, not the average two thousand miles from farms we don’t know the names of. We also know all the ingredients that have aided the plant’s growth and have watched every step of the plant’s life. Whether you are growing food on a plot in your back yard, in a community garden, or in a pot on your apartment window ledge it is wonderful to enjoy the rewards of your personal labor and tendering and I can say happy chomping.

May the Forest Be With You

The Hostel Staff

Though the oily letters B and P have become rather unpopular round this forest there seems to be a lot of hope in the letters L-O-V-E. Though the heat of the summer continues to lazy the afternoons we are living the effects of compassion and positivity at the hostel. Whether it’s a conversation with a stranger that immediately feels like family or the sudden influx of helpers in the kitchen just when dinner crunch time rolls in, it is clear that this space offers a fantastic opportunity to share knowledge and ideas about how we can personally affect change.

The Hostel in the Forest is many things for many people but one thing that I hope remains constant, as the prices of oil go up and down, is that this is a center at which powerful ideas can be spawned, solid relationships can be established, resolutions can be realized and a continuous effort remains to better, to improve quality of life by becoming more responsible for our own happiness, wellbeing, health and that of the earth which gives us our breath.

May the Forest Be With You

The Hostel Staff

Happy days Hostelites. This week was filled with champagne explosions, candlelit dinners, sweltering days and lots of oms. We had a few days hammering free as Handyman Ryan headed up to the Deer Isle Hostel on Monday for the summer. Tuesday we got to celebrate Mama Faryn’s birthday with an exquisite dinner celebration followed by an incredible circle of singing and laughing in the new dome. We have been beginning our mornings with a Yoga class led by miss Jesse and sneaking away to the blueberry brier afterward for a fresh-picked snack of the bulging berries which are almost ready for harvesting by the bucketfuls. Duff Duff and Marissa from Atlanta gave a cosmic pants making workshop with all the recycled fabric that we tie-dyed. Little flowers are emerging in our secret garden from the zucchinis and pole beans and we have edamame hanging off their stems which look like they’re almost ready for some steaming and some salt. Our corn is standing tall, our tomato bushes are green and vivacious, the garlic has been harvested and is reekingly aerating and our onions are popping out of the ground slowly but surely. We had some beautiful bikers ride through this week: Sheila Dhand is biking for immigrant justice and you can follow her journey here. . May the safe and expansive journey be well.

May the Forest Be With You

The Hostel Staff

Happy Memorial day: in honor of those fighting for peace too. This week was full of celebration and rebirth. Though we said a sighing sad goodbye to our magical kitchen manager, jon-athan, who is embarking to stir his blessings into pots in Eastern Europe, we welcomed four former managers including Mr Papillon whose birthday we got to celebrate. Hey Ho Geminis. We unfortunately didnt get to throw Poppy in the pool which was in the process of being cleaned but the weekend swimming and laughing payed off as we enjoyed the bounty of the sparkling swimming water. After being donated a large box of an array of apples and bananas we decided we’d opt for a week of banana bread but juiced the apples and began a spontaneous hard cider. Thursday evening’s full moon brought our sweat lodge ceremony which ended late in the evening as we exited the lodge stripped and purified at the height of the lunar rising. On Sunday Yedelka Tavera from Miami gave a watercolor workshop in the Glass House discussing the spectrum of color and the creative outlet of painting with this medium. Four Chickens arrived Sunday evening cunningly packaged in KFC containers by Mark, our Chicken Guy and his lovely daughter Alice. We have two spanking new araucanas (looking forward to green eggs and spam) and two marans in their home sweet forest home.Our sweat lodge has been rebuilt, the gardenia’s are intoxicating, the yellow flies linger and the forest is bustling with helpful hands and wise spirits.

May the Forest Be With You

The Hostel Staff

Namasté Hostelites. As we still wait for any sign of rain we wrapped up a week of much relaxation, healing and mental and physical stimulation. Our minds and tastes were taken on a spell by Miss Sally from Eureka, Montana who whipped out her chocolate tempering machine after dinner and showed us how to make sugar-free, vegan chocolate elixirs with a base of cocoa liquor (the cocoa butter and nibs). To make them sugar free she uses a coupling of stevia powder and stevia extract and some other secrets I am probably not obliged to share but yum and I don’t think we were able to get to sleep very easily that night.

The weekend brought yogis from far and near to take part in a yoga retreat filled with a NIA class let by Dragana Zappia, a Yin Yoga class led by Lynne from the Yoga Co-op Savannah (kinda like Shivasana), a Luminary Labyrinth walk, a Tai Chi class led by a Nateo and Mike and scrumptious ayurvedic and macrobiotic food which recharged us. We had a sushi making workshop the results of which we enjoyed on Friday night and a vegan raw chocolate presentation by Lindsey from Asheville’s yummy ULIManna to wrap up our Re-Treat.

Om Tat Sat.

May the Forest Be With You

The Hostel Staff

The airs of freedom permeated the forest this week. Our home-brew chicks had their first unaccompanied, unpenned play time in their adorable, chirpy fluffiness. The star ship galactic dome had all scaffolding removed after a week of frenzied shingling and a sad goodbye to the wondrous Dennis Carter from beautiful Deer Isle Maine. The dome will be a phenomenal space for workshopping and education on all things green and ecologically responsible. The summer garden is in after a week of much sweat and mulching thanks to a Zak H Stern who whimsied through on his way up north. He also held a bread and croissant making workshop for all those gluten-enthusiasts the bounties of which were enjoyed all week and weekend. His skills come all the way from Tuscany, Italy where he has spent the last few months as a resident baker on an eco-village villa. Saturday night had us stepping to the dub as a Dj’s Brandon and James spun their wares in the common room. We wait for rain and for the weekend approaching which will bring Yogi’s from far and near for our Yoga Retreat Weekend for which a couple more spots are open. Until then

May the Forest Be With You

The Hostel Staff

May rolled in after a week of much cycling of birth and renewal at the Hostel in the Forest. The full moon brought the monthly sweat lodge ceremony which was wonderfully purifying and renewing. The Barefoot Natives, a threesome of spunky British musicians strummed through and gave a folky fireside performance. Guitars were passed around and guests and staff were soon harmonizing. Jon-Dear has been baking incredible breads with a gluten-free sourdough starter made with flour ground by our, mostly his, very hands in our very own Soul Kitchen.

As the magnificence of the fireflies arrived to grace our nights we said goodbye to Chicken Shamama Amanda, Scatologist K-lyn and Winter’s Kitchen Manager Chuckles as they embarked on a Truth Love and Free Food Tour: “traveling up the east coast via sweet Chariot Bethany the RV; visiting rad communities, communes, farms, ashrams, friends and families.” On the horizon is our Yoga Retreat Weekend May 21-23 as well as a spontaneously-planned bread making workshop the weekend of May 14. Former manager and current artisan bread baker in Tuscany, Italy, Zak H Stern, will be demonstrating how to bake sourdough hearth bread in a conventional home oven. Learn how to create, maintain, and use a wild yeast starter to rise your home baked bread. May the breath always flow, may the bread always rise and . . .

May the Forest Be With You

The Hostel Staff