The great chicken migration

Good news- the coop is done! Confident in the security of our structure, today we moved our 11 assorted bantams into the chicken coop amid much fanfare. The next few weeks will be a test of the chickens' hardiness and the coop's integrity. Enjoy the pictures- and stay tuned for some statements from the students themselves.

Smartshed 3000.C

Some news from Buxton Gardens...

This year's Environmental Studies class is working on a big project to bring chickens back to Buxton. The students worked out an approved budget, planned a chicken-care program and scoped out a location for the coop. With the help of Mike and his crew, we moved the old Turkey Hutch from its location (in a swamp) near the theater to a spot closer to the center of campus. Here are a few video clips of the coop getting winched into position. (Note the dilapidated condition of the structure.)




The coop was in poor condition, so the class has been helping to fix it up and build an adjoining chicken run. Here are some photos of the process.



Meanwhile, the students in my Biology class are getting its hands dirty planting this year's organic garden. We started with seedlings planted indoors in the Bio Lab, and have recently moved some plants outside, betting against frost. Here is a video of the process involved in making the paper planters we manufactured ourselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6oBD47zlWk

The past week has been super nice in the weather department, and so we've spent lots of time outside planting and weeding the garden. We've got corn and sunflowers in cold frames, peas and onions and a few cabbages planted, and some leggy beans that may or may not survive... only time will tell. Meanwhile, the inexorable, grinding, molecular process of photosynthesis drives the growth of our little plantlings.



(Pablo joined us on that day and sniffed up some dandelions)

Building the wall

It has been a while since our last post, so I thought I'd give an update. This July, a Buxton grad joined me for a week to work in the garden and help me build the toolshed. Rachel and I mixed our first few batches of mortar by hand in a wheelbarrow, then delivered the mix to the site for building. It was a laborious process, but oddly satisfying when the right mix was obtained. We then began to stack layers of cordwood, surrounded by mortar strips of approximately 2-3 inches in thickness. Selection of cordwood pieces was a bit like working with a giant, heavy puzzle. The mortar was a bit crumbly in texture, which meant that it cured very strong but also was tricky to work into place. We ended up forgoing a careful pointing job; instead using our hands to smooth the inner and outer surfaces of the mortar. The result is a 3-4 foot wall which still stands waiting for further growth.

Today was mostly a work day. We spent a lot of our time working on peelng bark off of trees. About half way through, Will asked David and I to carry a long log from where we had cut it down to the smart shed site. Then once we got there, he asked us to remeasure the area so that we could make sure we were using all of its space. It turns out, we could stretch it out a bit. So Will took on the job widening the circle, while David began to dig a hole for a cement block to hold the base of the shed out of the mud. While digging, we found out "3rd discovery," as Will called it. A bent blue pen. It wasn't much, but it is a treasure.

Friday wrap-up

On Friday the 23rd part of our class (approx 3) took some time out and gave Chris Kilfoyle of Berkshire Photovoltaic a call. We asked permission to place him on speaker and conference with him; all 3 of us and him. Our primary goal was to gain more knowledge about solar power/panels. Thankfully for us, he knew lots about solar power. To start out he gave us some building tips about some fees that might arise in building, including a $200 wiring permit. Along with some logistics, he provided us with a website which enables cheap solar panel purchase. www.NewEnglandSolar.com
Moreover, we took the remainder of the class period to continue the preliminary work on the shed. We're still in very early stages of work which means there's tons we can do. We continued the clearing of the site which meant clearing brush, digging up top-soil, hauling clay rich gravel to the site, and taking a ton of notes, documenting every piece of our work in progress.

Post By Cooper

Day 2

After entering Environmental Studies Will Miller announced that we would be calling Craig Robertson, an independent building contractor, hearing that he had experience with solar panels. After dialing him I had to pass off the journal to Rubia because I was seemingly incapable of keeping up with the "fast paced" conversation that ensued. To our surprise Craig Robertson did NOT actually work with solar panels, but in fact worked with solar water heating. After clearing up this small miscommunication Craig was kind enough to point us in the right direction telling us to call Chris Kilfoyle who actually worked with solar electricity and the like at, Berkshire Photovoltaic Services. He told us about a cheaper version of solar panels which are thin films of photovoltaic which can be attached to our roof; along with loopholes about building structures on campus negating the need for a building permit. Our shed is now classified as a "temporary structure" which may very well be true if it Somehow doesn't hold together. We thanked him for his time then headed outside to do some awesome physical labor.

The felled log from day prior was hoisted by every available member (except for the photographer) and moved over to the build site. We then followed this up by having the class split into two groups, one group bringing over the rest of the log, the other clearing brush.
The next thirty minutes were spent getting thorns in my epidermis, chopping down an invasive species of rose bush, pulling up roots, chewing mint leaves, and dragging brush into a discard pile. A pretty productive day if you ask me.

Preparations

4/22/10: At 8:50 am we started a blog on Blogspot.com and started posting on the site with a draft of our first day's experiences. Everyone seems really excited and the Smart Shed ball is rolling fast. We started up again with brush clearing, taking out some invasive Multiflora rose brambles. The rose bush was no match for David Raines and Zach Mirling. Even though it was early, everyone worked hard and got a lot done today.

Post by Zach