March activities at Strawbale Studio 2017

March Activities List. ~ under construction.  Yet to come, pictures and narrative. 

Office & Organization

  • Site  and Buildings ~ organizing goals with Jared Bogdonov-Hannah
  • Taxes ~ Deanne dorks with accountant and tax person.
  • Data Entry

Repair

  • buy and replace fluorescent tubes in utility room and west wing closet
  • buy and replace LED bulbs in East Wing main room (Cassidy)
  • Wash windows and screens in East Wing
  • East Wing, dust, sweep, bathroom, clean.
  • Start repair of Buried Boat Root Cellar.

Buy

  • Chain Saw safety gear kit
  • light bulbs

Orientation

  • to land, structures, recycling systems, materials, food, worktrade, schedule.

Community Connections

  • Earth Day !    Helpers:  Cassidy, Alice, Peter, Charlie, Pat, Jared, Jug, Johnnie, Sarah.
    • Fire up and cook in Traveling Turtle Earth Oven
    • Strawbale Climbing Pyramid.  Construct, maintain, disassemble.
    • Cob Sculpting with kids ~  Ecovillage and free-form
    • Prepare materials, Set up, pack up, make kits for next time.
  • Full Moon Potluck and Bonfire
  • Harvest eggs at East River Farm, meet Les & Elizabeth
  • Health: Yoga Class – attend at Hamsa Yoga, Lake Orion. Meet folks from the Potluck.  Deanne gets massage from Amy, goes to Chiropractor 🙂
  • Permaculture Meetup ~ attend at Gardener Walsh Greenhouse in Pontiac, MI. Learning Session: Seed Starting

Visitors

  • Dimitri from Natures Pace
  • Peter from Holland, MI (Cassidy’s friend)
  • Emily ( Cassidy’s Aunt)
  • Charlie from Ann Arbor, MI ( Alice’s friend)
  • Helpers:  above + Earth Day folks

Earth

  • Testing, hand texts, cookie, shake test
  • Sift, mix, and apply earth plasters
  • Make Cob Bricks, test finish plasters.
  • Insta Cob Kit
  • Starch Paste for Finish Plasters, Adhesion Coat

Thatching

  • Classroom, Demo, Hands-on, Video
  • Harvest Reed from local field.  Bundle, bring home, stack, use in demo.

Round Pole Framing

  • Classroom, Demo, Hands-on

Sustainable Earth Skills

  • Sourdough wraps ~  mix, ferment, cook
  • Shiitake Mushrooms ~ soak innoculated logs, harvest, cook!
  • Sourdough as a glue for ceramic and other.
  • Whittling skills for carving wooden knives and spoons
  • Foraging Class for intern and public with Kelly
  • Make Soaked Flax Crackers in dehydrator
  • Worm Composting ~ process worm tray, removing castings, set up and use.
  • Plants: Seedling starts ~  mix soil, water and lights.  Hops plants:  dig and move to a open-bottom bucket to Hobbit Sauna.  Vines will be trained on poles for a Hops Hill.

Classroom Learning Sessions

  • Foundations, Site and water.
  • Round Pole Framing
  • Wall Systems
  • Thatching + Vide0
  • Composting
  • Materials Continuum
  • Video: Building Codes for a Small Planet

Not done / finished

  • Kombucha
  • buried boat root cellar