This Report contains Workshops & Activities, Intern, Projects, Media, Guest Visitors & Teachers, Donors !
| # of folks | 2017 WORKSHOPS & ACTIVITIES | 2017 Natural Cottage Project SLIDESHOW | 2017 PHOTO SLIDESHOW ! | ||
| 6 | January 14 & 15, 2017 | Thatching & Reed Collection | Deanne Bednar | Instructor | Class for Wintern and thePublic |
| 3 | January 21 & 22, 2017 | Round Pole Framing Basics | Deanne Bednar | Instructor | Class for Wintern and thePublic |
| 5 | January 28 & 29, 2017 | FIRE ! Rocket Stove & Earth Oven | Deanne Bednar | Instructor | Class for Wintern and thePublic |
| 0 | February 4 & 5, 2017 | Earth Plaster & Sculpting | cancelled | Instructor ill ! | |
| February 28, 2017 | February Strawbale Studio Newsletter | ||||
| 50 | March 17, 2017 | Unitarian Universalist Church of Farmington ~ Presentation | Deanne Bednar | Slideshow/presentation at the church | Co-creating with Earth ~ Wholly Connected. |
| 7 | March 21, 2017 | Grand Valley Organic Farm – Rocket Stove workshop | |||
| 10 | April 10-15, 2017 | Artist in Residence ~ Michigan State U. Residential College of Arts & Humanities | Deanne Bednar guest at MSU | Assist Steve Baibaks art class: | Found Materials Class & Peckham services. |
| 9 | April 16, 2017 | Joy of Foraging Class | Deanne Bednar | Kelly Theide | Instructors |
| 237 | April 21-23, 2017 | Earth Day Fest | 37 sign ins, 100,s visited & hands-on. | ||
| May 10, 2017 | Full Moon Potluck + Permaculture Meetup | ||||
| 24 | May 11, 2017 | Waldorf School – 3rd grade fieldtrip to SBS | Linda Williams | is their teacher | 20 students, 5 adults |
| May 13, 2017 | Agro-Forest Permablitz | Jared | Bogdonov-Hanna | Guest Instructor | |
| + Pizza in the Earth Oven | |||||
| 10 | May 14, 2017 | Foraged Brunch (see the VIDEO) | Deanne Bednar | Kelly Theide | Guest Instructor |
| 5 | May 17, 2017 | Baker College – Interior Design Class visit | Deanne Bednar | Instructor | Tour and Hands-on |
| May 28 | Family Adventure Day | individual family | attended | ||
| 19 | May 29 | Biochare | |||
| 12 | June 12, 2017 | Oakland University Permauclture Class | |||
| June – October, 2017 | Finishing Structures at Strawbale Studio | See details below | DB + 2017 intern | Strawbale Studio, Hobbit Sauna, ID Cabin, Kids Cottage, | |
| June & July 2017 | Kensington Kids Cottage Restoration | Blair S & Cindy B. | Paul B. & Emily G-B | plasters & sculpt some walls, patch & oil bench | |
| 17 | July 1-9, 2017 | 9 Day Natural Building SKILL BUILDER | Deanne Bednar | Chris McClellan | Instructors |
| July 7, 2017 | Christian Smith, Neighborwood presentation for the July Intensive. | Designs for an evolving Ecovillage | Land located by Ann Arbor, MI | ||
| 19 | July 29, 2017 | Bio Char Workshop – class & hands-on | |||
| 2 | August 1, 2017 | Volunteer Day 🙂 | Krisi Holmstrom & Steve Bean |
Living in Ann Arbor, heating with wood. | Chickens, permaculture ! |
| 122 | August 27, 2017 | Exhibit / Demo at Eastern Market | 22 sign in 100+ view /participate | Deanne Bednar | for the Jewish Food Fest |
| Interns – exhibit table, cob demo + | Paul Beaudet, | Tanya Meftah | Emily Gaudreau-Brown | ||
| August 28, 2017 | BioChar Workshop | Karl & Gaylin | Kaufmann | Guest Instructors | |
| 12 | September 11-15, 2017 | Artist in Residence ~ Michigan State U. Residential College of Arts & Humanities | Deanne Bednar | Support a natural building project. | For the Found Materials art class taught by Steve Baibak |
| 32 | September 23, 2017 | Strawbale Studio 20th Celebration | Deanne Bednar | Intern and Friends | A wonderful gathering of friends, old and new |
| 10 | October 24, 2017 | Baker College, Interior Design Class. Fieldtrip to Strawbale Studio | Deanne Bednar | Tour and Hands-on. | Ann Jacobs, Design Instructor at Baker College |
| 80 | October 27-29, 2017 | Great Lake BIONEERS Detroit | Deanne Bednar | Co-Presenter | at Marygrove College, Detroit |
| 20 | October 24, 2017 | Exhibit Table – hosted by Interns | Paul Beaudet | Mathew McCoul | 20 sign-ins. 80+ viewed table |
| 18 | Co-presenters of a Learnshop | Greg Crawford | Maina Petre | Retrofit with Natural Materials. | |
| 24 | November 8, 2017 | Detroit Waldorf School ~ 3rd Grade visit | Deanne Bednar | Tour & Hands-on | Ben Lindstrom, teacher of 20 students + 5 adults. |
| 2 | December 2017 | Childrens Natural Building. Planning for 2018 Project in Elkhart Indiana | Deanne Bednar, Tyler Schaeffer | WellField Gardens Coordinator: Josh Steffen | Teach a class using various wall systems on a Childrens’ Tool Shed at the Wellfield Gardens |
| 20 | December 6, 2017 | GLEA – Zoom Slideshow presentation | Deanne Bednar | Building with local, natural materials | Great Lakes Environmental Alliance |
| 7 | December 9, 2017 | Candle-Making & Holiday Gifts class | Deanne Bednar | Instructor | |
| 10 | December 10, 2017 | Candle-Making & Holiday Gifts Class | Deanne Bednar | Instructor |
| 2017 INTERN & Worktraders included 17 fine folks ! | CATAGORY . Intern, 1/2 Pay Worktrade. WWoof (worktrader) | HOMETOWN | ||
| Jan 14 – 19, 2017 | WWOOF | Sonnie | Noergaar | No Winternship. Db ill. |
| Feb 6 – 12, 2017 | Volunteer | Emerson | Schreiner | Grand Rapids, Sand Sculpture |
| April 10th to 23rd. | WWOOF | Alice | Wenham | Michigan, traveling the Americas |
| APRIL 1-30, 2017 | WWOOF | Cassidy | Stock | Holland, Michigan, USA |
| MAY 1-30, 2017 | 1/2pay WKTD | Archer | Greenhalgh | Vermont, USA |
| MAY 1-30, 2017 | wwoof | Alex | Heubel | Northville Michigan, USA |
| MAY 1-30, 2017 | 1/2pay WKTR | Andy | Bologovsky | Montvale, New Jersey, USA |
| May 22 – June 8, 2017 | 1/2 pay wktr | Madi | Gaebler | Beloit, Wisconsin, USA |
| JUNE 1 – JULY 30, 2017 | Essentials Class + WWOOF | Blair | Schneck | San Francisco, California USA |
| JUNE 1-30 | WWOOF | Cindy | Breedveld | Michigan, USA traveling. |
| JUNE 29-30,2017 | July Essentials Course & Wwoof | Dominic | Gomez | Dearborn, Michigan, USA |
| JULY 1-25, 2017 | July Essentials Course & Wwoof | Dominic | Gomez | Dearborn, Michigan, USA |
| JULY 10-30, 2017 | 1/2 pay wktr | Madi | Gaebler | Beloit, WI |
| AUGUST 1-7, 2017 | 1/2 pay wktr | Madi | Gaebler | Beloit, WI |
| AUG 15-30, 2017 | INTERN | Emily | Gaudreau-Brown | Ontario Canada |
| AUG 2-30, 2017 | Wwoof | Paul | Beaudet | Brighton, Michigan, USA |
| SEPT. 1-15, 2017 | INTERN | Emily | Gaudreau-Brown | Ontario Canada |
| SEPT 1-30, 2017 | Wwoof | Paul | Beaudet | Brighton, Michigan, USA |
| SEPT 1-30, 2017 | Wwoof | Mathew | McCoul | Burville, Michigan, USA |
| SEPT 24-30, 2017 | Wwoof | Mary Beth | Stanton | Chicago, Illinois, USA |
| SEPT 10-30 | Wwoof | Shelby | Harris | Traverse City, MI |
| SEPT 14-30, 2017 | Wwoof | Davin | Schaefer | Pennsylvania, USA |
| SEPT 14-27, 2017 | Wwoof | Tyler | Schaefer | |
| Oct 1-30, 2017 | Wwoof | Paul | Beaudet | see above |
| SEPT 1-30, 2017 | Wwoof | Mathew | McCoul | Burville, Michigan, USA |
| Nov 1-30, 2017 | Wwoof | Paul | Beaudet | see above |
| Dec 1-4, 2017 | Wwoof | Paul | Beaudet | see above |
| # of folks | Activity | Details | |||
| 2017 WORKSHOPS & ACTIVITIES | https://strawbalestudio.org/2017/01/15/4877/ | Thatching | Thatching & Reed Collection | ||
| 6 | January 14 & 15, 2017 | Thatching & Reed Collection. Link above. | Deanne Bednar | Instructor | Class for Wintern and thePublic |
| 3 | January 21 & 22, 2017 | Round Pole Framing Basics | Deanne Bednar | Instructor | Class for Wintern and thePublic |
| 5 | January 28 & 29, 2017 | FIRE ! Rocket Stove & Earth Oven | Deanne Bednar | Instructor | Class for Wintern and thePublic |
| 0 | February 4 & 5, 2017 | Earth Plaster & Sculpting | cancelled – illness | ||
| February 28, 2017 | February Strawbale Studio Newsletter | Deanne Bednar | |||
| 50 | March 17, 2017 | Unitarian Universalist Church of Farmington ~ Presentation | Deanne Bednar | Slideshow/presentation at the church | Co-creating with Earth ~ Wholly Connected. |
| 7 | March 21, 2017 | At Grand Valley College: Rocket Stove workshop / slideshow by Deanne Bednar | Sarah Lucas Chatterley | Graduate Assistant Sustainable Ag Project |
Youssef Darwich Farm Manager |
| 10 | April 10-15, 2017 | Artist in Residence ~ Michigan State U. Residential College of Arts & Humanities | Deanne Bednar guest at MSU | Assist Steve Baibaks art class: | Found Materials Class & Peckham services. |
| 9 | April 16, 2017 | Joy of Foraging Class | Deanne Bednar | Kelly Theide | Instructors |
| 50 | April 22, 2017 | Huron Valley Earth Day ~ SBS exhibit table | Tanya Metfah | hosted table | 17 sign ins, many visitors. |
| 237 | April 21-23, 2017 | MI Earth Day Fest ~ Rochester, MI | exhibit / activities | 37 sign ins | 100,s visited & hands-on. |
| 5 | March 1-30, 2017 | May Internship – Boat Launch & Bench ! | Worktraders | The A Team + Madi | |
| 55 | May 10, 2017 | Full Moon Potluck + Permaculture Meetup | hosted at | Strawbale Studio | 49 sign ins. |
| 24 | May 11, 2017 | Waldorf School – 3rd grade fieldtrip to SBS | Linda Williams | is their teacher | 20 students, 5 adults |
| 8 | May 13, 2017 | Agro-Forest Permablitz | Jared | Bogdonov-Hanna | Guest Instructor |
| + Pizza in the Earth Oven | |||||
| 10 | May 14, 2017 | Foraged Brunch (see the VIDEO) | Deanne Bednar | Kelly Theide | Guest Instructor |
| 5 | May 17, 2017 | Baker College – Interior Design Class visit | Deanne Bednar | Instructor | Tour and Hands-on |
| May 28 | Family Adventure Day | individual family | attended | ||
| 19 | May 29 | Biochar Workshop | Karl Kaufman | Gaylin Kaufman | Instructors |
| 12 | June 12, 2017 | Oakland University Permaculture Class | Jared Bogdonov-Hanna | Fay Hanson | Deanne Bednar tour & activity |
| June – October, 2017 | Finishing Structures at Strawbale Studio | See details below | DB + 2017 intern | Strawbale Studio, Hobbit Sauna, ID Cabin, Kids Cottage, | |
| June & July 2017 | Kensington Kids Cottage Restoration | Blair S & Cindy B. | Paul B. & Emily G-B | plasters & sculpt some walls, patch & oil bench | |
| 17 | July 1-9, 2017 | 9 Day Natural Building SKILL BUILDER | Deanne Bednar | Chris McClellan | Instructors |
| July 7, 2017 | Christian Smith, Neighborwood presentation for the July Intensive. | Designs for an evolving Ecovillage | Land located by Ann Arbor, MI | ||
| 19 | July 29, 2017 | Bio Char Workshop – class & hands-on | Karl Kaufman | Gaylin Kaufman | Instructors |
| 2 | August 1, 2017 | Volunteer Day 🙂 | Krisi Holmstrom & Steve Bean |
Living in Ann Arbor, heating with wood. | Chickens, permaculture ! |
| 122 | August 27, 2017 | Exhibit / Demo at Eastern Market | 22 sign in 100+ view /participate | Deanne Bednar | for the Jewish Food Fest |
| Interns – exhibit table, cob demo + | Paul Beaudet, | Tanya Meftah | Emily Gaudreau-Brown | ||
| August 28, 2017 | BioChar Workshop | Karl & Gaylin | Kaufmann | Guest Instructors | |
| 12 | September 11-15, 2017 | Artist in Residence ~ Michigan State U. Residential College of Arts & Humanities | Deanne Bednar | Support a natural building project. | For the Found Materials art class taught by Steve Baibak |
| 32 | September 23, 2017 | Strawbale Studio 20th Celebration | Deanne Bednar | Intern and Friends | A wonderful gathering of friends, old and new |
| 10 | October 24, 2017 | Baker College, Interior Design Class. Fieldtrip to Strawbale Studio | Deanne Bednar | Tour and Hands-on. | Ann Jacobs, Design Instructor at Baker College |
| 80 | October 27-29, 2017 | Great Lake BIONEERS Detroit | Deanne Bednar | Co-Presenter | at Marygrove College, Detroit |
| 20 | October 24, 2017 | Exhibit Table – hosted by Interns | Paul Beaudet | Mathew McCoul | 20 sign-ins. 80+ viewed table |
| 18 | Co-presenters of a Learnshop | Greg Crawford | Maina Petre | Retrofit with Natural Materials. | |
| 24 | November 8, 2017 | Detroit Waldorf School ~ 3rd Grade visit | Deanne Bednar | Tour & Hands-on | Ben Lindstrom, teacher of 20 students + 5 adults. |
| 2 | December 2017 | Childrens Natural Building. Planning for 2018 Project in Elkhart Indiana | Deanne Bednar, Tyler Schaeffer | WellField Gardens Coordinator: Josh Steffen | Teach a class using various wall systems on a Childrens’ Tool Shed at the Wellfield Gardens |
| 20 | December 6, 2017 | GLEA – Zoom Slideshow presentation | Deanne Bednar | Building with local, natural materials | Great Lakes Environmental Alliance |
| 7 | December 9, 2017 | Candle-Making & Holiday Gifts class | Deanne Bednar | Instructor | |
| 10 | December 10, 2017 | Candle-Making & Holiday Gifts Class | Deanne Bednar | Instructor | |
| 910 | TOTAL | ||||
| GUEST INSTRUCTORS, Kelly Theide, Jared Bogdonov-Hanna, Micah Lindquist, Karl & Gaylin Kaufman. Tyler & Davin Schaeffer. Co-presenters Greg Crawford & Maina Peitre. Assistants Tanya Meftah and others ! |
| BUILDING PROJECTS | ||||
| New Boat Launch is built at the swamp by the May “A-Team + Madi” | Initiated by Andy Bologovsky and built by the May Interns ~ includes a Lime plastered Bench, Fire Pit & Boat Slip and stone bench. | Awesome addition to the land. | ||
| The Flying Toad (aka Identity Cabin) | This new structure includes curvy logs & benches, new strawbale walls, earth plasters & bottle window and living roof The porch addition was constructed by the July 9-Day Natural Building Essentials Course | Interns built the walls, plasters, benches & details including a lashed ladder to the green roof! | ||
| Oxford Kids Cottage Ridge | The “Oak & Oat” ridge of straw & wood was finished on the thatched roof. | Tyler Schaeffer championed this project. | ||
| Oxford Kids Cottage Door & Pipes | A new beautiful arched door was built and installed, the Rocket Stove pipe in and stabalized, and windows are under construction. | Gene Vilenni is building the windows & doors ! | Gene stabalized the Rocket Stove exterior pipes. | |
| Spiral Chamber revival ! | Renewal ! Wattle & Daub Walls removed, support posts replaced and stabilized and ready for a new wall system in 2018! | Thanks to Matt, Spencer, Paul, Shelby + | ||
| Rumford Fireplace & wood box | The fireplace in “my cabin” recieved finish plasters and sculpting. An old trunk was made | into a wood box with leather hinges. | ||
| Open Pole Barn re-organization ! | Lots of improvements in storage ! Wow. Roof fixed New shelves in, bricks & wood organized, lots of sorting, consolidation, recycling. | Thanks to Paul & Matt | ||
| Things Fixed ! | Bathtub pipes fixed, bathroom sink leak fixed ! Kitchen door replaced from Habitat for Humanity. Freezer decommissioned. | Kitchen organized, faucet replaced & dishwasher out! | Special thanks to Andy Bologovsky & Paul Beaudet ! | |
| New Strawbalestudio.org website created | A website re-do & software upgrade. Thanks to Archer Greenhalgh ! | |||
| MEDIA | 2017 Natural Cottage Project | Thatching with phragmites discussed in Port Huron | MI Earth Day Fest, Rochester | WWOOF USA |
| Co-Creating with Earth – Wholly Connected | ||||
| 2017 RESKILLING PROJECTS | ||||
| Tadelakt – lime plaster finish | Emily Gaudreau-Brown & Paul Beaudet “tadylakted” the bathroom sink surround for my birthday. Beautiful ! | traditional polished water-proof finish. | ||
| Apple harvesting from the land. | So much collecting, dehydrating & being creative with apples in all sorts of food!! | Thanks especially to Paul Beaudet | ||
| Charging Bio-Char with urine. | This natural nitrogen source turns charcoal to a soil amendment ! | |||
| Black Ash Basket-Making | A black ash log was soaked in the swamp & pounded to peel off strips of wood for start-to-finish basket-making ! | Great Lakes Traditional Arts Gathering | Tyler & Davin Schaeffer from Pennsylvania | Instructors |
| Wood Projects | Matt McCoul & Paul championed the cutting dead trees on the land, and processing them. Lots of wood carving going on ! | Spoon carving, chopsticks + eating bowl | Many interns tried their hand at carving. | Paul Beaudet created many many items, including a bowl, door handles + |
| Bucking Saw Horse | Built of local round poles for cross-cutting logs. Tyler led the way with by building the bucking horse. | 2-person buck saw, tylers, was used to cut .. | ..downed trees into sections for benches, projects & firewood. | |
| Freezer shut down | Energy Efficiency improvement ! There is still a combination refrigerator/freezer, but the extra freezer is empty and off ! | |||
| Mushroom production + forage | Innoculated Shiitake logs are still producing after soaking. Foraged ‘shrooms: Dryads Saddle, Morel, Turkey Tail, Velvet Foot | |||
| Food experiments ! | LOTS ! Kimchi of all sorts ! Sourdough wraps with creative additions ! More !! | |||
| Kitchen improvements | Dishwasher out, storage shelfs in. Several cupboard cleared out, simplified ! | Paul champions improvements! | ||
| Yoga | Daily yoga on site, sometime on the lawn + weekly class at Hamsa Yoga in Lake Orion. | Alan Harras, teacher at Hamsa. | Hamsa Yoga weekly in Lake Orion. | |
| Compassionate Communication | Communication Skills practiced, some study groups attended | NVC (Non-violent communication) | Ghandi Peace Day at 3 Roods Farm. | |
| CSA Food Harvest at 3 Roods Farm | Once a month, May through September, Interns help harvest vegetables and fruits for the weekly share of food that people prepaid for. | |||
| Connections with local farms | Interns visit East River Farm, getting eggs + meet animals. Harvest the CSA food at 3 Roods Farm 5 x, Attend the Ghandi Peace Day at Three Roods Farm | |||
| Oakland Co.Permaculture Meetup | Attended monthly by intern. Re-Skilling lesson “Skill-Share” at each event. | Held at local farms | & other regional venues | |
| Building Community | Deanne & others took theThom Bond Compassion Course online. |
GUESTS ~~ in addition to the many who come to the Potluck ! Dimitri Flam, studying yoga, permaculture, Jared Aiken and sister from Ontario, yoga and natural skills. Michael Mallon – brave spaces, super-hero training academy. Linda Jackson, Clarkston, MI, Peggy Maggid, retired elementary teacher, Susan Schwenn, Battle Creek, MI. Kay Fedewa guest with Dana Driscoll & friends. Ann Ford, Birmingham, MI. Charlie Reischl, Ann Arbor, MI. Emerson Schreiner, Grand Rapids. Jolene Ciglano,
THANKS TO DONORS for your financial support, friendship, effort & gifts ! Here are a few of the many who contributed in 2017. Let me know if I missed anyone. 🙂
SEEDS of Traverse City is our Fiduciary Sponsor ! Thanks for the Support, and check out their programs.
I feel so much support from all of you – friends, participants, visitors… together we give hope to the future…and each other ! Individual thanks to …. Fay Hanson & Lois Robbins, for financial and emotional support. Jessica Miskena for financial support & enthusiasm. Gene Villeni – built & installed the Kids Cottage Door, and is building windows, too. Printer from Sherry Vanderputty. Food from Chris & Jug Tarr. Emotional support from many, including Ronna Fisher and Debbie Rowe and Michelle Lane. Steve Baibak and the RCAH art program of MSU for friendship and support. SEEDS non-profit and Sarna Saltzman, for their ongoing support as a “Fiduciary Sponsor” and a believer in the work. Gifts from Natalie & Brett, Emily & Ryan Eisley-Cunningham. Sunny & Richard Byrne. Paul Beaudet – so many creative contributions: spoons, storage improvement, more ! Sue Davis, gifts. Petar Simic, Filming of Reed collection, general support. Jared Bogdonov-Hanna, Permaculture support & friendship. Marcie Nido, website support. Mathew McCoul. Systems Designing. Spencer Field, organizational support, The Many folks who came and helped plaster and create, and organize and gave different kinds of support including Jacob Gnath, Michael Elsterman, Gene Villeni, Dana Driscoll, Arnie & Robert, Tanya Metfah, Micah Lindquist and more ! Neighbors who as always, are there in so many ways: LaFevers, Les & Elizabeth, The Abbots, Lisa and Steve, The Hoyts, Three Roods Farm, Greg and Robin. Marco Elsterman and GLEA. Alex Heubel and Blair Schneck for outstanding cooking for the Natural Building Intensive, Archer Greenhalgh for making this new Strawbalestudio.org website ! John Batdorf and MI Green Team. Chris McClellan for being a wonderful co-teacher and support !
Thanks. Thanks! And all the rest of you, unnamed, yet part of co-creating Strawbale Studio and sharing the message !