The treehouse railing is really coming together...
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Deconstruction and Materials Re-Use Trainings Underway
This Monday we kicked off the first of two training sessions on Deconstruction and Materials Re-Use co-sponsored with ReCycle North of Burlington and funded by a generous grant from the EPA. The 5-day session brings together 20 participants from non-profits across the country (including Hawaii, Wisconsin, Colorado, New Jersey, and a few closer to home), as well as a slew of trainers who are experts in the fields of deconstruction. The goal is to build capacity in these non-profit organizations to expand their operations, deconstruction crews, as well as open materials re-use stores, which takes valuable materials out of the waste stream. The group will spend two full days in the classroom here at Yestermorrow, and three days out in the field on a variety of deconstruction jobsites, and visiting other materials reuse and salvage stores in the area.
Treehouse railing in progress
Finally, the dangerous ramp to the treehouse will be no more!
Posts going up
Lauren working hard, while work-trader Nate checks to see if posts are sturdy
Uh oh, the SUPERVISOR!
Extension cord consultant Keyda
Posts going up
Lauren working hard, while work-trader Nate checks to see if posts are sturdy
Uh oh, the SUPERVISOR!
Extension cord consultant Keyda
Natural Building in Costa Rica
Returning to Vermont after spending a couple weeks in Costa Rica has been quite a change. After hanging out in hammocks, swimming in beautiful swimming holes with waterfalls, and eating tropical fruits off of trees, it was tough to come home to a cold and snowy April. To give a bit of background, I went down to Rancho Mastatal to participate in Yestermorrow's Natural Building in Costa Rica course. I traveled to Costa Rica a couple days before the course to meet up with fellow Yestermorrow intern Emily, so that we could check out the Pacific Coast for a couple days [awesome].
Sunset at Manuel Antonio, Pacific Coast
The ranch is just too amazing to put into words. If I was forced to describe it with one adjective, I would probably choose "magical". Rancho Mastatal is an environmental learning and sustainable living center located on approximately 300 acres of protected land in the Costa Rican rainforest. Tim and Robin, who started this community, are the most incredible, selfless, best examples of human beings that I have ever met in my life. Can you tell that I loved it there? The quality of life that exists on the ranch is unparalleled anywhere. So, let me correct myself... there are two words to describe life at Mastatal: Pura Vida.
The class itself was an excellent adventure, although I missed a couple days due to an intimate encounter with a poisonous fruit [I'll have to save this story for a later date]. I have experience with designing and building, but no experience with natural building. I was pretty excited to work with my hands (and feet), using all local and natural building materials.
Mixing cob
Skip and Lizabeth, the two teachers of the course, are both skilled and dedicated craftspeople who have a great wealth of knowledge that they are enthusiastic about sharing. As a group, we democratically decided to work on a new classroom space, since the ranch has a growing need to accommodate students. We came up with a very organic looking building that everyone had a hand in designing. Important elements of the design were having lots of curves, a smooth and flowing transition from exterior to interior, a meshing with the natural environment, and a cool, calming place to relax. Although we did use a poured concrete foundation (not-so-natural), the base of the building was all cob (a mixture of dirt, clay, gravel, and straw) all harvested fairly locally and mixed with all off-the-grid power (humans). We also incorporated wattle and daub into our walls.
Wattle and daub wall in construction phase, with cob bench
The wattle was made of woven local bamboo, and the daub was a similar mixture as the daub, only with a little bit of manure added in for flavor. The remainder of our building is constructed using a bamboo frame. Some highlights of out design inclue a cob bench, the first ever cob sink in the entrance way, built in shelving for shoes, and a floor that transitions from gravel to bamboo to cob with lime-plaster finish. Below are a few pictures of the space. Enjoy!
View from outside during construction
The sink, made from cob
Built-in shelves, clay mixing area
The crew.
I miss you Costa Rica!
Sunset at Manuel Antonio, Pacific Coast
The ranch is just too amazing to put into words. If I was forced to describe it with one adjective, I would probably choose "magical". Rancho Mastatal is an environmental learning and sustainable living center located on approximately 300 acres of protected land in the Costa Rican rainforest. Tim and Robin, who started this community, are the most incredible, selfless, best examples of human beings that I have ever met in my life. Can you tell that I loved it there? The quality of life that exists on the ranch is unparalleled anywhere. So, let me correct myself... there are two words to describe life at Mastatal: Pura Vida.
The class itself was an excellent adventure, although I missed a couple days due to an intimate encounter with a poisonous fruit [I'll have to save this story for a later date]. I have experience with designing and building, but no experience with natural building. I was pretty excited to work with my hands (and feet), using all local and natural building materials.
Mixing cob
Skip and Lizabeth, the two teachers of the course, are both skilled and dedicated craftspeople who have a great wealth of knowledge that they are enthusiastic about sharing. As a group, we democratically decided to work on a new classroom space, since the ranch has a growing need to accommodate students. We came up with a very organic looking building that everyone had a hand in designing. Important elements of the design were having lots of curves, a smooth and flowing transition from exterior to interior, a meshing with the natural environment, and a cool, calming place to relax. Although we did use a poured concrete foundation (not-so-natural), the base of the building was all cob (a mixture of dirt, clay, gravel, and straw) all harvested fairly locally and mixed with all off-the-grid power (humans). We also incorporated wattle and daub into our walls.
Wattle and daub wall in construction phase, with cob bench
The wattle was made of woven local bamboo, and the daub was a similar mixture as the daub, only with a little bit of manure added in for flavor. The remainder of our building is constructed using a bamboo frame. Some highlights of out design inclue a cob bench, the first ever cob sink in the entrance way, built in shelving for shoes, and a floor that transitions from gravel to bamboo to cob with lime-plaster finish. Below are a few pictures of the space. Enjoy!
View from outside during construction
The sink, made from cob
Built-in shelves, clay mixing area
The crew.
I miss you Costa Rica!
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