Monday, February 11, 2008
A green and pleasant weekend.
Saturday we worked in Springfield, almost completing one more raised bed. The bed-builders are becoming more skilled carpenters, and this one looks even better than the last.
Students from a psychology class at UNF came out to help, and will be here for us the rest of this semester. These photos were taken by Amanda McAllister. We pulled nails from lumber salvaged from a place we're calling the new shantytown (because all we know about it is that Ian Ranne owns it). We pulled up tons of catbriar root balls from along the south fence of the site. A nice man named Jim came up and offered to help us with getting some materials, including black metal fencing which would look much better than the chain link. We also removed all the barbed wire and razor wire from the top of the fence, all around the site. It was so strange, dealing with this incredibly violent material, with thick leather gloves protecting our hands (but not from the razor wire, which cut straight through them). The barbed wire had been thrown up haphazardly, especially at the corners of the site, and we had to twist it with pliers and unravel it from the fence posts and pull on it with all our strength.
It felt really good to get rid of it.
Sunday I showed up and pulled a few nails before the Food Not Bombs crew showed up with an even more delicious meal than last week. They had lasagna, pasta, salad, and some incredible lentil cauliflower stew. We had even more spontaneous offers of help. A woman asked if she could plant a fruit tree for a friend who had died. An elderly couple on a walk told us to contact them at the soup kitchen, where they feed hundreds on Saturdays, to collect any leftovers they've got. They were really sweet. He said, "When I married her 43 years ago she said, 'If you live long enough I'll show you the world.' I've been to 152 countries so far!"
I had to leave the garden and meal early to carpool out to Mandarin with some folks I met a while back at the UU church to attend the monthly meeting of Jacksonville's Sustainable Future. This group is the most exciting environmental community running at the moment. I'll post more later about the meeting, but in the meantime check out the site: www.jacksonvillefuture.com, and sign up if you're curious.
Students from a psychology class at UNF came out to help, and will be here for us the rest of this semester. These photos were taken by Amanda McAllister. We pulled nails from lumber salvaged from a place we're calling the new shantytown (because all we know about it is that Ian Ranne owns it). We pulled up tons of catbriar root balls from along the south fence of the site. A nice man named Jim came up and offered to help us with getting some materials, including black metal fencing which would look much better than the chain link. We also removed all the barbed wire and razor wire from the top of the fence, all around the site. It was so strange, dealing with this incredibly violent material, with thick leather gloves protecting our hands (but not from the razor wire, which cut straight through them). The barbed wire had been thrown up haphazardly, especially at the corners of the site, and we had to twist it with pliers and unravel it from the fence posts and pull on it with all our strength.
It felt really good to get rid of it.
Sunday I showed up and pulled a few nails before the Food Not Bombs crew showed up with an even more delicious meal than last week. They had lasagna, pasta, salad, and some incredible lentil cauliflower stew. We had even more spontaneous offers of help. A woman asked if she could plant a fruit tree for a friend who had died. An elderly couple on a walk told us to contact them at the soup kitchen, where they feed hundreds on Saturdays, to collect any leftovers they've got. They were really sweet. He said, "When I married her 43 years ago she said, 'If you live long enough I'll show you the world.' I've been to 152 countries so far!"
I had to leave the garden and meal early to carpool out to Mandarin with some folks I met a while back at the UU church to attend the monthly meeting of Jacksonville's Sustainable Future. This group is the most exciting environmental community running at the moment. I'll post more later about the meeting, but in the meantime check out the site: www.jacksonvillefuture.com, and sign up if you're curious.
