Ramping Up: From “Holding Space” to “Activation” (Part I, Garden Tower event)

Yesterday, for me, was filled with community activity: Afternoon, a Garden Tower Project event, and in the evening, as will be documented in Part 2, our weekly Community Dinner, which this time, would be . . . PERUVIAN!

I found out about the GT event when Amy emailed her list of GT supporters, with this message:

For their first community work day, Amy had invited a group of home-schooled children to fill the towers to be used in the study.

Here’s what the towers look like now, filled with kale. They’ve been in the greenhouse for I’m not sure how many weeks.

Here’s what one of the towers looks like that was only yesterday put in a greenhouse. Notice the difference.

On the right side of the picture is a container box that holds a large vat for water (like the kind used for cattle), which will be heated by pipes on the outside, themselves to be heated by the piles we mixed up yesterday for the compost to be poured into the straw bale enclosures. Here’s one of five possible designs:

Here’s another:

Yesterday’s event featured three kids and a bunch of adults. Here we are, milling around before beginning to mix the materials.

Here’s Colin (my son) with Jonathan. (Colin injured his back, so can’t help.)

We’re going to blend a tiny bit of compost into wood chips —

by folding the tarp from each corner and pulling —

That’s me, in the blue hat and nearly new white leather gloves (which I unfortunately lost while there. Damn!) Amy to my left.

Done! Now to scoops it into containers —

and pour into enclosure.

Okay, one done, four to go.

P.S. Amy told me that evening, at the Community Dinner that I will post on next, that they did manage to fill all five so that the study can actually begin. Which design will prove most efficient, using only sun to heat the compost which heats the pipes, which heats the air inside them, which heats the water, which heats the greenhouse?

Stay tuned.