Juan is the New York-Puerto Rican caretaker of Coldwater Gardens. He takes out the trash, plays drums, grows wheatgrass in his front yard and generally ensures everyone is enjoying their stay. He also has a large stash of paint and string to make dreamcatchers. Juan is currently in the process of breaking the world record for the largest dreamcatcher-22 feet.
0 Comments
Coldwater Gardens was an ideal farm for me because there were a variety of different environments to work in and learn from. So far I've introduced you to the organic vegetable garden. That was the main event on the property but only occupied a small portion of the physical land. On two occasions, i got to help out at the sawmill where trees from the property were sliced down to dimensional lumber and bark sided trimmings for garden beds. I was really intrigued by this operation 1) for the sheer size of the equipment, 2) general lack of women in this workshop, and 3) a rare opportunity. Beyond what I learn from the farm managers, I learned a lot from the other volunteers. The two people in the above photo series, Nick and Kiera, are both graduates of Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. They met on the forestry crew and learned how to operate a sawmill as part of their work trade that all WW students complete in unison with their studies. Kiera was not a volunteer on the farm (she just visited when it was raining) because she had a paid job on the Alabama burn crew setting controlled burns in Pine forest of southern Alabama. She was an all around bad-ass chick who taught her boyfriend how to operate the saw mill ;) The long and the short of this sawmill operation is a menu of hydrolic levers that move and position the log, lock it in place with a sharp metal claw, then the blade moves across the log slicing off sheets of wood. To get dimensional lumber, first you need to shave off the four rounded sides of the log until you have a square or rectangular block to cut down to size, 2x4, 2x6. On teh property we had lots of pine, white ash, and american cedar.
However, there is no kiln on site (when you buy 2x4s in a store, they are dried in a kiln), so we just stacked the lumber on drying rods under cover. And there is also no wood grader on site-as in person who grades wood. From my Architect days, I know that lumber is graded like school papers, A, B, C, D etc. To receive an occupancy permit, the builder must prove that the lumber was graded, typically by purchasing from a retailer. Private owners, like Coldwater Gardens would either have to hire an inspector to come to their site or send out the lumber to be kiln dried and graded. Either path is contradictory to a self sustaining farm. Thus, the lumber we milled is destined for patio decks, chicken coops, and art projects-my favorite! hanging out at the saw mill was a great activity for me because at the end of the day, I got to take the bark scraps to Fort Juan for art projects :) |
Categories
All
Archives
June 2016
|