We passed the frames around to see the inner workings of the hives up close. No bees got squished, no one got stung, we made minimal disturbances for the bees.
Gotta get back to class now!
8.29.2009
BEES!!!!! (are cool!) Bee Stewarding update
We're actually right in the middle of the bee-keeping workshop right now. I sneaked away at lunch to post this real quick. More to come later. We spent the morning looking into the hive. Instructor Cailen Campbell is really in tune with the bees and is teaching us a lot about the various methods of keeping and managing bees: "traditional-modern" and his approach, "new paradigm" bee-stewarding.
We passed the frames around to see the inner workings of the hives up close. No bees got squished, no one got stung, we made minimal disturbances for the bees.
Gotta get back to class now!
We passed the frames around to see the inner workings of the hives up close. No bees got squished, no one got stung, we made minimal disturbances for the bees.
Gotta get back to class now!
8.23.2009
Raising Day ~ Timber Framing Workshop
Day 3 of our Timber Framing Workshop. This morning we really found our groove. Teams just seemed to form on their own and everyone worked industriously. We improved our techniques and gained confidence with tools.
Here's a pretty swell example of a tenon.
Bobby checks the fit of the tenon with the super high-tech Tenon Checker 5000. Not sure, but I suspect Ira has a patent pending on this. Useful for checking the width of the tenon to see where it may need to be shaved down to fit in the mortise. Better to find that out while the timber is on the trestle.
Brace mortise
There are a lot of different angles and lengths of cuts and lots of tools to choose from for the job. Here, we've used an electric saw as far as we could and then Meesh uses a handsaw to finish off where an electric blade could not go.
Many goofy moments throughout this workshop! During a short afternoon rain we all crowded under a tarp and continued to work elbow to elbow. Steveo kept the silliness alive on the worksite - while also guiding us and keeping it safe. A fine combo.
Beginning to assemble the frame. Lloyd and Keri fit a post - with tenon - into the mortise on the beam.
The whole crew with the frame temporarily raised and secured! Job well done! We were all very excited to see our work go up. This project will continue to be featured in our Natural Building Workshops where we'll incorporate adobe, cob, slipstraw, wattle & daub and many more techniques. Come join us, we've got 5-, 3-, & 2-day natural building workshops in September and October with some of the most talented and inspirational instructors in the field. And speaking of exceptional instructors... mad props to Ira Friedrichs and Steveo Brodmerkel for their most generous tutelage. Thanks to Jason Boyer for his superb teaching assistance! And thanks to all the participants, what a fun crew!
Here's a pretty swell example of a tenon.
Bobby checks the fit of the tenon with the super high-tech Tenon Checker 5000. Not sure, but I suspect Ira has a patent pending on this. Useful for checking the width of the tenon to see where it may need to be shaved down to fit in the mortise. Better to find that out while the timber is on the trestle.
Brace mortise
There are a lot of different angles and lengths of cuts and lots of tools to choose from for the job. Here, we've used an electric saw as far as we could and then Meesh uses a handsaw to finish off where an electric blade could not go.
Many goofy moments throughout this workshop! During a short afternoon rain we all crowded under a tarp and continued to work elbow to elbow. Steveo kept the silliness alive on the worksite - while also guiding us and keeping it safe. A fine combo.
Beginning to assemble the frame. Lloyd and Keri fit a post - with tenon - into the mortise on the beam.
The whole crew with the frame temporarily raised and secured! Job well done! We were all very excited to see our work go up. This project will continue to be featured in our Natural Building Workshops where we'll incorporate adobe, cob, slipstraw, wattle & daub and many more techniques. Come join us, we've got 5-, 3-, & 2-day natural building workshops in September and October with some of the most talented and inspirational instructors in the field. And speaking of exceptional instructors... mad props to Ira Friedrichs and Steveo Brodmerkel for their most generous tutelage. Thanks to Jason Boyer for his superb teaching assistance! And thanks to all the participants, what a fun crew!
8.22.2009
Timber Framing ~ Day 2!
Tools! Lots of cool tools to get the job done. Here, Keri drills a peg
hole with a hand drill and Aimee keeps her in line.
Lovely flower of shavings.
Above, Aimee uses an old boring tool from the late 1800's. One sits on it and arm 'pedals' the crank to drive the bit. Below, our first completed project - a trestle sawhorse. We cut our practice mortise and tenons on this. Good thing, they were kinda rough :) but we got it down now I think and we were pretty stoked that it actually assembled and is dang sturdy. From left to right: Ian, Bobby, Ira, Aimee and Joe. Steveo demonstrates the sturdiness of the trestle horse.
Hand tools feel good to use, they're quiet, you really feel like you're 'doing it' but it is hard and slow. We use a lot of power tools too like the one Aimee is using here with Keri and Garret observing (we check and double check measurements and watch for safety). This tool is a chain saw-circular saw combo.
8.21.2009
Timber Framing!
Day one of our three day timber framing workshop! Wow, pretty exciting and we've learned so much already. The day started with a great slide show presentation by Ira of the many projects he's worked on. It really gave us a foundation (shall we say "plinth") to understanding the many types of joinery and ways to timber frame and build.
The method to successful joints is all in the layout - measuring! And then sequencing your cuts - doing them in the most efficient order.
Today we learned mortise and tenon joinery. Above, Meesh uses the chain mortiser. Below, Steveo shows us where to chisel to make a custom fit.
Above, the tenon fits into the mortise and is secured with a peg. Below, Garret shows our work. Looking forward to two more days!
The method to successful joints is all in the layout - measuring! And then sequencing your cuts - doing them in the most efficient order.
Today we learned mortise and tenon joinery. Above, Meesh uses the chain mortiser. Below, Steveo shows us where to chisel to make a custom fit.
Above, the tenon fits into the mortise and is secured with a peg. Below, Garret shows our work. Looking forward to two more days!
8.10.2009
What a Great Two Days of Wild Foods and Fermenting!
This past Wed & Thurs, August 5 & 6, we had our 2-day Wild Foods & Fermentation workshop with Sandor Katz and Frank Cook. Very inspiring and fascinating! Sandor started off by mentioning that many people have some "fear" about making themselves and others sick with food gone bad - when has food gone bad and when it is fermenting? I had the same question. Well, this workshop demystified it all. With very simple manipulation and awareness of the microbial changes going on, it's super easy to ferment. And the health benefits are huge, from making food more easily digestible and nutrients more bio-available to removing toxins and producing strong, gourmet, sought-after flavors.
We started each day with wild tea made by Frank. All these plants were picked from the AVI backyard and garden. Some plants are considered weeds and grow wild, probably in your yard too, and others are medicinal and culinary plants that we've intentionally planted.
I heard many participants comment that they were going to start making teas from the plants and weeds in their garden. Who needs to buy pre-packaged commercial tea when a lot of us have all the plants we need wild and free in our gardens?!?!
Some class time was spent on the stone patio under the shade of the apple tree. Other times we were on plant walks with Frank and sometimes we were hands-on in the kitchen. Here, Sandor's talking about kefir, a fermented milk drink (sooo easy once you procure the starter grains), you can see a few jars on the table.
We learned how to make mead (honey wine) and started a tomato mead. Yep, tomato mead. Janell, the Mead-Making Queen, had plenty of samples of various aged meads to pass around. Here's workshop participant Peggy checking one out.
We learned that alcohol is the most ancient and universally practiced form of fermentation which has been used as herbal elixirs, medicinal tinctures, in ceremony, and for celebration and merriment.
Tempeh was a fave. I have to admit that I've never been a fan of store-bought tempeh. But the tempeh we made was so delicious! On day one we started it and had it for lunch on day two. Tempeh is a great protein source of rice, beans and spores incubated under specific temperature and humidity conditions. Here it goes into the pan...
... it incubates over night and has formed a nutritious mold that binds it all together into a form you can cook and eat. (Looks like birthday cake with frosting, no?) We cooked it in a cast iron pan with coconut oil and Braggs. Super tasty, nice texture! It was a hit all around. I know for a lot of us in this culture, the thought of eating mold, or sometimes the taste of fermented foods, is a little strange and disagreeable at first but when we open our minds to the social and cultural forces that construct these perspectives, and we see how another cultural may view this mold as a highly valued delicacy, then we can begin to broaden our own perspective, which can create change - from improved personal health to global human and environmental respect. It really is all interconnected and it all really is revolutionary!
Idli is another version of fermented beans and rice. It's mild in flavor and eaten in India with strong flavored curries and chutneys. We had it steamed (above in a special steamer one can find in Indian markets) and fried - which are called dosa. Below you can see our day-one lunch spread. In the foreground, salad with edible flowers and wild greens, then the steamed idli and dosas.
Above, workshop participant Susanne Hackett of local blog Pollinating Asheville, enjoys a selection of krauts at lunch. Lunches were amazing and flavorful examples of all we were learning to make. Recipes and much of the actual cooking were prepared by Sandor and Frank, with the help of Mary Morgaine and Janell. Lunches were a highlight of the day.
Both afternoons included talks and plant walks with Frank Cook. Yeah, I'm blown away by the realization that so many of the "weeds" and plants right there in the yard, on the street, in the parks, are edible! Dandelion, plantain, mugwort, lambsquarters, to name a few. And often more nutritious than the usual greens available in the store like spinach, and certainly fresher.
Frank emphasized that food is medicine and that by simply eating conscientiously, hydrating, sleeping, de-stressing by having fun and receiving healing touch like massage, then we won't have the need for doctors' medicines. Frank also gave a great talk on the 5 Pillars of Abundant Living which I'm not going to give away here, you're going to have to attend one of his talks, but basically it's so simple and accessible and smart, but involves the unlearning of so much that we have been told or sold and relearning so much about how things used to be done, how peoples used to eat - from as recent as our grandparents to as long ago as ancient cultures and cross-culturally spanning those times.
And then we made fermented veggies! Known as sauerkraut or kimchi, all ya do is submerge veggies in their own liquid, or water, wait a few days or a few weeks (to taste) and that's it. What could be easier? This method has been used in many cultures in the days before refrigeration for preserving food during abundant times - like spring, summer and fall - for good eatin' in the wintertime.
We chopped lots of veggies - cabbage, green beans, squash, carrots... there's no veggie you can't use. You can even add potatoes but cook'em first. Then we tossed them in a large bucket to squeeze and bruise them allowing the cells to release their juices.
We made kraut for 30 participants but you can make smaller portions for home use. The general rule is one pound of veggies makes a pint, 4 lbs make a quart and 8 lbs make a gallon. Each workshop participant went home with at least a pint to enjoy.
I heard many participants comment that they were going to start making teas from the plants and weeds in their garden. Who needs to buy pre-packaged commercial tea when a lot of us have all the plants we need wild and free in our gardens?!?!
Some class time was spent on the stone patio under the shade of the apple tree. Other times we were on plant walks with Frank and sometimes we were hands-on in the kitchen. Here, Sandor's talking about kefir, a fermented milk drink (sooo easy once you procure the starter grains), you can see a few jars on the table.
We learned how to make mead (honey wine) and started a tomato mead. Yep, tomato mead. Janell, the Mead-Making Queen, had plenty of samples of various aged meads to pass around. Here's workshop participant Peggy checking one out.
We learned that alcohol is the most ancient and universally practiced form of fermentation which has been used as herbal elixirs, medicinal tinctures, in ceremony, and for celebration and merriment.
Tempeh was a fave. I have to admit that I've never been a fan of store-bought tempeh. But the tempeh we made was so delicious! On day one we started it and had it for lunch on day two. Tempeh is a great protein source of rice, beans and spores incubated under specific temperature and humidity conditions. Here it goes into the pan...
... it incubates over night and has formed a nutritious mold that binds it all together into a form you can cook and eat. (Looks like birthday cake with frosting, no?) We cooked it in a cast iron pan with coconut oil and Braggs. Super tasty, nice texture! It was a hit all around. I know for a lot of us in this culture, the thought of eating mold, or sometimes the taste of fermented foods, is a little strange and disagreeable at first but when we open our minds to the social and cultural forces that construct these perspectives, and we see how another cultural may view this mold as a highly valued delicacy, then we can begin to broaden our own perspective, which can create change - from improved personal health to global human and environmental respect. It really is all interconnected and it all really is revolutionary!
Idli is another version of fermented beans and rice. It's mild in flavor and eaten in India with strong flavored curries and chutneys. We had it steamed (above in a special steamer one can find in Indian markets) and fried - which are called dosa. Below you can see our day-one lunch spread. In the foreground, salad with edible flowers and wild greens, then the steamed idli and dosas.
Above, workshop participant Susanne Hackett of local blog Pollinating Asheville, enjoys a selection of krauts at lunch. Lunches were amazing and flavorful examples of all we were learning to make. Recipes and much of the actual cooking were prepared by Sandor and Frank, with the help of Mary Morgaine and Janell. Lunches were a highlight of the day.
Both afternoons included talks and plant walks with Frank Cook. Yeah, I'm blown away by the realization that so many of the "weeds" and plants right there in the yard, on the street, in the parks, are edible! Dandelion, plantain, mugwort, lambsquarters, to name a few. And often more nutritious than the usual greens available in the store like spinach, and certainly fresher.
Frank emphasized that food is medicine and that by simply eating conscientiously, hydrating, sleeping, de-stressing by having fun and receiving healing touch like massage, then we won't have the need for doctors' medicines. Frank also gave a great talk on the 5 Pillars of Abundant Living which I'm not going to give away here, you're going to have to attend one of his talks, but basically it's so simple and accessible and smart, but involves the unlearning of so much that we have been told or sold and relearning so much about how things used to be done, how peoples used to eat - from as recent as our grandparents to as long ago as ancient cultures and cross-culturally spanning those times.
And then we made fermented veggies! Known as sauerkraut or kimchi, all ya do is submerge veggies in their own liquid, or water, wait a few days or a few weeks (to taste) and that's it. What could be easier? This method has been used in many cultures in the days before refrigeration for preserving food during abundant times - like spring, summer and fall - for good eatin' in the wintertime.
We chopped lots of veggies - cabbage, green beans, squash, carrots... there's no veggie you can't use. You can even add potatoes but cook'em first. Then we tossed them in a large bucket to squeeze and bruise them allowing the cells to release their juices.
We made kraut for 30 participants but you can make smaller portions for home use. The general rule is one pound of veggies makes a pint, 4 lbs make a quart and 8 lbs make a gallon. Each workshop participant went home with at least a pint to enjoy.
8.02.2009
AVI on the TV!
Janell will be on Live MY40 This Morning tomorrow talking about the upcoming Wild Food & Fermentation Workshop with Sandor Katz and Frank Cook. Set your alarms!
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