Cathy Moore has just agreed to come speak to us at our camp-out on Sunday morning, the 8th of May. Cathy has built her own home southeast of Bloomington and continues what she terms her "experiments" with simple living. She will tell us about some of them and maybe give us advice on choices we will be making.
If you can't wait 'til then, or if you can't be at Raccoon Creek on the 8th, check out Cathy's web site.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Friday, April 29, 2005
Spring flowers at last
We finally found a day to visit the site. Spring is in full flower at Raccoon Creek!
The power company has cleared their right-of-way on our western boundary, so there's not much to see in that 50-foot swath, but everywhere else the flowers are having their day. I've included a few pictures. If you let us know by May 4th you can join us on the 6th, 7th and/or 8th to see them for yourself and to visit with us to learn more about our plans.
The power company has cleared their right-of-way on our western boundary, so there's not much to see in that 50-foot swath, but everywhere else the flowers are having their day. I've included a few pictures. If you let us know by May 4th you can join us on the 6th, 7th and/or 8th to see them for yourself and to visit with us to learn more about our plans.
Permaculture at Raccoon Creek
Over the past few months community members have discussed permaculture as a design principle for Raccoon Creek. (Google "permaculture" for tons of definitive information.) Wednesday night some of us traveled to Bloomington to see a set of four programs on video at the library. These were arranged by Cynthia to help spread the word about permaculture. She hopes to schedule them again so if you'd like to see them, send me a note and I'll pass your name on to her.
The programs were produced by Bill Mollison in 1991, but they are timeless. Bill is one of two Aussies who coined the term "permaculture" and first wrote about it in detail.
Each program emphasized a different habitat --desert, tropics, cold climates-- and was, understandably, different in many respects from the others. But the similarities are more obvious.
Mollison showed us implementations of permaculture practices in every corner of the world other than the polar areas. One thing that struck me was how wonderful it would be to actually teach someone permaculture principles and see them create a heathy, sustainable life for themselves where previously one seemed unlikely. Perhaps someday Raccoon Creek Community members will be qualified to travel and teach permaculture to people around the world.
But back to the present...
At the start of this summer, for the third year, a permaculture course will be taught at Lazy Black Bear near Paoli, Indiana, as an elective credit class at IU. The course will be squeezed into two full weeks plus a weekend and successful participants will earn permaculture certifications. The class is full, in fact "way" full, with over 40 students!
We have discussed sending some of our members to a permaculture course, but have decided that bringing a course to us would be preferable for numerous reasons. We would be spending class time talking about our site rather than someone esle's. We would be able to train more Raccoon Creek folks for less expense, giving us more trained people to talk through site design decisions. And, by opening the classes to others, we would enable more folks from Indiana and nearby states to be trained on property more like their own. Being trained in Califoria, Oregon, Arizona, or even North Carolina cannot give as much hands-on experience for midwestern climates as can training in Indiana.
So stay tuned right here to keep informed about our progress in scheduling classes. Current thinking would be to schedule the permaculture certification in two parts: "fundamentals" later this summer or fall, and the "design practicum" about this time next spring, close to the end of spring semesters at state colleges.
If you are interested in participating, send me a note so we can keep you posted on our progress in scheduling a course.
The programs were produced by Bill Mollison in 1991, but they are timeless. Bill is one of two Aussies who coined the term "permaculture" and first wrote about it in detail.
Each program emphasized a different habitat --desert, tropics, cold climates-- and was, understandably, different in many respects from the others. But the similarities are more obvious.
Mollison showed us implementations of permaculture practices in every corner of the world other than the polar areas. One thing that struck me was how wonderful it would be to actually teach someone permaculture principles and see them create a heathy, sustainable life for themselves where previously one seemed unlikely. Perhaps someday Raccoon Creek Community members will be qualified to travel and teach permaculture to people around the world.
But back to the present...
At the start of this summer, for the third year, a permaculture course will be taught at Lazy Black Bear near Paoli, Indiana, as an elective credit class at IU. The course will be squeezed into two full weeks plus a weekend and successful participants will earn permaculture certifications. The class is full, in fact "way" full, with over 40 students!
We have discussed sending some of our members to a permaculture course, but have decided that bringing a course to us would be preferable for numerous reasons. We would be spending class time talking about our site rather than someone esle's. We would be able to train more Raccoon Creek folks for less expense, giving us more trained people to talk through site design decisions. And, by opening the classes to others, we would enable more folks from Indiana and nearby states to be trained on property more like their own. Being trained in Califoria, Oregon, Arizona, or even North Carolina cannot give as much hands-on experience for midwestern climates as can training in Indiana.
So stay tuned right here to keep informed about our progress in scheduling classes. Current thinking would be to schedule the permaculture certification in two parts: "fundamentals" later this summer or fall, and the "design practicum" about this time next spring, close to the end of spring semesters at state colleges.
If you are interested in participating, send me a note so we can keep you posted on our progress in scheduling a course.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Now what!?
It's official. The large barn (see "Where we've been") is now ours to dismantle and move to Raccoon Creek.
We are planning the process of taking it down. We'll do what we can ourselves, but if the superstructure is too difficult or dangerous to take down, we'll hire someone with experience to do it.
We plan to go to the site many times and stay at least a few days each time. It will take a few days just to clean everything out of the barn and a few more to remove all the loft flooring and the joists in the lofts.
Then the real fun begins. We'll start by taking off the metal roof sheets. Each is about 24" X 6'. If we're lucky, we'll be able to punch them off from the inside with long poles. As they slide off, we'll remove the nails and stack them. Those that are relatively undamaged can be used at Raccoon Creek for shed roofs, remote parking areas, and maybe for raised planting beds, though we may learn that using them for that is a bad idea. At the same time, as they become completely uncovered, the purlins - the boards nailed to the rafters to which the roofing is nailed - are taken off, "denailed", and stacked. Chances are they will not be reuseable, but we'll try to find a way. Maybe they can be used for deer fences.
Next, or simultaneously if we have more people at the same time, we can start removing the siding. We're told this should be done from the middle of each wall toward the sides since even the siding provides some stability to the barn as it is being taken down. We will continue to remove nails from everything as we go. Though tedious, removing nails is work even youngsters can help with after we move the detached parts safely away from the building.
When all this work is complete it's time to bring in some large equipment, probably a crane, to take off the beams at the top and begin taking down each bent and attached lengthwise beams. As they come down, they will be taken apart and stacked. I forgot to mention that long before any wood comes off the building, each piece is tagged with a code to allow us to reassemble it properly.
That's the main steps. Finally, we'll load it all on a flatbed truck and head toward Owen County. Hopefully by the time we ship the barn we'll know where it's to be rebuilt and we can unload it close to the site and not have to move it again.
Moving this historic barn is a large project and will take many weeks of part-time effort. Help from anyone will be greatly appreciated.
We are planning the process of taking it down. We'll do what we can ourselves, but if the superstructure is too difficult or dangerous to take down, we'll hire someone with experience to do it.
We plan to go to the site many times and stay at least a few days each time. It will take a few days just to clean everything out of the barn and a few more to remove all the loft flooring and the joists in the lofts.
Then the real fun begins. We'll start by taking off the metal roof sheets. Each is about 24" X 6'. If we're lucky, we'll be able to punch them off from the inside with long poles. As they slide off, we'll remove the nails and stack them. Those that are relatively undamaged can be used at Raccoon Creek for shed roofs, remote parking areas, and maybe for raised planting beds, though we may learn that using them for that is a bad idea. At the same time, as they become completely uncovered, the purlins - the boards nailed to the rafters to which the roofing is nailed - are taken off, "denailed", and stacked. Chances are they will not be reuseable, but we'll try to find a way. Maybe they can be used for deer fences.
Next, or simultaneously if we have more people at the same time, we can start removing the siding. We're told this should be done from the middle of each wall toward the sides since even the siding provides some stability to the barn as it is being taken down. We will continue to remove nails from everything as we go. Though tedious, removing nails is work even youngsters can help with after we move the detached parts safely away from the building.
When all this work is complete it's time to bring in some large equipment, probably a crane, to take off the beams at the top and begin taking down each bent and attached lengthwise beams. As they come down, they will be taken apart and stacked. I forgot to mention that long before any wood comes off the building, each piece is tagged with a code to allow us to reassemble it properly.
That's the main steps. Finally, we'll load it all on a flatbed truck and head toward Owen County. Hopefully by the time we ship the barn we'll know where it's to be rebuilt and we can unload it close to the site and not have to move it again.
Moving this historic barn is a large project and will take many weeks of part-time effort. Help from anyone will be greatly appreciated.
Come on down
I've been itching to get to the site for weeks now. It looks like maybe this Sunday will be the day. We need to get the site ready for our first camp-out weekend of the season. Yes, the the first full weekend of May, the 6th through the 8th, everyone who can get there is invited to join us at Raccoon Creek to see what we're planning,learn about the project, share meals, have fun, hike, relax, rinse and repeat.
We first need to prepare enough spots for tents and maybe set up a composting toilet to use through the summer so we need to know you plan to come. Next year I hope we'll do this a few weeks earlier so we don't miss the earliest wildflowers.
If you'd like to join us for part of a day or the whole weekend, respond to rcc@netdirect.net raccooncreek@gmail.com by Wednesday, May 4th. If you'd like to share the meals we'll be preparing, we need to hear from you by Sunday, the 1st. The cost for the "meal package" - two meals on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday - is $15.00.
You may arrive as early as Friday about 6pm and stay as late as Sunday about 6pm. You must bring everything you need, like dishware and utensils, a tent, camp chairs if you want them, lanterns and flashlights, and food for other than the three meals being prepared. If you have camp tables, tarps, and other camping gear that could be shared, bring that too.
If I hear from you by the deadline, I'll send a detailed list of things to remember and a map to get you there. If you respond later, there's a good chance no one will see your message until after the weekend.
This should be a great opportunity to meet with Raccoon Creek Community members as we will schedule lots of open time for socializing. Kids are welcome. Except for toddlers whom you'll have to keep an eye on, kids can just be "cut loose" between meals to play and explore. Bring cameras and help us catalog the wildflowers, ferns and fungi.
We first need to prepare enough spots for tents and maybe set up a composting toilet to use through the summer so we need to know you plan to come. Next year I hope we'll do this a few weeks earlier so we don't miss the earliest wildflowers.
If you'd like to join us for part of a day or the whole weekend, respond to rcc@netdirect.net raccooncreek@gmail.com by Wednesday, May 4th. If you'd like to share the meals we'll be preparing, we need to hear from you by Sunday, the 1st. The cost for the "meal package" - two meals on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday - is $15.00.
You may arrive as early as Friday about 6pm and stay as late as Sunday about 6pm. You must bring everything you need, like dishware and utensils, a tent, camp chairs if you want them, lanterns and flashlights, and food for other than the three meals being prepared. If you have camp tables, tarps, and other camping gear that could be shared, bring that too.
If I hear from you by the deadline, I'll send a detailed list of things to remember and a map to get you there. If you respond later, there's a good chance no one will see your message until after the weekend.
This should be a great opportunity to meet with Raccoon Creek Community members as we will schedule lots of open time for socializing. Kids are welcome. Except for toddlers whom you'll have to keep an eye on, kids can just be "cut loose" between meals to play and explore. Bring cameras and help us catalog the wildflowers, ferns and fungi.
Friday, April 15, 2005
Where we've been
It's been a few weeks since my last entry. My excuse? A week on the road for the school spring recess, about two weeks getting over a multi-symptom illness, a day at IU, a day at Purdue, and, finally, two days helping a wheelchair-bound third grader at a school camp. But though I haven't been posting, things have been happening on the Raccoon Creek Community front.
At the end of the spring recess week, two of us attended a program put on by the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana called Barn Again. We thought it would be useful to know more about old barns, and this program is designed to encourage folks to restore and rehabilitate barns rather than allow them to deteriorate. It was held this year in Corydon at a neat old school house that was part of the Underground Railway.
In addition to the presentation which covered nomenclature of barn parts, and good information on repairing damage, we toured four old barns in the Corydon area. Some have already been rehabilitated. Some need a lot of work. The most interesting thing we saw, though, was not a barn but a spring house, two stories tall, with about a fifty-gallon-per-minute spring flowing into it straight out of a rock wall just about 15 feet away. What a great old building!
At the end of the tour we visited a constructed wetland at a mobile home park not too far north of Corydon. It was helpful to see it, and we might incorporate a constructed wetland into our waste treatment plans.
By far the most significant activity of the day was a visit to a barn that was built before 1875. See a few pictures below. The owner of the barn wanted to find someone who would save it by removing it from her property and reassembling it somewhere else. That would be us.
The barn is very large, in great shape, and has many possibiities. Certainly our hope for a barn that would accommodate a few apartments has been met. In fact, this barn is so large we haven't even begun to consider all the simultaneous uses we may find for it. Some of us are going to visit it again this Sunday, measure it, and maybe start cleaning up the inside.
A fellow was recommended to us who might advise us in dismantling, moving and reconstructing the barn. He thinks he can get us the wooden floor of an old roller skating rink that has been in storage. The barn has no floor now, so the rink floor would be a nice feature and would allow us to build the best darn barn dancing site in Indiana.
We'll be scheduling some work days to take down the parts of the barn we can handle ourselves. If you'd like to see it and maybe help, let us know.
At the end of the spring recess week, two of us attended a program put on by the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana called Barn Again. We thought it would be useful to know more about old barns, and this program is designed to encourage folks to restore and rehabilitate barns rather than allow them to deteriorate. It was held this year in Corydon at a neat old school house that was part of the Underground Railway.
In addition to the presentation which covered nomenclature of barn parts, and good information on repairing damage, we toured four old barns in the Corydon area. Some have already been rehabilitated. Some need a lot of work. The most interesting thing we saw, though, was not a barn but a spring house, two stories tall, with about a fifty-gallon-per-minute spring flowing into it straight out of a rock wall just about 15 feet away. What a great old building!
At the end of the tour we visited a constructed wetland at a mobile home park not too far north of Corydon. It was helpful to see it, and we might incorporate a constructed wetland into our waste treatment plans.
By far the most significant activity of the day was a visit to a barn that was built before 1875. See a few pictures below. The owner of the barn wanted to find someone who would save it by removing it from her property and reassembling it somewhere else. That would be us.
The barn is very large, in great shape, and has many possibiities. Certainly our hope for a barn that would accommodate a few apartments has been met. In fact, this barn is so large we haven't even begun to consider all the simultaneous uses we may find for it. Some of us are going to visit it again this Sunday, measure it, and maybe start cleaning up the inside.
A fellow was recommended to us who might advise us in dismantling, moving and reconstructing the barn. He thinks he can get us the wooden floor of an old roller skating rink that has been in storage. The barn has no floor now, so the rink floor would be a nice feature and would allow us to build the best darn barn dancing site in Indiana.
We'll be scheduling some work days to take down the parts of the barn we can handle ourselves. If you'd like to see it and maybe help, let us know.
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