John and Sid planning the structure |
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I spent most of January working and living on a farm outside of Gainesville, Florida. For anyone wanting to learn how to farm and travel at the same time, I encourage you to check out http://www.wwoof.org/. For a small membership fee you are given access to the WWOOF database of farms by country. From there you can pick and choose what you want.
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Greenhouse construction |
While on the farm, I spent most of my volunteering time building a greenhouse which Sid (the father of the family who live on the farm) bought a number of years ago. He bought it for next to nothin’ from a farmer who no longer had a use for it. Sid stored it on his property for a number of years until he was able to find the remaining resources needed to build and complete an entire greenhouse - plastic, mesh, fan and all. While rummaging through a dumpster behind a tree nursery, Sid found enough UV plastic (in near-perfect condition) to cover the entire greenhouse. Thus the greenhouse project was underway!
Sid was able to acquire the necessary materials for the greenhouse for about 1/3 of it's total retail value. There were no instructions nor labels on the pieces since it was used. If any pieces didn’t seem to fit together, we would improvise, often using other salvaged or 'reclaimed' resources to put the greenhouse together. It took a bit of patience, a bit of creativity, but we were able to finish the structure before I left the farm.
One recurring topic of conversation was the use of salvaged materials in building. Apart from being aesthetically interesting, it's an extremely economical and environmentally-responsible way of building as your not using newly purchased or processed material to build. Seems like there are a number of terms for this basic idea, some being more buzzy or trendy or recent than others. "Resource reclamation" or "radical resourcefulness" were a few terms that I heard while being around Gainesville. Though the terms do sound pretty cool, and many permies drool over the mere sound of them, their definitions are a bit redundant. As far as I know, radical resourcefulness means (re)learning to (re)use material found right around us as resources that could be used in building. It also has to do with being able to procure resources for free (i.e. dumpsters).
Ray and Panelopie |
Used. Recycled. Reclaimed. Radical Resourcefulness. Sensible use of available materials.
In my view, all of these terms mean the same thing. Whether we're talking about a couple of hip kids going through dumpers in the city to build raised garden beds or a few old time farmers looking at an aged car out in the bush to use in restoring an F-150, salvaging resources for alternative use is nothing new.
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