YNIA Visitors!

This week, we have some visitors! They drove all the way from Wisconsin (a place actually colder than Buffalo!). These volunteers are part of Young Neighbors in Action, a weeklong Catholic service learning experience that engages young people in the act of community service. This amazing group has already reglazed the windows, painted the sills, painted the foyer, repointed part of the foundation, caulked, finished a floor...the list goes on. And on. And on and on and on and on and...

Anyway, if you're looking to learn a bit more about housing rehab, want to troubleshoot a problem in your home, or are looking for a relaxed/fun environment, come and volunteer! In addition to workshops, the house is open for you to practice your repair skills almost everyday...show up and you'll be put right to work!

Appearance in Dwell Magazine!

Hot off the press! Whitney and I are in this month's issue of Dwell, a nationally distributed architecture/design magazine. Our bright, shining faces appear on page 28 along with a brief article about what we're doing, why we're doing it, and how we're making an impact. If you have time, check it out!

Nat'l holiday does not mean vacation day...

I worked on the fourth. Both at the restaurant where I serve as well as at the house. Needless to say, I did not have a relaxing holiday, so I decided that no matter what I was going to enjoy my July 5th.

All day was spent working on the house. An amazing crew of volunteers helped with building the newer, bigger earth oven alongside Matt and Maura, creators of the new baking operation Fancy and Delicious (F+D)! A big thanks to all who helped.

Afterwards though, we celebrated the installation of the new patio and the progress made in the garden. We fired up the earth oven, made pizzas, and watched a movie, projected onto the back of the house with a projection screen generously provided by Courtney! The movie was Wall.E. Very appropriate considering it's a movie all about recycling. It was a relaxing/fun end to the weekend! Look for more movie nights to come...movie suggestions are being taken now :)

Bills Fan!

Ok, if you're from Buffalo it's a requirement: you're a Bills fan and you like to talk about the Bills. Unfortunately for you, this post has very little to do with the Bills, however, and EVERYTHING to do with a fan. My little trick to draw you in...

The fan I am talking about came from one of the walls at the ReSource (298 Northampton). I was walking through the other day, searching for inspiration, when I saw it; the fan was prominently displayed in the front of the store, calling to me. I asked Peter, the assistant store manager, what the plan was for the fan...was it for sale? was it for show?

Peter told me they had scrapped a similar one earlier in the day, thus this one was equally up for grabs. Who would want/need an old industrial fan? ME. I wanted it. How could something so cool be scrapped?? Using sheer strength and determination, I lugged the giant fan back to my newly laid patio and took a few moments to brainstorm.

I came up with the idea of converting the fan into a table. Slapping four legs on it, placing some glass on top and calling it a day. Well, not so easy as that, but that's the general idea. It turned out SO cool! Now I am evermore inspired to create furniture, sculptures, bins, etc. out of recycled materials. I'm convinced it's the way of the future. So if you're driving around and find a cool object, DON'T throw it out! Think of how it could be used as a neat centerpiece in your living room, or a new addition to your house's artwork. OR...give it to me...I'll find a use for it!

Garden Creations, Reusing Concrete

Back in November, my heart sank a little when I discovered that the house I had just bought in the October foreclosure auction had a gigantic slab of concrete hidden underneath a thin layer of soil. Think of the soil as icing on the thick concrete cake and you get the idea. Yuck, right? I felt as though all my plans for an amazing garden had just wilted and withered away.

Well, come April I had the concrete removed thanks to Matt and the trusty skidsteer that ripped it up...making way for my ambitious garden plans! Only problem was, I had a sky high pile of concrete in my backyard that I had no intention of using. My initial thought was to get rid of it ASAP. It was an eyesore, a constant reminder of the garage that had once stood but had since rotted away, but the environmental policy major in me challenged that initial thought. Why couldn't I find a way to reuse it? Couldn't it function somehow in my plans?

After thinking of all the things I wanted to include in my garden and the materials needed, I thought of using the concrete pieces to build an herb spiral. If you're not familiar with an herb spiral, don't be ashamed; most people have no idea what I'm talking about when I mention it. Basically what it aims to do is to conserve space in a garden and also provide the perfect climate for each herb that is planted. With the way water reaches each portion of the spiral formation, dry loving herbs like rosemary go on top and herbs loving a more moist environment go on the bottom. It is a very effective and beautiful addition to any garden.

So I built the herb spiral out of concrete pieces, but I still had too much left over, so I lined paths and garden beds with it! In addition, it is going into the foundation for the new earth oven being built. By taking my time and brainstorming ways to reuse it, I have successfully avoided the need to rent a dumpster to cart away the concrete. All it takes is a little patience, creativity, and willingness to experiment and look at the result! Not only did I reuse materials, I created something beautiful. I hope this inspires folks to build an herb spiral in their garden...I can tell you it is well worth it. Use whatever materials you have lying around that you can stack on top of each other and then fill it with a mixture of topsoil and compost. Also, you don't necessarily have to fill it with herbs; it could just as easily be a flower or veggie spiral!

Composting with seatbelts

Compost bins are essential to any garden. I had long ago decided I was putting in a three bin compost system, but I had been hesitating for a while, wondering what I should make it out of. Wood was fine, but boring. Brick? Too time consuming. I wandered over to Buffalo ReUse and asked Peter, the assistant store manager, what ReUse had a lot of that they needed to use up. Peter jokingly suggested the enormous box of seatbelts that someone had donated. It was all in jest, but then I thought, "why not??"

After a few trial and error sessions, I figured out how I could use the seatbelts in my compost bin design. The majority of my compost bin is woven seatbelts...The outer sides, the back (seatbelts woven into a chainlink fence), and the front doors are all made out of seatbelts. The middle dividers are made out of tree trunks that we cut out of my backyard and sunk into the ground. Talk about material reuse! The best part was that it took less than a day to create, is functional, and looks super cool! If you'd like to learn how I made my compost bin, come and talk to me about it at the next workshop (Glass Block Windows, Tuesday June 9th at 6pm).

A lot of progress has been made in and around the house, so be sure to come and check it out! The garden is growing rapidly (I need to harvest the lettuce) and the inside rooms are being tranformed! All with the help of a group of awesome City Honors kids and some wonderful volunteers. An especially big thank you to Vince and to the kids who worked on the compost bin; it looks amazing.

Hope to see you all at a future workshop...

Fondly,
Megan

Earth Ovens, Glass Block Windows, Mortar, and a BBQ!

Last week was a busy week--there was the ReUse Open House on Saturday where Matt and I gave a demonstration on earth oven building and cooking, and then an impromptu workshop on planting/preparing a garden for the growing season. On Sunday was a demonstration on installing glass block windows which was a little rough throughout the process, but turned out beautifully!

Saturday's Open House was SO much fun. Folks were in and out all day, enjoying the nice weather and eating some of Matt's delicious pizzas and breads. Watch out folks, he's gonna become the bread master of Eaton St...get your orders in now! We had never fired up the earth oven before, so we were nervous about the outcome, but no need to worry. Everything worked out wonderfully, and we even were asked how much we would charge to build one in someone's back yard! Sorry, we aren't hiring out, but if you want to learn how to make your own, we will be building another oven May 26th through 28th, 8am-12pm daily.

Sunday came, and it was another gorgeous day! Unfortunately I had mis-measured the window space, so I had had to build up the frame before installing the glass block. No worries though, I just built it up a bit, let the frame dry, and then fit the pre-made window into place (Whitney and I had made it the previous week). Once the window was in place, I finished it off with a bit of mortar and voila--it looks so much better. Of course everyone was ragging on me, saying I should have measured better...geez! It was all in good fun though, and I think the workshop was definitely a success. Can't believe how much light that one window lets in...I barely need the basement lights on now! We will be offering another glass block window lesson for folks who missed it, coming up some time in June or July. So you don't miss another class, take a look at our May calendar.

As always, the workshops are 100% free and open to anyone, so just show up and be ready to participate! We love newcomers and of course we love our regulars...it's a great chance to meet people, learn something new, and have fun! There is a workshop TODAY (5/5) on Mortar at 6pm. If you can't join us tonight, we're throwing a Cinco de Mayo BBQ tomorrow (5/6) from 6-8pm (free food, pinata, food from the clay oven, music, etc) . Hope to see you soon!

Love,
Megan