What the eye doesn't see....

Wood chip delivery .... a wonderful free gift

Mosaic Madness

Decorating flower pots with mosaic tiles.....

Strawberry Fields Forever

Preparing the bed for lots of lovely yummy strawberries...........

Woodworking -Freestyle Ideas

Bottle It - Cuckoo Pint

The project took a whole week but we are delighted with the finished shelter...it has created a huge talking point at the garden and looks very impressive. The best thing of all was the lessons and discussions we had around the build. Discussions about plastic waste, peak oil, waste. hunger, recycling, homelessness and communal activity were all very interesting and the young people came up with some very sound theories and ideas of their own.

Problem solving was the other activity as well as being able to work well as a team.

and 1000 and counting lids.....
We needed 1000 bottles......

Next we had to crush the bottles and hammer 4 holes in top and bottom to thread the wire through
Then we washed and stripped the 1ltr plastic bottles of their wrappers and lids and sorted the lids into colours for the floor.
First we cleared the space.....
One of the Artists' Residencies at the project was for a commissioned artist who specialises in Eco-Art with a practical aesthetic to come on board and work with the young people to make something out of recycled materials. There was a very rough brambly corner at the Tall Trees allotment which lent itself well to the design for a plastic bottle shelter. The design was based on a species of plant found in the garden 'Arum maculatum' commonly known as Cuckoo Pint, so the work was resonant of the garden and site specific.

Mud Mud... Glorious Mud

Shaving and Strimming

The Straw Bales required shaving to get the walls smooth before we could attempt the cob render. This was laborious and time consuming.....some of us tried to cheat and used the strimmer! It was never going to be THAT smooth but the effort made to give the build a close shave was tremendous.