Category Archives: Workshops

Last month marked the first (of hopefully many) summer camps. Before we get into the details I need to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU to Harderwyk and Rose Park for helping make this thing possible. Were it not for your generosity in supplying packs, tents, and transportation this trip wouldn’t have happened. Ty and Dave – you guys were behind this  venture from the start and continue to blow my mind with your support. Much love and respect!

Now on to the goods.

Last year we helped put on four weeks of summer camp. It was awesome, dare I say “mind blowing,” but we wanted to do something different this year, something literal. Thus, Summer Camp was born: three days of untethered backpacking, drawing, photographing, playing, swimming, friending, sculpting, late-night-fire-ing, storytelling, s’moring, and snoring. In short – it was an amazing retreat from technology and a great time to connect with each other, nature, and ourselves. The backdrop: Northern Michigan’s Nordhouse Dunes. If you’ve never been, it’s worth the drive.

A survey was once done trying to find the activities that made humans the most happy. Not surprisingly three things rose to the top – spending time in nature, doing creative activities, and connecting with friends. Our goal was to do all three at once.

Our first night was a rough one. Just shortly after we arrived, set up camp, and got our bearings the clouds made dusk even darker. This made the race for firewood (before the impending rain) even more important. As the night went on  sunset gave way to drizzle and around 1:00am the winds brought a lightning storm and lack of sleep. Luckily, good books, flashlights and tent-mates where plentiful.

The majority of the next morning was spent drying sleeping bags, clothing, shoes (innovation seen above) and preparing for another block of rain set to come in later in the day. Thankfully, it held off and instead of griping about the hours laboring in vain we took in the coast for all it was worth – we may have even invented a new sport activity called “drifting” – the act of replanting driftwood along the beach to form totems. Below you can see us prepping a tree for replanting.

The second night was amazing. Calm winds, a good fire and conversation are a recipe well worth all of the planning. Our guest artist Geoff Holstad developed an awesome design including the phrase “Nature Bats Last” and that was part of our theme for the trip. The phrase was coined by conservationist Aldo Leopold in the 20′s concerning the notion of  “land ethic” – a responsible relationship existing between people and the land they inhabit. If you haven’t read his Sand County Almanac you should stop what you’re doing and get a copy. We’re big fans of Wendell Berry and while reading Leopold I couldn’t help but think they were cut from the same cloth and fashioned into different clothing. Anyways, the large questions of the night follow:

When you’re responsible for the production, consumption, and disposal of your everyday needs how does your attitude towards consumption change? In what ways does our current culture mirror or hide this? Is this unhealthy or healthy? What can we do to live richer lives?

At this point I’d like to say a big thank you to Amy and Josh. They are two of our leaders who are responsible for the trip being such a success. Their outdoor expertise, planning and preparation made it all happen. They also cook one a mean batch of pancakes.

All in all, this trip was amazing. Students like this give me so much hope for the future of our community and planet. Many thanks to those of you who are supporting what we do by subscribing to the Maker’s Dozen. This kind of thing would not be possible with your help, encouraging words, and friendship.

This past Thursday we traveled out to visit Groundswell Community Farm. Groundswell is a certified organic farm that has been providing folks along the lakeshore with the freshest food possible since 2006 when it was started by Katie Brandt and Anna Hoekstra. They offer CSA shares and sell produce on Saturday’s at Fulton St. Farmers Market. It’s near and dear to our hearts because in 2009 we decided to get involved with a CSA in our region when Jenna started doing a lot of research on the effects of food on society. Honestly, it is hard work but has changed the way we eat and live.

What is Community Supported Agriculture?
Community Supported Agriculture (a.k.a. “CSA”) works like a cooperative—you buy a share of the season’s produce in the early spring and get a variety of vegetables every week of the summer. No factories. No pesticides. No oppression (of humans or non-humans). Just the cleanest, freshest and best tasting vegetables you’ve ever put in your mouth.

The field trip was amazing and the people were inspiring. First, meet Tom. He became part owner in 2010 when Anna, one of the founders, left to pursue models of eco-villages in Mexico followed by three months in LaDakh, India, working and learning along with the indigenous culture in the mountainous regions. Back to Tom. After graduating with a degree in chemistry he worked as an environmental chemist to save money for a trip around the world. 18 months and 11 countries later he returned home to Michigan to volunteer for (and then work with) the West Michigan Environment Action Council. During that time he earned his master’s degree in sustainable agriculture and wrote his thesis on building a local food system for Grand Rapids. I like to think that Tom helped build the bandwagon for local food in West Michigan as that was 13 years ago.

Next up Sarah (pictured left) took us on a tasting tour where we learned about snow peas, okra, radishes, broccoli, lettuce, carrots, kale, asparagus, kohlrabi, peanuts and a host of other veggies. One of the first things you’re bound to notice walking around the farm is that Groundswell Farm sits on the blackest soil you’ve ever seen….and it’s not just topsoil. Valley floods and glacier movements have deposited 28 feet (yup, feet) of soil and organic matter in the valley!!! This nutrient dense soil and a well thought out planting & harvesting schedule enables four acres of land to produce enough food to feed more than 150 families during the summer. All of that, plus short travel times for distribution helps keep fossil fuel use to a minimum, which is a big deal.

“A 2002 study from the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health estimated that, using our current system, three calories of energy were needed to create one calorie of edible food. And that was on average. Some foods take far more, for instance grain-fed beef, which requires thirty-five calories for every calorie of beef produced.” – Sustainable Table

There was a lot of discussion about monoculture, standardization and need for bio-diversity in a healthy food economy. Metaphors abound! In industrial agriculture standardization reigns supreme; if you’ve got to ship 1,000,000 pounds of tomatoes overseas they need to be relatively the same size and shape so they can easily move through automated processes, picked early and thick skinned to make the trip (where ethylene gas is sometimes used to ripen them in transit).

Pictured above is one of the 16 varieties of lettuce that Groundswell grows. Although a diverse offering of crops is harder work it also takes into account bugs and unexpected weather.

OKRA!!!

Alessa getting up close and personal with some fresh garlic.

Ethan cutting into a fresh summer squash.

We ended the day by harvesting carrots and weeding the herb bed which smelled soooo good. Sage, thyme, oregano, chives, sorrel and rosemary. Overall a great trip and eye opening for students and volunteers alike. It was so good to get get our hands dirty and taste the fruit (literally) of Groundswell’s labor.

Thanks again to the Groundswell crew of Tom, Katie, Sarah, Ruby and Colleen for taking time out of their day to share their passions and knowledge with us.

Save Michigan Buy Local

Speaking of sharing knowledge, our program is funded by the sale of shirts designed by guest artists. For this workshop we have a particularly tasty design: Save MI Buy Local by the lovely Amanda Jane Jones. Heck, let’s apply what we’ve learned today: if you live in the Holland area just punch in the code “LOCAVORE” at check out and get rid of that nasty shipping fee…we’ll then arrange for you to pick one up while you’re out and about, maybe even meet you at the Farmer’s Market!