Developing resilient, local food systems in northern climates necessitates more robust infrastructure and various approaches to extending the growing season and protecting vulnerable seedlings. An obvious approach to this is the construction of cold-frames and greenhouses, but commercially purchasing or building these can be prohibitively costly and time consuming.
However, as we explored in our Away cycle, and practiced in our first Crafty Construction workshop, there are all kinds of creative ways to recycle and reuse that which is already in existence and being discarded, with a little inspiration.
In this workshop, we will come together for a weekend to learn a creative approach to framing a small bespoke wooden structure that will allow us to piece together salvaged windows into a workable greenhouse. Discarded and cracked windows that can no longer serve as working windows in a house due to problems with insulation or even just aesthetics can find new life sheltering our seeds. We will discuss sourcing windows, cleaning them up, and putting them together. As a bonus, we can add flashes of whimsy by filling in holes with hand crafted stained-glass accents using old bottles, broken dishes, and other found materials. We can also bring it all together in the places that don't fit by using small applications of natural building techniques such as cob.
