GROUND CLEARING ACCOMPLISHED! Step 1 in the Chicken Coop Raising

Thank you to all our volunteers and NYRP help today to make the first day of the chicken coop raising a success! After all your hard work, the photo above is now a memory: the rocks are cleared, the old structure has been removed, the stumps have been pulled out, the holes have been dug for the foundation of the future coop.

Some thoughts on working in the rain:

• A light drizzle is a cool and refreshing feeling while you are working.
• A downpour is not.
• I will never bring my measuring tape out in the rain ever again. I will spend a long time taking it apart, washing all the grit out of it, and putting it back together.
• A large sandwich bag works to laminate your drawings in a pinch.

As we sat and ate lunch under our makeshift awning, Bee, Deborah (Urban Farm Syndicate), Amy Merrill, and Grace Mitchell talked about how to expand the urban farming network in Brooklyn. Maryland has introduced a bill that would give tax incentives to property owners who convert idle land to farmyard. This was also brought up at Scott Stringer's NYC Food and Climate Summit in several workshops. If people are already working on this, we would love to hear what work has already been done and help in any way we can.

We will be pouring foundations this Friday so that we can start construction next week. See earlier posting for schedule and details. Hope to see you there!