The last week of June has seen many changes in the Michelet garden.
During the Detour de France , the collective Etc. has halted for a week in Colombes, responding to our invitation to invest the scene. We welcomed them with great pleasure, and we are worked together in the design and construction of part of the outdoor garden.
All week, the site was open to the public, and we thank all those who came to lend a hand.
As for the materials for the workshop, we focused on reuse, so we had three main available:
– Drying boards: they are very thick wooden planks that serve to dry the cement bricks to dry. When they are worn out for this use, manufacturers get rid of it: we recovered 300 for the Agrocité .
– Bin boards: these are the planks that made up the crates containing the paving of street construction site of the station of Colombes. We went to retrieve them on site. The boards have required substantial preparation (dismantling the structure, remove the nails) but we now have stock available for siding, roofing, etc..
– Rafters: purchased locally (at the port of Gennevilliers), these long length allowed us to make adjustments to all the structures.
During the week, the collective Etc has focussed on two developments:
– A covered terrace overlooking the shared garden: this friendly space can accommodate several activities according to the desires of users: a bread oven, a large dining table, benches, hammocks. The structure built by the collective Etc. offers many opportunities for both manufacturers ownership succession to them (in terms of cladding, partitioning, roofing) and for users themselves who can throw many practices.
– A more technical area, located at the end of the plot. It was designed on the same principle as the terrace, like a platform made of drying planks and a framing to be further completed. This small set is deployed from the outhouse in the garden.
The principle of dry toilets is very simple: instead of using water, it is “flushed” by throwing one or two ladles of sawdust. The waste is collected in a tray under the platform. This tray will contain a load of worms that will attend to compost waste. This prevents odors and, when removing the tray from underneath (about every 6 months), it is converted into vermicompost.
Logically, the outhouse is built with the compost area. A compost bin has long been built in consultation with Yvon, master composter-invested in the R-Urban project, who will install here a small worm farm. Green waste from the garden will be routed so that the space is used to feed the earthworms, which, in this way, will create the compost. This arrangement ends with a small platform to be completed in the future: shelter, storage, tool shed …
