It was a rainy start to our second hoop build of the spring, but we were ready.  At least it was warm, and there was a good chance of sun for later in the day.  It was the mud that really was the challenge. But, hey, you all know by now that a little mud won’t get in our way! We’ve got Jedi volunteers who make the best of what ever Mother Nature sends our way.

Sure, the hoop house site isn’t an urban setting with all the amenities like a full kitchen and inside bathrooms with running water.  But, really, running water is overrated when you’ve got a hoop house to build.  An outhouse works just fine.  And we did have a cool tent with a living room and stove at our disposal thanks to the creativity of the Sunseed Farm crew, some of whom live on site much of the time.

We started with the site marked off, corner posts squared, and bow supports in place, ready and waiting for the volunteer crew to arrive.

Sunseed Farm's 1st hoop is to the left.

our early crew

Notice the tall muck boots on most of the crew.  These folks had the right idea. Notice the coffee cups filled with Roos Roast too.  And, of course the Washtenaw Dairy donuts. We know what’s important on a work site.

our stuff, mostly protected from the rain

mrs. selma & mrs. sunseed feeling the joy.

more volunteers making their way in through the mud and rain.

the tractor was one vehicle that could make it through the mud

the roos roast blend seems to be working for Jeff

On to the site, and the day unfolding.

more ground post work

standing on wood planks to keep from sinking into the mud.

putting together the bows

using the jig to make the bows all the same size and shape

the first bow goes up

lining up the bows

big team work

the sun came out as the bow installation continued.

and the mud got deeper, the more we were in it.

like this.

yep, this too.

this kind of says it all, doesn't it?

we heart heavy equipment

For a full-on 360 degree experience of how we worked with the muddy conditions check out this little video, shot by Trilby Becker.

bows up, just in time for lunch

We work hard, and we take well deserved breaks to eat and rest.  Feeding our volunteers delicious, hearty, healthy and locally sourced meals is a huge priority.  For this build, the Ann Arbor People’s Food Co-op helped us out big time by donating ingredients to make the sandwiches and other dishes that Tilby, I, and a group of volunteers put together.   Thank you so much PFC!  Trilby and I also send out huge thanks to the food prep volunteers who helped prepare the delicious lunch and dinner  for our on-site volunteers:  Elizabeth Beers, Rachel Chadderdon, Nancy Welker, and Jennifer Jensen spent their Saturday in our kitchen, putting together muffaletta sandwiches with variations to satisfy every dietary need, as well as making potato salad, hard boiling eggs, and packing up all the supplies to bring out to Sunseed Farm.  Milagros Paredes donated a chorizo and bean soup that big-time wowed the ominvores, as well as cooking up a richly flavored spicy lentil soup for the vegetarians.  Rachel Chadderdon made some luscious rhubarb cookie bars, and Siri Gottlieb donated a big tray of buttery and jam filled short bread bars.  Does anyone remember who made the batch of vegan cookies, and the very chocolate-y brownies?  Those were gone in a quick minute!

another group shot before end wall construction

end walls put together, and ready to move 'em into place

getting the end wall to the hoop

and up it goes

connecting an end wall to the hoop structure

with end walls up, nearing the end of the work day

a good days work, just in time for dinner

getting ready for our feast. bbq chicken, marinated tofu, lots o' hotdogs, a huge tub of hoop house greens thanks to Sunseed Farm's first hoop, a keg of Original Gravity amber ale, and s'mores for dessert.

digging in.

celebrating Nevon's 20th birthday with his favorite--apple pie

relaxing after a full day of satisfying work

one more group shot of our smiling crew

view to the west with a happy jessa enjoying herself.

grateful for the rp&f volunteer juice, bathed by the setting sun glowing up the first sunseed farm hoop

the evening turned to night, with a bonfire & a beautiful sky

By the end of the day, we had nearly 50 people who had come out to help us raise this 2nd hoop house for Sunseed Farm.  The words thank-you just don’t seem to be enough.  How about profound appreciation? Deep gratitude, massive gratefulness, huge love? Or some combination of words that will capture how much joy there is in coming together as a community with our volunteers. Tomm and Trilby Becker, Jeff and I say Thankadore You to:  Megan Zlatos, Jeff Holden, Nic Parton, Dan Carroll, Nevon Clark, Lizzie Olenzek, Tom and Nancy Welker, Sean Kehoe, Jennifer Jensen, Helen Harding, Kyle Rhodes, Rob Naussbaumer, Mike and Rose Pitsch, Marty Weid, Brian Allnutt, Anne West, Misa Cady, Ian Daum-Bost, Courtney Peterson, Joel Panozzo, Heidi Perry, Morgan Nichols, Mike Sietkes, Lisa Dugdale, Sara Schlotterbeck, Hillary Bisnett, Dick Dyer, John, Marcy, Noah, Caleb and Will Veit, Melissa Cooper, Patrick Carmody, Edward Weymouth, Noah Miller, Andrea Bloom, Dale Finkelson, Howard Gold, Heidi Kumao, Kari Blouin, Walter Prettyman, Kate Long, Becky Otto and Beth Tarini and Kendal Kuneman.  Next time you see any of these folks, be sure to show them some love for their efforts.  Did I forget someone? Email me and I’ll get their name added pronto.

After enjoying  the bonfire into the wee hours,  all of us eased our way home.  We were tired, sweaty and covered in mud, and  we shared a feeling of camaraderie, a sense of measurable accomplishment, and a strong urge to fall into bed.

Sunday dawned clear, warm & still. Great conditions for the plastic pull.

We had just the right number of people who showed up to help pull the plastic Sunday afternoon with Tomm, Trilby and Jeff.  Thank you to Nic Parton, Lizzie Olenzek, Kevin and Rachel Spall, Mike, and Jody Bogumil for spending the afternoon with us making the magic happen.

Yesterday, Jeff and I drove up to Sunseed Farm to capture a few more photos of the hoop with the cover in place, and the side wall roll up mechanisms installed.  Finishing the end wall with plastic will happen soon.

view of the sister hoops from the west

view with the sides rolled up.

inside looking out.

looking west from the end wall.

I couldn’t pass up this last photo of the flower bed Tomm and Trilby invited their wedding guests to plant for them at their Sunseed Farm wedding last September.  These iris, in full bloom, are exceptionally lovely. Did you know that this beautiful flower has a history dating back thousands of years?  The word Iris comes from the Greek word for rainbow, and it is named for the Greek goddess Iris, who, among other things was a link between heaven and earth.  Whether your belief system includes heaven or not, I thoroughly enjoy the thought that these flowers, planted by the family and friends of Tomm and Trilby to grace their love for each other,  also represent the love for their farm, and  for the local food community to whom they have a passionate commitment to feed.

If this looks like fun to you, and you’d like to be part of this growing community of hoop house builders, sign up here for our next hoop build on June 5, at Needlelane Farm.

Thank you once again to all,
~Lisa

Garin Fons, aka Mr. Bacon, was one of the very first supporters way back when Selma Cafe first began.  A core volunteer and planner, always calm and cool, and never one to get upset, Garin ran Thursday night prep, served Friday morning breakfast, helped cut up a whole pig right here in our kitchen with Jeff and Matt Burton, and learned to make his own cured meats with the best of them.  His homemade bacon was as good as any we’ve tasted.  Like many folks who come to Ann Arbor for studies and then move on, Garin decided to leave to work with some folks doing some really great food stuff.  As far as we are concerned, The Underground Food Collective, in Madison, is lucky to have him.  And Garin, being the creative, enthusiastic foodie that he is, will learn tons and, we’re hopeful, will come back and visit soon.  To celebrate, a party was thrown, and even though it rained in a downpour the whole night, it was the best party around.

matt, kim & bob

shane, eric & oliva

elizabeth, molly & shana

susie & claire

amazing pig cake made by olivia and heather leavitt

garin, olivia & susie

garin & lisa

All the best to you Garin.  We love you and miss you already.  There’s a Selma Cafe chair waiting for you when you come on by our kitchen when you’re back in town.

~Lisa, Jeff & all the RP&F friends and volunteers who had the pleasure of your company.

Carol Palms, an enthusiastic and generous instrumental music teacher at Slauson Middle School is bringing her students to play us some tunes this Friday.  We are thrilled to have them!  Please take a monment and read Carol’s message:

The Slauson 8^th grade orchestra is a dedicated group of 28 students (17 violins, 6 violas, 3 cellos and 2 string basses – what you’d call a perfectly balanced ensemble!) who have played together since the sixth grade.  They rehearse at school every day during fifth hour.  They recently played their final school performance on May 6 in the Slauson Middle School Auditorium.  Soon after that concert, we began to think about fun and meaningful ways to end our school year together.

Many of the kids liked the idea of “busking” on the streets of Ann Arbor for tips!  Well, since you have to obtain a license or a permit to do something like that, we realized that might not work for us.  Instead, we asked the folks at the SELMA Café if we could play at their home during a Friday morning breakfast.  They said “YES!”

As their orchestra teacher, I’m especially happy to see these students putting their energy into a healthy and worthwhile cause such as this.  They are all helping to plan our big event: Josseline is making sure all the kids will have a ride there, Vishal is our equipment manager, Melanie and Chanda are our music librarians, Beth, Tim and Iris have made some great posters and flyers, Keely is writing those important thank you notes, some of the kids will even be clearing the compost and wood chips out of the driveway so we have a space to play, and Chenxi is running the musical rehearsals.

Speaking of the music – we’re going to play some of our favorite OLDIES BUT GOODIES from their 6^th and 7^th grade orchestra concerts!  Some songs, like “Dragon Hunter” and “March of the Metro Gnome”, are easy and a little bit goofy, but we might also satisfy the more sophisticated listener with Tchaikovsky’s “Trepak” and Vivaldi’s “Concerto in g minor for two celli.”

We want to thank the volunteers at the SELMA Café who have embraced this idea.  The kids will be learning a lot about the local food movement when Jeff and Tomm visit our classroom on Wednesday.  They’ll also understand how rewarding it can be to do community service.

Hoping to see all food-lovers and music-lovers put a little something in our “tip jar” – and wait ‘til you see our tip jar!  Music begins at 7:30 am ‘til about 8:30 am.

Sincere thanks from their proud and excited teacher – Carol Palms.

Be sure to come by and enjoy this great group of students, while supporting Selma Cafe.  Big thanks to Carol for making this happen!

~Lisa

sunset through the hoops

Check out a little moving pictures taste of the muddy fun out at Sunseed Farm yesterday right here.  More photos and thanks coming soon.

~Lisa

Suzy and Nora are back, inviting us to taste their breakfast goods.  The first time the girls took part, it was to help us celebrate our first anniversary, and now we get to help them celebrate their first!  Fresh off a visit from Anthony Bordain and a new menu for the spring season, they are ready to rev us up for our big hoop building weekend.  There seems to be some road trip story about a desperate breakfast stop at a certain well known fast food joint that has led them to cook up what we will call:
·        M. C. Griddle Cake breakfast sandwiches – two pancakes filled with egg, cheese and your choice of bacon or pancetta
·        A simple omelet –eggs gone fluffy with seasonal herbs, served with toast and bacon
A little hoop greens will round out the both
Don’t forget our “fruit seasonal” (sometimes freeze-onal) regular breakfast choices: Waffles with gingered apples or blueberries and Lisa’s bread pudding (blueberry this week, and sweetened with honey until Michigan figures out how to grow some non-GMO sugar!)

Looking forward to seeing you in our kitchen!