At Home With Nature

Here at Community GroundWorks, we often talk about the need to incorporate sustainable practices into everyday life.  And when we talk about that, we're usually referring to gardening or farming.  This summer, though, a new partnership with the Madison Waldorf School will help us bring green buildings into local yards--in addition to gardens.

Our project, At Home With Nature, includes a garden raffle that is a joint fundraiser for Community GroundWorks and the Madison Waldorf School.  This raffle brings in talented local green architects, builders and suppliers to offer garden structures for expanding outdoor experiences.  We'll raffle off four amazing green structures.  You can read about each one below, and see pictures of them in the poster below.

1.  Garden Shed: Designed and built by Design Coalition Architects & TDS Custom Construction.  "This 8’ x 8’ garden shed - constructed using salvaged and leftover building materials – is designed to accommodate a variety of possible uses. As a simple garden shed, windows illuminate the interior creating a day lit work space for gardening activities. In addition, if the structure is placed on site with windows facing south, the shed can provide a sheltered place for spring seed starts. If the structure’s orientation is flipped 180 degrees,  the shed can be converted to a solar shed by mounting solar electric panels on the 45 degree pitch of the roof while storing batteries inside. The shed’s design also allows for easy conversion to other uses such as a chicken coop,  a children’s playhouse,  bicycle storage, and rainwater collection. Finally, the shed will be built using a panelized system allowing for easy deconstruction and transport."
 
2.  Chicken Coop: Designed and built by Green2 Building Association.  "The chicken coop features locally grown, sustainably harvested, solar kiln-dried hardwood.  The frame, walls, floor, doors and nesting boxes are made from a variety of wood species, including aspen, oak, walnut, and cherry.  The coop is roofed with cedar shingles produced from a tree at Taliesin.  The roost is made of a natural aspen tree trunk.  The design, with its broad overhangs and Cherokee red accents, alludes to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright.  The coop is designed to be mobile so that the chickens can be regularly moved to new patches of grass."
 
3.  Gazebo: Designed and built by Wood Joiners.  

"A simple structure
material standing dead
an allusion to illusion
more beautiful
a responsibility
an opportunity
to be like a tree
oil free
forward
on Wisconsin
land ethic
Thanks"
 
4.  Play Structure: Designed and Built by Brian DiGeorge- materials from Yager Wood Products.  "I wanted to build a play house that someone would want to keep in their garden or yard even if they did not have kids to play on it.  The design allows children to enjoy the outside environment.  Hopefully, the structure will provide a space for children to engage in some creative and imaginative play.  The material is locally harvested black locust.  This wood is naturally rot resistant and a great alternative to treated lumber."

The drawing for these four structures will be held on Saturday, July 10th at 3 pm at Troy Gardens.  Tickets for the raffle are being sold in advance at all 5 Barriques locations, Tuvalu coffee house in Verona, and the Willy Street Co-op, as well as during the Olbrich Home Garden Tour on July 9 and 10 at Troy Gardens.  Structures will be on display at Troy Gardens during the garden tour.  Raffle tickets are $10 each (or 5 for $40, 10 for $70, and 15 for $100).  For more information, please contact Christie at christie@troygardens.org or at 608.240.0409.