Construction Manual

CONSTRUCTION MANUAL

>> Please remember whose ancentral land you’re cultivating on. The site is sitauted on the sacred homelands of the Quinnipiac nation, the descendants of indigenous people who occupied so-called Connecticut for over 8,000 years and steward the shores of Fair Haven for generations before the colonist arrived.

To pay respects, the proposed ‘ownership’ of this land will go back to the Quinnipiac nation through a Land Back Agreement with the City of New Haven.

Kinship Agroecology A peasant-grown method of agriculture, based on multi-generational knowledge and customs, which centers co-production and social reproduction of kin to improve ecosystems.

soil reuse materials

seed storage

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This multi-perspective of production--by humans and non-humans--shifts the process at multiple steps to create productive inefficiencies.

Therefore, the production does not stop for just the human consumer, but has many products along the way for the collective. Eventually the surplus for non-humans will allow raw material to be sustainably available--completing the feedback loop.

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compost

waste

community garden

ship cology

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black water treatment

shellfish

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Combined Sewage Overflow

Gardening hyperaccumulators Community gardeners will grow hyper-accumulators to take up heavy metals and other toxins in the soil. Right after frost, stewards will pull out plants and churn the soil, adding leaves and other compost. Cycle continues next season.

Constructing chinampas Community members will build mounds during spring to prepare the landscape to welcome a chinampas system. Chinampas was invented by the Aztecs and relied on flooding to grow crops and control wastewater as fertilizer.

Composting Grow and harvest some kelp to add to the compost! Kelp is a great fertilizer and will also help clean the water below (Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Soil and Seaweed: Farming Out Way to a Climate Solution).

Also, Peels on Wheels, a local New Haven composting business has a relationship with Phoenix Press Farms. They will take your compost and come back with soil via bike.

Kin Build a shelter for your fellow companions (we recommend placing this near your fireplace or refrigerator to snag some warmth.

Chickens love eating weeds, so be sure to save some of that compost for them! They may lay a couple eggs for you and your fellow kin.

Assembly The structural grid is laid out on the site--each square is 3 x 3m. The gutters will collect rainwater, use this to water plants, wash vegetables, or let your companions take a sip!

Fill the grid with various floor options: one for farming, another for working or resting, and a last one for collecting rainwater.

There are also a few wall options, each able to be manipulated however you feel fits. Grow some beans or tomatoes against one, or stack cinder-blocks to allow light from one direction, or not at all!

Structure The seed has been planted -- now it’s time to cultivate what you need, whether it’s varous walls, flooring or roofing.

Floors Gather water, soil, kelp, or just lay down cinderblocks--these flooring modules can hold a variety of programs.

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Walls

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These modules can either keep the sun out, or direct it to specific plants. Vine plants--such as beans or tomatoes, can use the walls as support. Turn the cinderblocks to plant smaller platns, such as herbs.

FARMING

EATING AREA

LIBRARY / SEED STORAGE