Pre-Thanksgiving Festivities at the Building Trades Office

     The CCYD Building Trades participants, and I (Toma Solano) took it easy at the office today. We watched a couple of movies, ate some turkey and the like, and did a little tidying up of the shop. For all of their hard work the guys got a little extra pay as well as a Thanksgiving bonus.

     Sadly I only got pictures of the carnage that was left afterwards.

       Here my girlfriend can be seen assisting in the clean up. She made the awesome banana bread seen in the picture above.

Finally! Easily Accessible Water for B-more Community Gardens

       The CCYD Building Trades Program has joined forces with Baltimore Green Space, the Parks and People Foundation and The Baltimore Office of Sustainability to provide easily accessible water to Baltimore   Community gardens and Farms in an irrigation installation pilot project. The pilot could fund as many as 8 gardens/farms with ground hydrants!
       We've broken ground at both the Uppers Fells Point Improvement Association and the Homestead Harvest Community Gardens. We're just waiting on the arrival of the hydrants to finish off the installations. If your community garden is in need of water and you haven't applied for the pilot project contact the Parks and People Foundation (410)-448-5663 and ask for Valerie Rupp for more information.

Upper Fells Point Improvement Association Community Garden

A buried length of PVC pipe meant to be used as a conduit for flexible copper pipe helped us bridge the gap in between when the garden stewards needed the sidewalk installed and when our plumber could show up. 

Homestead Harvest Community Garden

Continued Work On Whitelock St. Farm Pergola

               A crew who overcomes obstacles is one that cannot be stopped. As you can see our crew of 3(with the help of Ms.Elisa) finds a way to lift a  700-900 pound beam on top of our 6x6x12 posts. We constructed braces on the side of our beam so that we could use the Comealong to crank the large piece of lumber up on one side. After that was secured in its temporary position. We also used a ladder as a secondary safety device to catch the beam if the Comealong were to fail. Cooperation Communication and Preservation, is what every team needs in situations like this. On the next day we installed some of the pergolas joists. Notice the decorative ends !

                                                                                                                          written by Rhamell Scott

A New Pergola for the Whitelock St. Community Farm!

             The CCYD Building Trades Program participants are currently building a pergola next to the shed that we built over the summer! It will make a nice shady area for farm workers and visitors to congregate during the sunny months. Stay tuned for updates throughout the finishing process.

While we were attaching the ledger board for the pergola a local elementary school  group came to  tour the garden.

Building Trades Office Renovation

             The CCYD Buildings Trades Program participants assisted in the addition of two deadbolt secure-able closets and a vestibule. The vestibule is complete with a clerestory window allowing for light to enter the office space, without compromising security.