A day in the ditch

On a cold, bright Sunday we took the first step toward gathering local materials for the Kawartha Environment Centre when a small team of past students and one new student took to the ditches of Highway 115 to gather Fragmite reeds for the thatched entryway to the new building.

We spent a few hours figuring out the best ways to cut and gather the reeds, and ended up with about 25 of the approximately 400 bundles we will need to cover the entryway roof. Thatching is not at all common in Ontario, and commercial harvesting is not available. We ended up liking the use of hand shears, as the various other choppers and hackers we tried did not cut the reeds very cleanly.

Jen & Kat bundling reeds!

Rob & his sickle!