Excellent Adventures with Ted

For this project, Ted was our team's site supervisor. He is an awesome person to be around. He has been very helpful to the team on and off the trail. Ted knows a lot about nature and animals and can tell you anything about any plant that is seen along the trail. A few years ago, Ted suffered a stroke and has problems climbing up and down the trail. Daily, our team leader Darcy or Brad (our assistant team leader for this round) would give Ted rides in the golf cart up and down the trail. Even though Ted had suffered from this stroke it doesn't stop him. He is always on time for work at eight o'clock in the morning happy and ready. Ted is only 57 but he acts like he's 35. He loves to have fun with us on the trail and make jokes. He will be greatly missed by the team when we leave Cincinnati. (Site Supervisor, Ted, and me, Greg, pictured left)

~Greg

Community Day at Gorman Heritage Farm

<----AmeriCorps NCCC Table

For the past three weeks, Christina and I have been planning a Community Day, where we bring in people from the community to the non-profit we are working with. We planned our day as an addition to Gorman Heritage Farm's already planned event called Farm Babies.

We set up a booth to talk to the community about AmeriCorps NCCC. We had pictures of our team and the trails we have been working on. We also showed off some of the tools we have been using. After talking about NCCC, we got to show those that came how to transplant grapevines. We had the younger kids dig the holes at the new location for the grapevines. Then we had them destroy some honey suckle, since grapevine roots are too sensitive for some younger children to dig up.

<-----From Left - Greg, Christina, Hillary

Unfortunately, the weather was extremely windy and rainy. We still had the event and set up our tent, but the only brave souls that made it were cub scouts. Most ranged from the age of 3 to 9. The parents all seemed very interested in learning about AmeriCorps NCCC. Most people did not want to stay out in the cold to help with the grapevines, but we did have a few energetic kids that removed some honeysuckle. After the eighty or some cub scouts came and left we waited another 45 minutes in the cold and when no one else showed up, we called it a day.


~Hilary

PT -aka- Physical Training

Our team does physical training three times a week. We do it to get in shape for our jobs. Physical training helps our team a lot because a long day of hard labor we can relax and put our minds on something else. For our first round, we got passes to a local gym for free from a staff member of Gorman Heritage Farm. That helps our team a lot because we do not have to do the same thing over and over. We are able to go to the gym and do different things on our own. There are all kinds of weight machines, cardio machines, and gyms available to us.

From L to R: Hillary, Christina, Darcy, Gaby, Diana

We use the fitness center as a team on Monday where everyone can choose to do individual activities. On Wednesday, we play team sports like soccer, football or capture the flag. Friday is our “free” day where we are free to do whatever activities we want for PT. Some people run the trails at the farm. Some people use work out videos. I like to go to the soccer fields that surround the gym and play pick up games.

From L to R: Drew, Phil, Sam, Greg, Brad

I have met many new people at the fitness center. Many have become my friends. We play soccer together. Most of them are the same age as me. It has been a lot of fun getting to know so many locals outside of the farm.

A Reflection on Trail Building

Darcy cutting invasive honeysuckle

T ense with each other because we’re in each other’s faces all the time and we’re all very different.

R ewarding seeing an immediate result and realizing how much we’re helping the sponsor.

A ltruistic feeling like I’m doing something good for my country without expecting a lot in return.

I mpressed with my teammates and myself.

L imited in my own knowledge and skills, humbled.

B ananas we eat a lot of them. ‘nuff said.

U nprepared was excited to do this project, but didn’t know what I was getting myself into.

I nterested in the mission of Gorman Heritage Farm, the project as a whole, and the NCCC program.

L earning about myself, my teammates, and conservation.

D emanding the physical labor itself!

I ndependent all of Maple 4, coming out here on our own without knowledge about each other or the tasks.

N ew skills learning how to trail build, feed animals, do manual labor, work in our rep roles etc.

G rowing as individuals and as a team (insert group hug here)

~Darcy (Team Leader)

Trail Building: The Tools and Techniques

Brad, here. In Americorps NCCC, each team member has a given role on the team. My role on Maple 4 is the VST, which means I am responsible for our team Vehicle, the overall Safety of the team, and the Tools we use on our project. On our current trailbuilding project, we use a variety of tools. Some are very common, and some are specialty tools for our project. The tools we are using on any given day depend on which phase of work the new trail is on: Clearing, Uprooting, and Benching.

Clearing: When we first start a trail, the route is often impassible due to vegetation in the forest. We must first clear out this vegetation to even begin to see the route of the trail.

Tools for Clearing

Loppers: We use both large and small loppers to cut vines, branches and honeysuckle up to about 2” in diameter. Loppers cut through small stems quick and are easy to operate.

Bowsaw: A bowsaw is a type of saw used specifically for outdoor sawing of vegetation. We use it for anything that is too big for the loppers to cut through.

Uprooting: After clearing out a path, we are left with many stumps, both small and large, that need to be removed in order to create a flat surface for the trail.

Tools for Uprooting

Shovels: We use basic shovels to dig out some stumps. They not only move and loosen the soil, but they also cut through smaller roots that impede stump removal.

Pulaskis: The Pulaski is a tool that was designed for forest fire-fighting. It has both an axehead and a hoe. For clearing, we use the axehead for roots that are too large to be cut with a shovel.

Honeysuckle Popper: The honeysuckle plant makes up the majority of our stump removals. Because the plant’s roots are shallow, the honeysuckle popper can be used by securing the tool around the base of the plant and simply using leverage to “pop” the plant out of the ground.

Benching: After we have a clear trail, we then begin the task of leveling the grade of it through a process called benching. Benching involves cutting out dirt from the hillside of the trail and using that soil to level out the lower side of the trail.

Tools for Benching

Rhinos: The Rhino, like the Pulaski, was developed as a wildfire-fighting tool. It is a heavy duty hoe that has a sharp edge. We use it to cut into the hillside and pull the dirt out. We also use the hoe end of the Pulaski for this same purpose.

Bow (or Garden) Rake: After ripping the dirt up, we use these rakes to break up dirt clumps and level out the trail so that it is easy to walk on.

~Brad

Horses, Pigs and a Donkey…Oh my!

Hillary and I learned how to walk the two mini horses and the donkey on Sunday. Shorty is a miniature dwarf horse, Huckleberry is a miniature horse and Stormy is the donkey. To walk the horses you must first know that Stormy and Shorty cannot be separated because Shorty will get very upset. They all have different sized heads and it takes a while to figure out which Halter fits on which horse. Also the donkey walks very slowly and Huckleberry tips his head down every five minutes to eat grass. Huckleberry also tries to walk sideways into you so he can get over to the grass. Shorty just enjoys the view. Kelsey, one of the workers at the farm helped us out to learn about the mini horses. For the walk we took them out and around the alfalfa, corn and wheat fields. They seem to really enjoy it especially when we stopped and let them have a snack for a bit.

We also got to be the first on our team to meet the new baby pigs and lambs that arrived on the farm. The pigs are pretty shy and tend to huddle in the corner when you open the door, but they are the cutest especially when they oink. The lambs are also really cute; there are five boys and one girl. Kelsey informed us that the girl seems to be the leader and protector of the group, she is pretty tough. Then a volunteer at the farm took us on a horse drawn wagon ride with the farm pony, Ringo, pulling us around. This was fun, but bumpy and since the back of the wagon had no cushion, it got a bit uncomfortable sitting down. It was a cool way to view the farm, almost like it was the 1800’s again.

~Christina