10 - the hammock

Permaculture project: Hammock

Focalized by Kyle,

Supported by everyone.

So, the plan was,

We planned for a massive hammock big enough for jumping, swinging, and general awesomeness. The material was a found fishing net from the beach, sewn into a rectangular shape and a two-by-four was attached at either end. The site was a spot where the same project was attempted previously, and had two existing posts that we hoped to use for supporting the new hammock. We didn’t plan out how it would be done as far as the method of building it, but hoped for some creativity to take place on the day of the project.

What got executed?

The day of the project, we built a great hammock. We wiggled the existing posts to take them out. This took no time at all with the ground in Scotland and its constantly being rained on. The ground was forgiving, and didn’t create any obstacles for us. It seemed to enjoy our contributions. Once the holes were dug, we tossed in the two pine posts. There was a construction site of a stone building down the road where we borrowed a wheel barrow, and collected chips of stone. These acted as a sturdier and less prone to the rain connection to the ground for the posts. We pounded the stone into the hole around the base of the two posts, with a heavy tamping rod to hold the posts confidently in the ground. Once the posts were secure, we connected the net to them using twisted recycled rope.

This was a good way for the hammock to stay, but could be improved upon. The idea came up to add a top post that would connect the two standing posts. We went out with Craig to the forest to find a post and trailer it back. The bark was taken off, and long nails driven to connect the posts. Our project was completed and the people were flying from right and left into the net.

Who helped it all happen?

Everyone helped it all happen. There was Emily digging away from the start. Josh was keen on smashing rocks with the tamping rod, and driving nails into the top post. Craig was the forester, forager, and tractor driver. Emma brought a lot of fun while taking pictures, joining in on the rock smashing, and hammock tester. Oren came to the forest to collect the top post, and added to the de-barking efforts. I was focalizer, and jack of all trades. There were countless hammock quality testers, laughers, gigglers, piles ups of people in the big fish-net. There was support in getting materials from Craig. The YP was supporting us with excitement about a hammock. The project felt like a day of play, and the hammock was built as a manifestation of out enjoyment of working together and creating.

Tell somethin’ good

As the day was coming to an end, the YP started to come home from school. The hammock was just about to be completed, and as soon as it was they were hopping in, climbing all over the posts and loved to have a huge net to toss themselves in and look at the sky while held hanging over the ground.