The Nest: Grand Rapids, MI

There's a bird that lives in southern Africa called the sociable weaver. It's not much larger than your hand, but its nests envelop entire trees and house communites of over 100 pairs of birds. The sociable weavers live and work together to raise hatchlings (their own, siblings, orphans, EVERYONE). Their nests are also home to other species of birds who build their own nests on top of, next to, and around the sociable weavers'. The symbiotic relationship here is remarkable! Imagine: all of these birds (mostly) getting along and working towards a greater good. We can learn something from them.

The sociable weaver sits nobly upon its branch. 

It's hard to believe something so small has accomplished something so comparatively huge.

The Nest in Grand Rapids, MI - where a few of us were lucky enough to work during our last build day - was inspired by the sociable weaver. A few years ago, Matt and his wife Krisin Fowler planted a neighborhood garden in Grand Rapids. The garden quickly became a place for neighbors to decompress, feed their families (most of the garden is edible), and mingle. Having seen the positive impact the garden made on this neighborhood, someone donated the home adjacent to the garden to the project. The couple plans to live on the second floor with their soon to be newborn, rent out one or two bedrooms monthly, and will always have one room available for those who find themselves suddenly in need. Eventually, The Nest (as they've dubbed the home) will serve as a gathering place for the Fowler's neighbors and friends: people can come in and use the kitchen or bathrooms while working in the garden or take an art or cooking class (Matt was especially excited to learn a few recipes for the collared greens the neighborhood grows) or congregate inside when it gets dark out after a barbecue.

The Nest in its current condition.

Now, after some serious demolition, Matt and Kristin are refurbishing the home into Grand Rapids' first "Living Building." The Nest will collect and purify rain water, be heated by a central wood-burning stove, and generate its own energy through solar panels. A Living Building certification is the most stringent sustainability standard internationally and requires that the building's net energy from inception be zero (that includes the energy required to drive to the home while building) and use only local, sustainable materials, amongst other regulations. By the way, did I mention that Matt and Kristin have never done any of this before? Aside from some help from Danny at Wellhouse (the other Grand Rapids organization we worked with), Matt has and is learning to do all of this from the internet. (You can find ANYTHING on the internet. Just ask the Google Machine.)

All of us after a day of weeding and edible tours of the garden.

Clockwise from left: "Steve from Yonkers" Huber, Matt Fowler, Michelle Marrocco, Hannah Langsdale, Sophie Connor, Chris Daly, Angel Weng, Emily Lane, Sally Jones 

Believe it or not, this is a kiwi plant that grows in Michigan!

Non-edible flowers (important distinction as I've recently learned that orange daylillies are edible).

Before we arrived these beds were full of weeds up to my waist, we spent all day working with a group of girls aged ten to twelve cleaning them up.

This might be cabbage. Forgive me, Sophie Gibson has only given me two nature lessons.

After weeding the garden beds, we added hay on top to discourage the weeds. Scolding them proved insufficient.

Don't you wish you could have spent your day here?