Category: Projects

This was our first project of the academic year and we had a great turn out of new students despite the cloudy day. The community group gave us lots of tasks including digging up the vegetable patch, bringing gravel up to the top meadow (with the help of Nick and a tractor), working on the meadow, weeding around the apple trees in the orchard and building a path near the willow patch.

Mohamed and I spent most of the day building the gravel path, with significant help from various other dirties who carried gravel up to us. It was absorbing work which to be honest makes it difficult to recall anything anyone else did, as a corner of my brain is still preoccupied with the precise measurements of edging planks and number of stakes needed. Mohamed was renamed Thor because of his precise and effective wielding of the sledgehammer, Dan and Marion worked with us in the rain after lunch sawing planks to make extra stakes. We made about 20 metres of path which was very satisfying!

Here is a brief description of the method we used:

The food was excellent thanks to the many talented people in the Duddingston community group; we munched on bread and soup and home-made cake and sat at the massive picnic table we helped build last year. It was nice to see that it no longer wobbled, as that was a bit of an anti-climax when we all set it up last semester.

Bramble (the senior Labrador of the community group) looked greyer around the muzzle but still full of beans and happy to help us out by standing on our feet and wagging her tail. The puppy called Mogsie was just as wriggly and ridiculous as she was last semester, though slightly taller.

Ratchet screwdriver was a muddy affair with some truly heroic escapes (or mostly grim, determined dragging of opponents along the ground) some of which were filmed on the GoPro by Jesus. It was a typical game which delighted the players and mortified some of the onlookers.

Will (aka Lord Grantham) tried out his new Chinese military shovel and confounded us all by claiming it could shovel, hoe, saw, slice, grapple, defend you from zombies, open beer bottles, write scathing editorials, hammer, open interdimensional portals AND tighten cable wires!

Gareth took up his assigned place in the compost heap and proceeded to coax the plants to decompose by whispering to them at a tonal frequency which only Scotsmen (and some cats) can reach.

 

by Martha Cronin

 

 

I really enjoyed volunteering with dirty weekenders, it was a rather great experience, having to work with people with such fantastic attitude and wide experience, it made me look forward to going back and do more of these projects and be more productive on my Sundays! I would highly recommend this group and it’s projects to anyone for three main reasons; nice food “The sandwiches were amazing!”, good place to learn new stuff, and last but not least the company.

In my day out with dirty weekenders I learned new skills. For example, how to function in a team, divide the tasks between the team members, building birdhouses “writing cheesy messages on them as well haha”, cutting tree branches and garden keeping.

I would like to thank the organisers and everyone who helped in this project, it was wonderful, with a perfect combination of tasks, people, social gathering and science, Cheers !

 

By Mohamed Gatish

Duddingston Village

Once upon a time, there was a village called Duddingston. It had a glorious community garden, famous for magnificent soups freshly prepared by the villagers from vegetables cultivated on the grounds.

One day the village folk noticed their compost bins were full to the brim…

They also decided that as the spring was coming, the garden was in need of a new outdoor area for community gatherings. They dreamt of a sturdy table and a few benches, where they could sit and suntan…

They gathered and wondered how to turn their ideas into reality. Not long afterwards they decided to call for the help of a famous superhero group called the Dirty Weekenders.

Dirties were keen on taking a break from their day jobs, which was intense studying at the Edinburgh University. (As we know, all superheroes have day jobs).

On Sunday 19th March, Dirties were prepared for hard work from dawn until dusk. Their devotion was boundless. Superhero Gareth even spent an entire morning digging through a mountain of compost.

They raked compost, weeded potato patches, and generally helped to clean up the garden after winter.

Then lunchtime came around, and the villagers gifted Dirties with delicacies made by their own bare hands. Dirties replenished energy with freshly baked porridge bread, warm soup, and numerous cups of tea and hot chocolate.

After lunch, they played the traditional game of ratchet-screwdriver. The villagers observed them in awe; however, they said nothing and just recorded this strange ritual on their cameras for future generations of social anthropologists.

Grey clouds gathered and for a moment it seemed as if the rain was to ruin that beautiful sunny day… but (possibly thanks to the ratchet-screwdriver) the clouds passed and the sun brought new energy to the Weekenders. They were ready for further work.

The most challenging task of the day was yet to be completed. Specifically putting the newly made table into place!

First, the ground had to be made flat and stable. This was not easy. Yet, they managed! They also made some impressive sand sculptures, representing the whole picture of human architectural achievement.

Finally, everyone put their strengths together and the mighty table was set upon the ground. The people of Duddingston recorded this memorable moment and rewarded the Weekenders with pots of chives, mint, thymes, and bunches of kale.

Dirties made their way back to the Auld Hoose to rest, eat nachos, and drink golden beverages from mighty crystal glasses. The end.

Written and drawn by Asia Koter