From October 18th through the 26th, Eco3 had the pleasure of hosting the Northern Bedrock Historic Preservation Corps (NBHPC), an organization that provides a variety of services to preserve historic places throughout Minnesota. NBHPC describes its primary goal as to engage the next generation in the preservation trades by partnering with skilled trades professionals and project hosts to provide engaging hands-on learning experiences.
Through an exchange program with NBHPC, we hosted a crew of seven awesome individuals to tackle two major Eco3 projects: the continued revitalization of Legacy House and soil restoration at the Eco3 Farm. Seeing as the Legacy House building has been around since at least 1910, it made sense to partner with an organization whose mission is to preserve historic places.
During their short time at Legacy House, the highly versatile crew dug out the gas meter, built two retaining walls, laid a brick pathway out the back door, developed a water diversion system for the backyard, and did some minor masonry work around the building. Through many hiccups, typical of any house revitalization initiative, the crew showed us nothing but determination and a can-do attitude. We’re so grateful for the myriad of work the crew has done to support the revitalization of this historic property, and hope to display their contributions to the community.
We’d also like to thank the crew for their work at the Eco3 Farm. The crew worked on soil restoration to create fertile growing space in the high tunnel that will contribute to supporting food access and nutrition education for the community.
With shovel and wheelbarrow, the crew excavated soil and mixed in a recipe of amendments, creating four 80-foot long raised beds. By the end of the weekend, the team wore smiles (in addition to many layers of dirt) and marveled at the massive pit that stood testament to their hard work moving soil into the high tunnel. Thanks to the crew for doing the dirty work to support local food systems!
We’re thrilled to have had the opportunity to bring this crew in and let them work their magic. We look forward to any collaboration possibilities in the future!
For any questions about the Legacy House, the soil restoration project, or interest in volunteering feel free to reach out here.