This morning we began building two Leopold benches for the land. These benches are exceptionally important for taking breaks from hard work on the land or for having a lovely seminar discussion. Leopold benches are named after Aldo Leopold who was an activist for land ethics.

Because we did not have a carpenter’s square, we had to use a protractor instead. We measured the angles of the wood and Mr. Mike cut it exactly where it should be. While this was happening, Ms. Jenna was taking pictures of us.

Sanding and rasping the wood was next. Rasping is filing the wood with a cheese grater thing called a rasp to prepare it for sanding. We used sanding blocks to sand the wood and make it smooth. A sanding block is sandpaper stapled onto a small block of wood used as a grip. If there were any rough parts we had to make them as smoothly perfect as possible.

The smell of freshly cut sawdust filled the air as we made more cuts in the wood. Soon we will assemble the benches so they may achieve their life’s purpose. Once they are finished we will get to enjoy their helpful support on the land!

-Paige