Visit some good friends of Blue Rock Station...

At Blue Rock Station, a green living farm, we take pride in our ability to translate green living principles (repair, reuse, reduce, recycle, respect) into ways to live happy and fulfilling lives.  

The goal for the summer intern program is to provide a wide range of opportunities for each person who lives, eats and works at the farm to find their own definition of green living by designing and building at least one project.

Interns live and work at Blue Rock Station.  Annie and Jay Warmke, the owners and operators have lived in other parts of the world and enjoy hosting interns from around the globe, as well as from the US.    

Blue Rock Station plays host to many international groups annually and encourages an exchange of learning among visitors and interns.  Sustainable living translates easily into any language.

Contact Annie for more information.

Activities 2010 at Blue Rock Station

• assist in the week-long strawbale build (begins Memorial Day weekend) and/or the strawbale builds (July & August) to create a small cottage in the forest
• assist in designing and building a solar energy project (if the grant is approved) for heating water and providing electricity for the goat/llama barn
• participate in small strawbale/plastic bottle builds at other sites
• learn how to make and apply mud plasters:  working on the two-bed cottage, Earthship living room, intern chalet, and sunroom
• assist in the construction of a permanent solar oven
• assist in creating new raised beds for gardening
• assist with planting and keeping of garden (food production)
• assist in the design and building of a fireplace that will also provide hot water  
• Various carpentry projects  
• general farm chores that might include feeding llamas, milking goats, mowing fields, working in the garden, chasing llamas when they get out, etc.
• lead and participate in tours
• assist in finish work of passive solar sun porch
• participate in llama treks
• participate in cooking and canning classes
• assist other interns in their projects – specifically designed by each intern

                                     One Intern’s Spring Recap

Past Interns:

Over the past three summers we’ve had the great pleasure to work with several interns at Blue Rock Station.  This has been a relationship that has inspired and taught us a great deal about the future.  

If you’re interested in being an intern at Blue Rock Station please take a glance at some of the incredible people who’ve contributed to our work in sustainable living.  A list of upcoming projects is available upon request.

2007-

Elyse Perruchon – Oberlin College, Oberlin Ohio

Elyse is a gifted environmental scientist who left her mark here.  She worked on several construction projects, including completion of the summer field fencing, learning carpentry and plastering.  Some of her time was spent creating menus and producing outstanding meals.  Her art is evident in the signs she created and the whimsical woodland sprite faces found throughout The Station.  After leaving her internship she went to work for Environ Corporation ( www.environcorp.com ) as an environmental consultant and serves on the organizing committee for Ohio Green Living.org.  She and her partner, Stephanie, along with their cat Marley live on a farm near Cleveland, Ohio.

Visit her blog at http://luminarylane.tumblr.com/

Caroline Ebert – Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, Ohio

Caroline is a gifted artist who has a keen interest in sustainable living.  She used her time at The Station to learn construction skills, including plastering.  Her most famous contribution is the painting of the outhouse beside the parking lot.  Some of her time was spent cooking terrific food, and learning to make healthy drinks like soda pop and kombucha.  Since completing her studies she is eagerly looking forward to a paying job.

Hannah McGeary – Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, Ohio

Hannah used her time at The Station to assist in plastering and the painting of the outhouse beside the parking lot.  She brought great imagination, and beautiful guitar playing in the evenings.

2008-

Nans Thommasey – INSA School of Engineering, Grenoble, France

Nans learned how to merge art and engineering when he designed and built the Llama Lounge in the summer field.  He enjoyed working with other students, and constantly exploring sustainable principles for engineering.  Besides designing and building a heat exchange system for the master bedroom, he also designed a strawbale cottage – the “Fire Fly”.  Upon graduation he worked managing an organic restaurant in Wales, and departed in September, 2008 to hitchhike around the world with his friend Guilliame.  They will exchange their skills for travel stay – we hope to see them again in North America soon.

Ashley Olwine – Ohio University, Dayton, Ohio

Ashley learned how to cook, grow vegetables, and do a variety of construction jobs including putting slate on a roof.  She designed and constructed a labyrinth with signage that is used regularly with tours and school students to ask them to think about the footprint they are making on the earth.  Each morning she helped with chores, learning to milk a goat, and lots about herd management.  She enjoyed running in the woods (she trains for marathons) so she created benches and a table in the llama trek picnic area of the Great Beech Tree Woods.  Currently she is in graduate school at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Jean Phillipe Buti – INSA School of Engineering, Bastia, Corsica

Jean Phillipe brought his bread making and cooking skills to The Station.  He designed and built a solar shower building called “The Corsica”.  The building used 95% reused materials including 500 one-gallon milk jugs for the shower area.  Water is collected from the garage gutter to create a warm comfortable shower.  He also designed the passive solar radiant floor heat collector for the sunroom.  Upon returning to France he completed his fifth year of engineering school, and will serve an internship in Morocco.

2009-

Kelly Lewis - Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Kelly worked as an intern during the summer between her graduation from high school and entrance to Ohio State's College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences. During her month on the farm, Kelly's major contribution was the "Rethinking Garden" on the Eastern portion of the house which consists of a variety of blueberry and huckleberry plants as well as a "Bottle-Tree" in the tradition of certain tribes in Kenya. The garden takes its name from the lessons Kelly learned on the farm, namely "to have the courage to truly rethink your impact upon the planet, what is important to you in life, and how you would like to be remembered". Kelly also learned some basic vegetarian cooking and strawbale building skills. She helped engineer and craft the sunburst over the front door, created an herb garden on the Northern side of the plastic bottle greenhouse, and helped edit a textbook on green technology. Finally, Kelly assisted with daily chores and the llama treks, learning the basics of large animal care and becoming quite a proficient goat milker.

Mathews Silva - Everglades High School, Miami, FL

Mathews is a freshman Everglades High School in Miramar, FL and is interested in a variety of sciences and topics.  When he is ready for college he thinks he will go into some sort of science field.

When I think about my time at Blue Rock Station one word comes to mind and that’s “Freedom”.  When I look back at all of the things I accomplished there, such as

• Organizing millions of seeds to form their first seed bank
• Learning how to apply earth plaster
• Helping paint window frames for screens
• Painting designs on rain barrels
• Putting on the best Fourth of July firework show in my life (It was so good people “ran” for joy)
• Planning and cooking up meals for up to 17 people
• Learning to drive
• Starting and planting seeds
• Learning how to preserve foods in jars
• Helping with chores such as gathering eggs and feeding the llamas, goats, chickens and my favorite was milking the goats
• And I can’t forget when I volunteered at Comfest

I am very happy that I got to have this experience at only 14 years of age.  Not many people do.  So to me Blue Rock Station is the best place where you can really know what the freedom of sustainable living really means.

Annie B. Siemer

Annie B. is an artist, naturalist, farmer and so much more. Her time at Blue Rock Station was spent earth plastering the Fire Fly, as well as working on several other buildings. Annie conducted a workshop for children on leaf identification. She was also a guerilla farmer – dropping sunflower seeds in amazing places, planting heirloom corn, and spreading seeds on top of the Fire Fly living roof. Annie’s art skills show up in every aspect of the work that she completed at BRS, including the tree etching demonstrating each of the types of trees on the land surrounding the Fire Fly.

Nans interviewed during straw bale build by reporters from Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Caroline, Annie and Elyse in 2007.

Hannah getting clay for mud plastering, and building a raised bed in the process.

Ashley and Jean Phillipe earth plastering the sun room.

Nans milking Eleanore Rigby.

Caroline demonstrating the latest in mudding fashion wear.

Jean Phillipe working on his engineering thesis for graduation.  Yes, wireless Internet is available at Blue Rock Station. View Report

Ashley tries her hand at milking the goats.  All the food at Blue Rock Station is produced locally.

Kelly cutting and arranging bottles to create sunburst design in earth-plaster wall.

Mathews and Kelly experimenting with tanning rabbit skins.

Annie B hard at work mixing mud for plastering.