The Great Greenhouse Build at Arcadia Farm - Veteran Farmer Reserve Program

We want YOU to lace up your work boots! Get out your gloves! BRING YOUR AWESOME! You are warmly invited to come be a part of history in the making! **MUST RSVP to attend this event** Please see link below to fill out your registration. The Mission Continues and Arcadia Farm are partnering together for veterans! We will be building a 24-foot by 60-foot high tunnel greenhouse for a brand-new veterans agricultural training program called the Farmer Reserve Program, being held at the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, in Alexandria, VA, near Fort Belvoir. Arcadia is DC's 5th Platoon partner in 2016. The team of veterans in the Farmer Reserve program will work alongside us to build their greenhouse on March 12, which is during one of their Reserve weekends. These women and men spend one weekend a month at Arcadia farm for intensive cultivation skills training, botany lessons, business training, and field visits to other farms. Reservists will also spend two weeks during the year in full-on farm work to learn the rhythms, challenges and rewards of agriculture. We will assemble small teams to construct each metal "rib" of the greenhouse and then place and fasten the polyfilm over it to create the "shell." No advanced construction skills are needed - just a willingness to follow directions, have fun, and be a part of an amazing day! SAFETY IS A 5TH PLATOON PRIORITY! Some power tools (drills) will be used, and the finished walls of the greenhouse may be heavy as they are pushed up into place for fastening. Steel-toed work boots are strongly recommended. A full safety briefing will be conducted on build day. 5th Platoon is also recruiting motivated team members for Platoon leadership positions. If you have previous experience in construction or leading small teams, and you would like to put that experience to use, please identify yourself if you are interested in leading a small team of people during this or other build days, or assisting with the pre-planning of this or other projects. Are you ready? Sign up below! LET'S GO!

Type

Service Project

What To Wear

Work boots will be required for safety - steel toed boots are highly encouraged. NO open toed shoes or sandals will be allowed on the work site. Mission Continues T-Shirts will be provided on build day. Dress in layers to accommodate the weather. Wear sturdy work clothes. Work gloves and safety glasses will be available, but if you have your own please bring them.

What to Bring

Bring your AWESOME self, a smile, willingness to follow directions, and have a good time. A personal water bottle is encouraged to ensure you stay hydrated. Water, food, and snacks will be provided. Safety glasses, a hat and the use of sunscreen is encouraged.

Inclement Weather

March 13 (a Sunday) is our alternate build day if we get rained out. In the event that both days are a wash, we will plan for March 25th or 26th.