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Racks, Ranks, and Rabble-Rousing!

Racks, Ranks, and Rabble-Rousing!

Hey all, hope you're having a good July so far. It was great to see so many of you at the Artisan Market on Saturday. Here's the newsletter for this week:

This Week in the Commons

My most exciting project this week was making a new version of the rack I use for tying basket handles. My technique for making basket handles is something I developed from scratch a couple of years ago, so I've had to figure out how to build my own tools for it along the way. It's been a fun mental exercise, and a nice antidote to the passive buy-it-now influence of consumer culture.

When I first started making baskets, I made the handles by attaching the clips to the wire shelves of the firewood rack in my living room and running the paracord between them. It worked well as a proof of concept, but the handle lengths were limited by the configuration of the shelves, and even I can get sick of staring at firewood eventually 😉

A handle tying rack made out of adjustable shelving parts and clamped to a closet door

Version two was made out of some leftover parts from an adjustable shelving project. It let me make the handles whatever length I liked, and I could set it up anywhere with a door or other vertical surface I could clamp it to. It worked quite well, and it's what I used to make most of the handles available in our shop right now. The only big drawback was that the bottom "arm" of the rack tended to fall out whenever the rack wasn't under tension, and that made it less than ideal for teaching beginners how to make the handles. So for the last six months or so, I've been trying to come up with something sturdier.

Eventually, I hit on the idea of using threaded inserts. (More accurately, I hit on the idea of using "those metal things that let you screw the legs onto a flat-pack table" and then googled around to figure out what they're actually called 😂)

I had to order the inserts online, but once they'd arrived (and spent a couple of weeks on the procrastination shelf) I was able to combine them with some scrap wood and spare parts I had lying around to make quite a nice little frame. It's much more portable than the last one, and much more beginner-friendly. Nate's already used it to make a couple of handles of his own. I still have a bit more testing to do, and it would be nice to figure out a good floor stand for it, but in another month or two I hope to be offering lessons down at the Artisan Market for anyone who's interested in learning.

Rank MI Vote logo

In other news, the Rank MI Vote petition campaign is really starting to get into gear. Locally, we're going to start meeting every Tuesday at 6pm down at the Artisan Market picnic tables. Signature collection starts this weekend, so now is the perfect time to get involved. We're going to have about six months to collect more than 600,000 signatures state-wide, and we want the White Lake area to be over-represented in that total 😊 If you can't make it to the Tuesday meetings but you'd like to help out, email me at wiley.fry@rankmivote.org and we can figure out a time to meet one-on-one.

Coming Up Next Week

  • Monday, 6pm - Montague City Planning Commission
  • Tuesday, 6pm - Local Rank MI Vote volunteers' meeting at the Artisan Market
  • Wednesday, 6pm - White Lake Climate Action Committee meeting
  • Thursday, Noon-1pm - "Good Trouble" civil rights protest at the Weathervane
  • Friday, Noon-1pm - Dance For Democracy protest at the Weathervane
  • Saturday, 9am-2pm - Seed packet folding at the Artisan Market

Food of the Week: Oxalis

The very happy carpet of oxalis plants that has completely covered my compost pile

I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that the media has been lying to you about what clover looks like. You know the classic St. Patrick's Day image of the clover leaf with its heart shaped leaves? That's not actually a clover. Clovers have round or oval leaves. The cartoon leprechaun LIED to us! Next we'll find out that marshmallows aren't required for a balanced breakfast 🤯Those heart-shaped leaves actually belong to a family of plants called Oxalis, or Wood Sorrel, and now that you've learned that curséd knowledge, you too will be slightly annoyed every time a "clover" pops up in popular media.

The good news is that while actual clover tastes fairly boring, wood sorrel is pretty tasty. It's a natural source of vitamin C, and adds a pleasant tartness to salads or sandwiches. It's high in oxalic acid, so folks with a history of kidney stones should be cautious, but most people will get tired of the taste long before they eat enough to cause any problems. It's extremely abundant around here, and often shows up as a garden weed, so give it a nibble next time it crosses your path.

Solidarity Steps

A picture of a sealed ballot return envelope

The solidarity theme this week is elections! First off, if you're in the Muskegon Library District, it's very important to vote in the August 5th library millage election. Public libraries are right up there with unions when it comes to solidarity in institutional form. The millage funds the library system's operation budget, and if it doesn't pass we could be looking at significant reductions in operating hours and services. If you vote by mail, your ballot probably showed up a week or two ago, so make sure you get it filled out and back to your city/township clerk as soon as possible.

Speaking of clerks, another way to help out this election cycle is to sign up as an election inspector. Inspectors help clerks on election day with whatever needs doing to help elections run smoothly, including checking in voters, answering questions, and tabulating the results. You can apply to become an inspector by printing out this form and bringing it to your city or township clerk.

Recommendation Corner

Have you ever considered getting some formal training in grassroots organizing? If so, you're in luck, because applications are open for a couple of training cohorts from organizations I trust:

  • Solidarity Is is offering a 6-week training program on using transformative solidarity to enact local and broadser change. Applications are due by 7/21.
  • The George Jackson Organizing School is taking applicants for their Fall 2025 cohort, with applications due by 8/03.

These are both in-depth trainings that prepare participants to build power for real change in their communities. I can't recommend them highly enough.

Concession to Capitalism

We're up to 96 newsletter subscribers, and we're hoping to hit 120 by the end of the summer! If you've got local friends who might enjoy a weekly dose of projects, plants, and community organizing, forward them this email! I think I finally figured out how to embed a sign-up block, so non-subscribers should see a signup form right below this section. (If that didn't work, or if you want to check out previous issues of the newsletter, you can find a signup form and our archive here)

This Week's Nails

You made it to the end of the newsletter, and that means you get to see this week's nails! I kept it fairly simple this week, though the "white" background polish has a multi-chrome shimmer effect that ranges from pink to green depending on lighting conditions.

Thanks for reading this week's newsletter, and I hope to see you around town soon.