It all started with a pipe burst on Wyoming Street in February of this year. The property owner (us) had to cover repairs, putting quite the unexpected dent in our budget. Repairs also called for the removal of mature trees from the MUD Site, leaving the street entrance to the Read more…
This past month, we’ve had a two-part lightweight fabric-on-frame boat building workshop, led by Mark Jaqua. I got the chance to talk to Mark this past weekend and it was a really great chat. We talked about the accessibility and affordability of the design, the joy that one can take Read more…
June 19-25 is Pollinator Week, a time to recognize the importance of pollinators within our ecosystems and share ways to support their wellbeing. At MUD, we have been working over the last 3 years to create a welcoming environment for both native pollinators and honey bees around our site. We Read more…
During a recent round of hiring interviews at MUD I noticed a very strong theme developing. Almost every applicant we spoke to at some point credited their mom for inspiring them to take on DIY projects ranging from gardening to building to painting. It made me realize what a special Read more…
Written By Kathleen O’Brien, MUD Workshop Coordinator It’s a rather idyllic experience to walk out your backdoor, down the porch, and out to your chicken coop to collect eggs on a crisp morning. Not to mention the joy of cooking with freshly harvested eggs – store bought yolks simply pale Read more…
March 5-11 is the 25th Annual Women in Construction Week which celebrates and promotes the role of women in the construction industry. According to the National Association of Women in Construction website (https://www.nawic.org/), “women numbered 10.9 percent of the entire U.S. construction workforce in 2022” and “the gender pay gap Read more…
Written by Kathleen O’Brien, MUD Tool Librarian and Workshop Coordinator One of the hardest things I’ve come to learn is that if you want to be good at something, you first have to be a beginner. There are endless questions I’ll ask, followed by confusion, frustration and need for clarification. Read more…
Hello! My name is Emily Kempe and I am an intern at MUD while I work on my master’s degree in social work at the University of Montana. “What is a social worker doing at a tool library?” you might ask. Well, social work can happen at all levels of Read more…
As I watched this winter’s snow melt, I plotted my backyard garden with the same fervor that I planned my own wedding. After years of renting, I was soon to be a first-time member of the home-gardening club, and I was ready. After the maps were drafted and the spreadsheets complete…
It’s an overcast morning in late February, and Missoula’s northside neighborhood is quiet except for the backyard of Mark Vander Meer, where embers pop from a fire pit and iron clangs against steel. Vander Meer, blacksmithing hobbyist and owner of the Missoula companies Bad Goat Forest Products and Watershed Consulting, Read more…
