Synergy In Sustainability

Tolman’s The SILO On Six project opens gates to public in soft opening May 11; followed by Diner En Blanc fundraiser evening event

CLIFTON – Boundless ideas, boundless energy, boundless help from her friends. This pretty much sums up the newest, multi-facetted project Dr. Deb Tolman’s embarked on with her SILO on Six project. SILO is the acronym for Sustainable Information and Learning Opportunities, which encompasses everything Tolman does; as Dr. Deb as she is also known for living, eating and breathing sustainability.

During an informal, informational soft opening May 11, the public was free to wander the 12-acre lot off Highway 6, just south of Clifton, to see the location, the many projects in progress and to hear the scope of ideas for the area. Mother Nature smiled on this project geared to protecting her, and allowed the day to end without rain on the iconic Diner En Blanc fundraiser.

Technically The Project Silo on Six is what’s called a Community Recreation District, which in this case includes all things sustainable. Environmental Science studies the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance. This ecological balance translates into sustainability – the potential ability to maintain itself. Community Recreation District sounds a bit dry, but visionary, charismatic, creative Tolman plans on giving the community a Bosque Garden of Eden but with the slogan “sustainability connecting people to plants to pets to professions,” adding practical uses benefitting the community and environment alike.

“The goal of the SILO Project is to help launch for-profit businesses with a sustainable element, provide healthy relationships between the outdoors and people, and to have fun in the process,” Tolman says on her website. “People need nature; our food, our water, our health, and our jobs all rely on the health of the planet's ecosystems.”

With that in mind, there are already a retail shop with fun items including air dried strawberries, seed bombs, bird houses and décor; a gathering place/amphitheater with a stage; a park with a circumventing dog walk with rest benches – approved and tested by Ranger Nick, Tolman’s rescue dog – with eye catching objects along the way like the reused bicycles, the wiped out cyclist, the silver hand beckoning towards the restroom facility, the metal skunk in the compost berm, the bottle wall by the Java Shack and the metal laundry blowing in the breeze. There are key hole gardens, wild flower fields, a bug hotel – designed and built by former intern and Clifton High School student Shea O’Reilly – and so much more, like the yellow MG-B that will be converted into a flower bed. The bee hives are already in place, with the bees busy harvesting pollen from the spring blooms to start their 2024 honey production. That honey will be sold on site during market days.

And Dr. Deb is all about synergy, where one plus one doesn’t equal two, but more. Collaborating with different partners is a big part of her strategy. Thomas Ellis of the Small Business Development Center in Waco and Joshua Palmer of Joshua Palmer Eco Solutions are two of those partners who understand and share Tolman’s vision for the project and are hands on, and invaluable to the further development of the property. Besides practical help with welding and doing electrical work, they are problem solvers and educators.

On Saturday, there were all sorts of outdoor activities to enjoy, like throwing horse shoes and corn hole, a walk along Pete’s Path, visit with the vendors and enjoy the wild flowers. Ellis was on hand with his Waco Axe Throwing cage, for some fun activity. And Palmer offered a mead tasting in the Java Shack.

Blond lab-mix Sunny and her family were looking forward to a stroll in the wildflower fields and shaded areas before enjoying some wood-fired pizza out of the clay pizza oven that was heating up for lunch, and some coffee drinks from The Grind. With the abundant rains this spring, there were Indian Blanket, Prairie Spiderwort, Wine Cups, different types of thistles, Showy Evening Primrose, Lemon Bee Balm, Mock Vervain and Upright Prairie Coneflower, too many to name. The dog walk Pete’s Path was named after a generous donor’s rescue dog, who showed up in tutu and shades to celebrate the project’s opening.

On Saturday, Jamie McMains and her helpers were offering eggs and baked goods. In addition to offering different types of Mead to taste, Kimberley Smith sold her pottery, which included decorated bowls, saucers, wine coolers and SILO coasters but also clay bird houses and ceramic plant tags for the garden.

Tolman loved the fact that a group of young artists asked what it would take for them to paint some of the benches along the path. Tolman’s answer was simply “Come on, bring your paints.” And now she’s already thinking about doing outdoor art exhibits thanks to her interaction with the artists.

Initiator and co-coordinator of the Clifton Farmers Market, Tolman is adding a farm market day at the Silo on Sic location on Wednesdays from 10 a.m.-noon, starting May 22. The present farmers market will continue selling its wares at the Legacy Park location in Clifton on Saturdays.

Currently assisting Tolman is 19-year-old Pola from Oregon who took a break from graphics design studies for some “lifely” experiences. And she has been put to work on signage, shoveling sand and compost, to driving people around in the gold cart on the soft opening day.

The composting berms on the property serve four important purposes – besides being composting mounds for additional planting, they serve as sound barriers for Highway 6, a wild life habitat, and wildlife corridors for insects, birds and reptiles moving from one side of the property to another. Already planted are some yucca, cacti, salvia. Several types of lizard have already taken up residence, and not to mention several different types of insects and bugs burrowing along in safety. Watch where you step and stop is therefore advisable, because ant hills and other animal burrows are welcomed in this special ecosystem off Highway 6.

In the future, Tolman hopes to add an educational facility called “The Incubator,” the SILO project’s idea of a classroom – in a silo of course – for McLennan Community College, which has agreed to provide free classes on starting and sustaining a small business.

Underneath native Chinquapin oaks, a circular area shows the contours of the future garden center. It will be an unusual garden center, completely tailored to Texas’ nature conditions with plants outfitted for hot, dry summers and the occasional deep-freeze cold snaps in the winter. The plants will include native grasses like Red Yucca, perennials like Texas Lantana, Salvia and Verbena, trees like the Texas Persimmon, Mexican Plum, Elm burr oaks and shrubs like the Flame Acanthus that is perfect for attracting hummingbirds and butterflies, Texas Sage and Red Bud, along with different succulents and even carnivorous plants.

Supplying native plants is important because they are natural to the specific ecosystem providing habitat and food for birds, butterflies, bees and other area wildlife. Native plants help maintain biological diversity, and don’t need pampering, lots of water or fertilizing.

As an educational element displays in the garden center will demonstrate how these plants can be designed for any landscape or yard.

Able to supply the garden center with some of its plants and the year-round farmers market will be the underground green house, designed after Michael Reynolds’ Earthships. The green house takes advantage of passive energy for its heating and cooling. A manifold system, two feet below ground uses condensation and evaporation to offset hot summers and cold winter days. For Tolman this is one of the most important projects to finish, since it aids to increase the length of the planting season for the farmer’s market participants.

Bosque County Recycling collects #1 and #2 plastics. For all other plastics, Tolman envisions another important project – the Plastic Recycle Bus, for which a $60,000 grant has been written and waiting to be submitted. Under the motto “making the old look good again,” these plastics are pressed and molded into 2x4 plastic lumber.

A Tiny Homes grant has been written, waiting to be submitted. Low energy, tiny homes will be built on trailers and rented out until they are purchased and rolled off the lot. Tolman hopes to get between $60-100,000 for this project which is in partnership with Joshua Palmer Eco Solutions Consulting and McLennan Community College’s Thomas Ellis for Small Businesses, Rappaport Academy and Triple Win of Waco. When some practical issues are ironed out, a portion of the property’s north side will be dedicated to a pet cemetery.

Tolman relies on grants, and donations to complete her visions for several future projects. estimated costs to complete the garden center $10-20,000; for the underground green house another $25-40,000 is needed. While the amphitheater looks finished – a lot of earth work was done there – the finishing touches like Grecian urns, planting, shading, completion of the retaining wall will cost about $10-20,000.

You would think finishing and starting these projects would be enough, but not bogged down by daunting odds, Tolman has another project in the “completely conceptual” stage – a stunning half dome meditation center complete with trickling water providing and extra feeling of serenity in nature, built from bottles and reusing on of the circular concrete horse troughs on the property. She sees a partnership with Baylor students for this one, costing between $10-20,000.

Tolman who holds Ph.D.s in Environmental Sciences/Resources and Geography, and with over thirty years of experience in academic research and landscape design, has training in plant nutrition, economics, and environmental education, has four-five other projects in various stages of completion going on at the same time.

Back in 2011 when the SILO project was founded, Dr. Deb started promoting keyhole gardens, growing vegetables on an active composting pile, and building her silo home on Star Haven Ranch in the Norse district. With this added location, Tolman extends her SILO project living sustainability laboratory and brings community engagement to a whole new level.

Even the dog waste along the dog walk will be reused, finding its way to the compost heap.

It takes a village to raise a child, in this case, the SILO on Six is Tolman’s child, and without the help of many, many volunteers and supporters, the special facility would not grow and evolve. “It takes a village,” Tolman said, who is immensely pleased with the amount of positive feedback, support and assistance she has already received from the community. “And it will evolve organically as time goes on

With this project, Tolman extends the traditional Environmental Protection Agency slogan of Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, with repurpose, refurbish, repair, refuse, and rethink. With those core values in mind, Tolman envisions a beautiful, natural but accessible paradise in the heart of Bosque County, for all to use and enjoy. It might take a few more years, but the lot is already steadily transformed and evolved in the past three years.

For all notifications, workshops, and requests, contact her at deb@debtolman.com or through the Silo Project Facebook page.