A motley crew of Oak Harbor residents spent Saturday afternoon covered in mud, erecting a wall that will protect a new community garden from northern winds this winter.

“This is the fun part,” said Michael Zylinsky, one of the garden’s creators.

The Imagine Permaculture Food Forest, a self-sustaining urban garden on Bayshore Drive, started in January and has bloomed into a cornucopia of flowers, vegetables and other sustainable plants. Its purpose is to provide a place where anyone on the island can find fresh food.

Volunteers began building a straw-bale cob windbreak Saturday and will continue the project this coming Saturday.

Navy wives Brandy Moore and Danielle Hogan heard about the project through the SPIN Cafe where they hold their couponing group.

“It sounded like fun,” Moore said.

Michael Lemas brought his two sons, Levi, 3, and Dylan, 11, after he heard about the project by “word of mouth.”

“We just wanted to come and help out,” Lemas said.