permaculture bootcamp: 40 hours a week elbow-to-elbow with others seeking the same thing. Get a warm bunk and organic food with your gardening and natural building experiences. All of your effort is to benefit yourself and future boots. Kinda school-ish. If this is what you are looking for, you found the right web page!
the sepper program: Rent a humble cabin for a few days or weeks. Participate in the bootcamp as much or as little as you like. Maybe you come as a couple and one person works online while the other is in the bootcamp. For more information click here.
2024 PTJ Postcard - a taste of what goes on at Wheaton Labs:
A recent bootcamp project:
A recent winter bootcamp project:
Solutions for people
Some people buy land and do this, only to hate it and take a big loss. The bootcamp eliminates the financial burdens while giving people a chance to try it out. And we hope that this way has less chance of hating it.
Some people ache to get into homesteading, but cannot afford the land to even try. Not only does this give you a taste, but there are paths to land.
Some people make the leap into this stuff and discover they thought they would be a superstar at this, but end up just not putting in the hours. The 40 hours per week of the bootcamp, side-by-side with like minded folks helps to develop good, industrious habits.
Some people are plenty industrious and have good, industrious habits, but they are sick of doing this alone.
Some people desperately crave wholesome substance and a bit of time outdoors.
Some people feel they are currently living a gray life, with a gray job, eating gray food. They live in the brown cloud of the city, eating from foods they know are loaded with toxins, and they know the water from the tap contains chlorine, fluoride and a buffet of other things. Their world seems to have a new flavor of sleaze every day. The bootcamp gets you out of all of that.
Some people are about to graduate high school and do NOT want to take on the massive debt of college. Nor do they want to enter the bottom rung of the work force. The bootcamp will be an excellent fit after high school.
Some people ache for community and we have that.
Some people have tried community living and were frustrated:
... by a community that accomplishes very little. A group of people chipping away at things 40 hours a week adds up to getting a lot done.
... that too many other people consumed but didn't contribute. The bootcamp has a solid 40 hours per week from everybody.
... by 12 hours a week of decision making meetings that were mostly drama. Our replacement for that takes about ten minutes per week.
A new recipe for building community
We changed our policies a while ago. The only people allowed to do our ant village program or our deep roots program must spend a minimum of six months on the bootcamp first.
overview
We have 220 acres. We spend our days gardening and building stuff to our standards. In the winter we heat our buildings with rocket mass heaters (we have more than a dozen). We are the host for the annual "Permaculture Technology Jamboree" - and in a way, the bootcamp build those same things all year. We even get quite a few experts stopping by from time-to-time.
We have a different way we do things. Our gardens feature a lot of hugelkultur. The homes we build are made of logs and mud. Zero cement, paint or glue.
People come to hang out in the bootcamp for a week or two to immerse themselves in this form of living. Some come for months. Some come for years.
95% of the work done is to benefit the current boots or the future boots. Growing gardens to produce the food of the bootcamp. Building habitat for the bootcamp. Caring for tools that are used by the bootcamp. Etc.
a little jingle in your pocket
COIN-1: Several boots have harvested hundreds of dollars by posting pics and videos of theirs experiences here in the BEL program (most recent payout was 5 digits).
COIN-2: You can shoot videos for Paul's YouTube channel. Details here.
COIN-3: After a few weeks (once we think you can do stuff on your own), talk to us about some bounties for coin. There are several little projects we are willing to pay for. A person could earn a few hundred bucks per month on evenings and weekends.
COIN-4: And if there is a special tool or bit of warm clothes you would like to have, the boots love program has proven to be quite generous.
COIN-5: When people need a ride to and from the airport a person with a rig could harvest pick-up and drop-off bounties. (Normally $20 one way during normal hours and $50 for crazy hours)
COIN-6: When a boot is here long enough, they can harvest some coin giving tours.
COIN-7: Grow your own weekend garden and sell your produce for events.
COIN-8: Some ants and deep roots people have paid for help with their plots - building and gardening.
COIN-9: We have a neighbor that sometimes needs some construction help and has paid for that on evenings and weekends.
COIN-10: Some residents in the past have set up patreon accounts and made a few hundred bucks a month posting videos and pics.
COIN-11: When you have a plot to play with, you can build a fence and some gardens and a structure. And then you can sell those improvements to somebody else.
COIN-12: Grow a 200 square foot garden and harvest the fat payout for the 2025 GAMCOD project.
the tie-in to the PEP program
The estimates are that a person participating in the bootcamp might get PEP1 certified in about 10 to 12 weeks. We're thinking half of the BBs would be harvested during project labor and the other half would be on evenings and weekends. More about the PEP program here.
An interview with people that had been in the bootcamp program, about the bootcamp program
This right here is how anyone with a PDC can gain the hands-on experience needed to make permaculture actually work. Less talk, more walk!
I really, really wish I had known about this 12 years ago after getting my PDC. When it comes to living in harmony with nature, this would have been a far better investment of time and energy than college.
For those who have been Seppers or Boots—have you been able to use the skills you gained at Wheaton Labs to create income in permaculture after returning home? If so, what worked best?
Which skills turned out to be the most valuable? Have any past participants gone on to start businesses, retreats, or workshops? Or joined larger permaculture-focused initiatives that led to employment?
For those seeking financial independence through permaculture, which aspects of this program helped the most?
This would be a heck of an opportunity for folks who want to not only learn hands on homesteading skills but also be involved in cutting edge permaculture projects.
Where else can you dabble in a bit of solar, a bit of heavy equipment operation, a bit off gardening, and so much more?
I'm envious of those who might be able to take advantage of this.
Timothy Norton wrote:This would be a heck of an opportunity for folks who want to not only learn hands on homesteading skills but also be involved in cutting edge permaculture projects.
Where else can you dabble in a bit of solar, a bit of heavy equipment operation, a bit off gardening, and so much more?
I'm envious of those who might be able to take advantage of this.
I think that the stuff that the bootcamp does is exactly the sort of thing that most permaculture homesteaders do: try to grow all their own food; try to maintain the existing stuff; try to build new stuff that is more permaculture aligned.
I'm a little jealous that I'm too tied down to try this out. Several months ago, I got my daughter interested in coming out to be a boot but she ended up not seeing a way to do that and keep paying her student loans.
okay I have a bachelors degree but this whole Wheaton Labs and how to go there and learn some stuff seems WAY too complicated. Where do I start? It looks like I need to part with $100 first. So...before I do that, I'd really like to know when I could stay for a week or two and what I can learn if I come there. I purchased a PDC online course from Morag Gamble, Australian and student of Bill Mollison. It's a good course but I lack the discipline to follow a canned course (non-live online).
For that reason, I'm looking to find some in-person experiences so I can learn hands-on. In addition, I'm willing to share my online course with one other person who might want to buckle down and study with me. I live in Spokane, WA.
Thank you for any guidance with helping ease this process with Wheaton.
Hi Holly, and welcome to Permies!
I'm sure we can figure it out. Maybe this explains why it's not possible to just stop by anymore.
permies.com/p/386118
As far as I understood, the bootcamp is for rather longer stays. And the fee is for the whole process of organizing and also simply to make people actually commit and follow through.
There are easier ways to stay at Wheaton Labs. Did you look at just renting a cabin up there for a couple of nights? https://permies.com/wiki/sepper Once you're there you could see whether the boot camp would be for you or not.
When signing up for the bootcamp, we ask for people to commit to one week. But most people stay several months. A few people stay more than a year.
The next boot start dates are
may 25
june 15
july 6
august 3
september 7
We ask boots to arrive between 3 and 4 in the afternoon (please don't be early; please don't be late).
People renting a cabin (we call it the sepper program) can come anytime and stay whatever duration they want. And they can join the bootcamp as much or as little as they like.
There are ten boots here now. You can see some pics and vids from the last couple of days
Yesterday, samantha gave everybody a two hour tour of wild edibles and the people here made a huge salad from wild greens. The boots have been shooting for getting their food to be 50% or more from the gardens.
Hi hi!! I’m hoping to come out and help you all this summer, I just wanted to clarify once I pay my deposit does my arrival need to align with one of the Boots start dates or am I allow to arrive between those? Ie do I need to wait till August first to arrive once my deposit is paid or could I come earlier?
So it sounds like someone could pay $300-800 for one of the various tiers of accommodation to 'Sepp' for a month before reaching the August 3rd Boot-start, and they could participate all day as Seppers to get their meals covered. And by then, they'd probably just melt right into the bootcamp without a hiccup. Seems like it's not too great an obstacle if you miss a start-date.
hello! i’m traveling to whitefish, mt on the amtrak. i need a ride from whitefish to the missoula airport. is anyone coming from that area who could give me a ride? thank you!
Ride from whitefish: seems unlikely. I think most people would take the bus from whitefish to missoula and we would pick you up in missoula. To get details, you gotta go through our signup process.
The next boot start day is sunday (three days away) and I don't see you on any of our boot stuff. Are you thinking of coming on sunday?
beck loux wrote:i haven’t signed up yet but will shortly! i’ve been talking with samantha. i’m currently staying with laura sweany in washington, she says hello!
Laura has done a lot for permies everywhere. She did a great kindness for me once - I am grateful to her.
Christopher Weeks wrote:So it sounds like someone could pay $300-800 for one of the various tiers of accommodation to 'Sepp' for a month [...] And by then, they'd probably just melt right into the bootcamp without a hiccup. Seems like it's not too great an obstacle if you miss a start-date.
That's what I did, and I'm still here, years later.
My first month here was as a SEPPer and I stayed in one of the cabins. I committed to Booting with the team for the first half of the day, then chilled for the second half. Only after my first couple weeks were done did I consider Booting for the entire day. By then I'd built up my endurance and acclimated to the climate (I came here from the east coast, which is very different in several significant ways), and I had learned how to be a good fit for the team.
Seriously, I think having folks start off as a SEPPer is a great idea in nearly all cases, and especially so if they want to consider Wheaton Labs a long-term thing. That's not always a realistic option of course, so we accommodate those who want to Boot right away, no problem.
Basically, you rent a cabin and you can pop in and out of the bootcamp as much or as little as you like.
I have 5 children that would be 15, 13, 11, 4 and 1 by the time we would be able too sign up. Would they all be allowed to come or is the stepper program strictly for children 12 and up? This is something my husband and I really want to do but can't do it if all our kids aren't allowed to come.
Basically, you rent a cabin and you can pop in and out of the bootcamp as much or as little as you like.
I have 5 children that would be 15, 13, 11, 4 and 1 by the time we would be able too sign up. Would they all be allowed to come or is the stepper program strictly for children 12 and up? This is something my husband and I really want to do but can't do it if all our kids aren't allowed to come.
In the past, a family like yours would rent cooper cabin. And then one parent and the older kids would join the bootcamp while the other parent would hang out with the younger kids.
Holly Borba wrote:
In addition, I'm willing to share my online course with one other person who might want to buckle down and study with me. I live in Spokane, WA.
Hello! Not sure if you made it over to the lab this summer, but I am in Spokane and would be interested in doing some studying with you if you haven’t made your way through the PDC program yet!
Is there a possibility of being a part time boot? Or maybe this would be considered a sandal? Currently taking courses in welding & hunting 3 days a week so I cannot bunk or do 40hr weeks but very interested in investing in myself and investing of myself to the cause! Here is what I can offer:
- Labor 2 days a week
- a no spray/organic potluck meal with meat to share
- share any knowledge and experience (successes/learned lessons)
- be there by 7:50-leave by 6-8ish
-no need for bunk space, pack in and pack out
Stephen is now offering to all boots ... when you arrive, on the first day, you will receive a check list. Stephen says that by the end of the first month, all of the things on this check list will be checked off.
- how to sharpen a chainsaw
- how to safely fell a tree
- put up firewood
- start a rocket mass heater (or other rockety contraption)
- harvest from the garden (yes, any month of the year)
- make and use cob
- build/maintain junkpole fence
- cook meals using garden materials
- operate a tractor
- build with logs
- plant seeds
- food preservation
He also wants to remind folks that when a boot has been here for a month, they get their own acre to practice permaculture on, if they want.
We talked about a few things that might be a check list for "month 2". and maybe some of those things will end up getting checked during the first month. But I am thinking of opening it up to you all: what would be good stuff to put on the second list?
The bootcamp is now our core recipe to create a community. If we succeed and write a book, we will call it "gardening gardeners." I like the idea that 100,000 people that own homesteads will build 100,000 communities by "gardening gardeners." A dozen people come and get guidance from the homesteader on their style of homesteading. In time, people come and go - eventually some people become rather permanent residents.
I currently like the idea that if the right person takes on a leadership role in the bootcamp for four years, I will happily give them allerton abbey (a fenced acre with a humble home, a greenhouse, and heaps of gardens). They don't have to do bootcamp stuff anymore - and they can do their own projects on this rather completed space. If they do more years, maybe add on another acre.
I like the idea that people that are learning about gardening and natural building, that another acre is created along the way that has a humble home, fence and beautiful gardens.
The homesteader that nurtures this program ends up with excellent neighbors in an excellent village pumping out food.
The people that come have a short path to a homesteaders dream in a beautiful homesteaders village. Without this path, it could take 20 years of working to get less.
And for some people, they simply come to find out if the gardening life is a fit for them. Maybe for a few weeks, a summer or a couple of years. If they choose to leave, then at the very least, they fed and housed themselves and helped to create a future for other gardeners.
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