Hal Schibel

I loved this idea so much I implemented it! I started growing sprouts in the summer to dial in the process and amounts. We had the first day of winter last week and it was snowing. Too bad the snow has mostly melted already! Usually by winter we'll already be a month into the snow.

To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
- you must grow sprouts to feed chickens or other appropriate fowl in the Winter

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must:
- post a picture of the unsprouted seeds
- post a picture of the sprouted seeds
- post a picture of chickens or other appropriate fowl eating your sprouts in the winter

I have been sprouting hard red wheat with a little bit of black sunflower seed mixed in. Other things I tried to sprout with no success include oats, peas, and barley. After experimenting with type of grain and amounts for my flock, I settled on 2.5 cups of wheat with sunflower mixed in per tray, fed twice a day and sprouted for five days each. At first I was sprouting for eight days to get a nice tall grass and fed them to the chickens once a day, but I definitely needed more sprouts and the chickens also would eat the roots and grains first and would leave a bunch of the green stuff on the ground so I determined that five days was the minimum amount of time for the grains to get a good sprout and was also the number of shelves I have for my setup. I have 26 birds (3 of them are ducks).

Here is my unsprouted wheat. I put a 50 lb bag in the container and mix 10 cups of sunflower seed.



Here is my rack with the trays on the left being their breakfast and the trays on the right being their dinner. You'll see date labels on all the trays but I was only using those for the first month or so as I was experimenting with this setup. The trays drain into 5-gallon buckets that I fill with 2.5 cups of oat groats and split peas. I water the whole system twice a day with a gallon of water (half a gallon for each side) and the water drains into the buckets and soaks the oats and peas.



Here's what the sprouts look like after five days. Some small amount of green grass but quite a bit of roots. I also add a half a cup of supplement in the morning that I make with flax, kelp, and DE.



Here's the bucket of peas and oats. When the chickens are fed inside, I strain out the water before feeding them so I don't get the floor of the barn all wet.



This is the chickens' winter home. It's snowing!



I don't have a feeder for the sprouts - I tried putting them in a feeder but the chickens don't always eat all the sprouts and then I end up with a buildup of sprout-cicles. So I just throw them on the ground. I have found that they love the fermented peas and oats a lot more than the wheat sprouts.



Yummy sprouts. Sorry the picture is fairly dark. There is not a lot of sunlight this morning with the snow.

I have discovered that I really like carving spoons. This is my third spoon I've carved so far and each one keeps getting better. I made this for my dad for Christmas out of the stump from our Christmas tree.

To get certified for this BB, post three pictures:
- Your chunks of wood that you are starting with
- Progress about half way through, with the hand tools you have decided to use for this
- Final product (a lightweight spoon you can eat with)

Starting wood:



Partially completed:



Finished spoon:


Oiled with walnut oil:

Applying for my Sand Badge in Dimensional Lumber!

This will be my 7th Sand Badge. I currently have 104 BBs and I have been working through the SKIP program for 8 months.

wood-burned sign

(Swanson list) Complete 2 of:
 -two step stool
 -wood box/crate

To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
- at least one cubic foot
- have a bottom (no lid required)
- sides are at least 50% wood so things don't fall out
- made from untreated wood free of glues
- no paint, stains or oils

Provide pics or video (less than two minutes long):
- the wood you're starting with
- the construction partially underway
- the finished crate/box
- description of why you made the crate/box the size you did and what it's for

I made this crate last week out of scrap wood. I want to make a bunch of produce crates for my pantry and this one is a little too big to fit on the shelves so I'm using it as my prototype.

The scrap wood splits really easily so I decided to use nails instead of screws. not being familiar with using nails for construction, I learned a lot. Next time I think I would use smaller nails and I would change the order of operations for how this thing comes together because I learned that you need to make sure you are pounding into something solid, otherwise it will all come apart and the wood will split. There are a couple spots where the wood started splitting and I added a couple screws to jam it into place. It's actually quite sturdy with all the pieces of wood coming together.

Here is the wood that I am starting with:


Here are all the cut pieces. I cut these with a hand saw. I've been cutting with a circular saw for some reason but I realized that a hand saw should work just fine and maybe I'll get a cleaner cut.


For the vertical pieces, I propped the bottom up on a stool that I also just made out of this same piece of wood. Next time I will construct the sides first and do this step last. It caused me a lot of trouble.


When I started adding the horizontal side pieces, I had to prop up the vertical pieces in order to be able to hammer into something solid. This got harder the further along I got.


Here is the crate coming together.


At some point I figured out that I could prop up part of it on the end of my sawhorse. Once I started enclosing sides, though, I couldn't use this technique and had to go back to shoving wood under the corners to prop it up.


I finally got it put together. You can see one of the corners split but it's still fairly sturdy. I can pick it up from different pieces and shake it around and it still holds. Some of the side pieces don't line up quite right because putting the corner pieces on first and trying to hammer everything together made the pieces bend and not line up quite right.


The final crate is 20" x 11" x 12"




I stuck the finished product in my pantry and dumped a bunch of produce in it. I can pick it up just fine and it is still sturdy. Hurray!

I have a question about the "seed list" in terms of growing wool.

If I want to raise sheep and my field already has some good forage for the sheep, how would I go about planting extra stuff for the sheep to eat to fulfill these BBs? Do you plant more stuff in the field or are there some good trees/shrubs to plant from seed that I could plan on adding to the field?

I ask this as someone who has not raised sheep before but I am looking to plan ahead if I decide to go this route.

Thanks!

I covered our wood pile with a tarp that used to be a cheap carport that was destroyed by the wind. We put the wood on this side porch and I secured the corners of the tarp by screwing EMT straps to the corners of the porch and using the stretchy ties that came with the carport to secure the gromits on the tarp to the straps.

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must:  
-post a picture of uncovered thing
-post a picture of the thing partway covered
-post pictures showing tarp on the thing and how the tarp is secured on all sides (picture of front and picture of back) with date stamp
-post a picture of the tarp still secure without intervention six months later with date stamp

The uncovered wood pile (this was before our first winter, 8/6/2024):


The thing partway covered.
A tarp on the wood pile. After I put the tarp on, the snow kept it on for our first winter. After the snow melted it looked like this (5/24/2025).


Supplies.




Securing the four corners (5/24/2025).

















The secured tarp (5/24/2025):




Six months later (11/30/2025):

I harvested and dried 21 lbs of apples over the last two weeks from an apple tree in an empty lot in town. I have already snacked on a lot of the dried apples. This made over 2 gallons of apple chips.

To document your completion of the BB, provide the following:
- A picture of one of the plants/fungi in the wild
- A picture of the bounty on a scale showing the weight
- A picture of the dried goodies in or with their storage container

The apple tree in the empty lot:


Harvesting apples:


First batch (11 lbs, 14.2 oz):


Second batch (9 lbs, 3.2 oz):


Both batches on the counter, ready to be dehydrated:


Chopping up the apples and dehydrating:



I tried doing a batch in the oven but wasn't a fan of the slightly roasted flavor:


Delicious dried apples:


Sealing into jars:


For the final amount - Two containers for immediate snacking, 6 quart jars, and 2 pint jars:

o complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
  - you must wipe down at least 3 windows with condensation (to prevent mold)

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must provide:
  - a before picture of the three windows
  - an action shot of you wiping down a window
  - an after picture of the three windows
  - OR a 2-minute video of you doing this

Condensation on the windows is a big problem for us. The best way I found to deal with it is keeping the curtains open and running a dehumidifier in every room, but that allows a lot of heat to escape. I'm still experimenting with more ways to manage. I also wen through and cleaned off all the moldy gunk that builds up because if you don't get that stuff cleaned up before winter, it will freeze into a mound of mold-cicle and you won't be able to open the window for the entire winter.

Before pictures:



Wiping:



After pictures:

To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are you must set up the following rag system, where there was none before:
- Dirty rag basket (with labels)
   - Must be a breathable basket so rags don’t rot
- Clean rag storage

To document this BB, post pictures or a 2-minute video depicting the following:
- Before: Whatever you used to do with rags that wasn't this system
- Breathable Dirty Rag Basket with Labels
- Clean Rag Storage - complete with clean rags

Before: we kept dirty rags in this laundry basket. It was not breathable enough and got moldy.


New rag bag:


Clean rag storage: