Wesley Barlow

Hey K Eilander,
Open Source Ecology is still around... I apprenticed https://www.opensourceecology.org/ose-apprenticeship/ there in 2021 to help prototype the Seed Eco Home.

George Yacus, my experience is not that OSE has 'pivoted' to intentional community: it is still very much mission/engineering focused, maybe even to a fault. I think that from Marcin's perspective the emphasis on self-growth is critical to create a team capable of developing the GVCS. However, I won't deny that I think better organizational structure such as https://www.liberatingstructures.com/ could encourage more participation or commitment.

The best place to see updates consistently is Marcin's work log.
https://wiki.opensourceecology.org/wiki/Marcin_Log

The GVCS is very ambitious, and I don't think there is sufficient momentum to reach it within the planned project timeline at the current rate.

I am doing what I can to continue this work, to develop a flourishing ecology of open source hardware. However, it's difficult to make progress without collaborating in-person with others dedicated to this effort. I can primarily only contribute virtually right now.

I think that some of the projects at Wheaton labs represent unfulfilled components of the GVCS, like the Willow Feeder for circular economy of 'humanure'... the RMH for heating... I prefer lumber to roundwood, but I appreciate the strategy of building with minimally processed natural materials to reduce cost/effort/energy use.

Overall, perhaps the greatest bottleneck component that is not prototyped is the induction furnace, even something like developing expertise with a small charcoal foundry could lead to forwarding the GVCS.

You can read more about my experience with OSE here
https://wesxdz.github.io/site/ose.html

some photos from foraging

Hey all, I'm officially an Ant now!
It's been a lot of work, but I'm living up on the lab now!
Many of my plants didn't make it through a couple super late frosts in June.
I've had a couple weeks to read and I'm wrapping up a little structure to live in during the summer.
My chickpeas are doing splendid. I'll provide a few more updates as I get my permaculture systems setup.
Hope you're doing well

Boot days are hard work as we prep utility/trenches for the well and setup a tree post near the workshop. I feel like a soldier.

I camped up at the lab on my plot last night to garden and relax. I planted corn and chickpeas. The algorithmic high chirps of birds in the morning makes me imagine I am on an alien planet.

Woah thanks! I don't think I have the captital to make something like that work out haha
I've been emailing botanical gardens trying to find some.

I've been a little concerned with buying lots of hose, so I was interested in how I could 'grow my own hose'. Paul mentioned dandelions contain latex and have been considered by others.
Taraxacum kok-saghyz is the particular species that has been used successfully in the past for natural rubber cultivation. I am wondering if anyone knows where I can get these seeds at a reasonable price.

The biological matrix is active.
Even using AI and deep learning as I can, I may be working on this VIP for a long long time. The Vacuum Science and Technology book is a heavy hitter.

It has been rainy and overcast over the weekend, so I've been inside focused on planning and dreaming.

I worked on prompt engineering some permaculture robot concepts/styles. I also started to consider how virtual characters could be integrated into my actionable information logistics permaculture software workflow.

In hindsight, I should have prioritized purchasing seeds which could germinate at 40F, as the soil temperature lags air temperature substantially. That's what everyone means when they talk about thermal mass I guess.

I purchased five textbooks to help me wrap my head around what it will take to build a DIY biopolymer VIP...
Chemistry has always been a boring subject to me, but I am motivated to learn it well in order to meet my needs for thermal comfort and 'economically scalable' gardening. I would like to see a permaculture system in Montana that can outcompete sugar beets in terms of revenue/value creation with fewer human inputs, that would be my standard for good permaculture. The duration of time it takes to bootstrap a system like that is very relevant to the economics of land use because of time value of money.

A User's Guide to Vacuum Technology
Vacuum Sealing Techniques
Vacuum Science and Technology
Fundamentals of Momentum, Heat and Mass Transfer, 6th Edition International Student Version
Essentials of Computational Chemistry: Theories and Models

Yesterday Max and I planted flowers (Lupine, Blanket, Nasturtium, Primrose) and Red Clover in dirt/sawdust we mixed with humus generated from four Willow feeders. We also gathered some topsoil and a couple buckets of 'nitrogen' near the pond to make a homebrew potting soil for tomatoes. The pond has some really nice clay where the water flows in (the same clay from the clay pit I think)
The beeswax gasket worked! (albeit messy) The chitosan membrane I created is sticky, high viscosity, but ultimately falls apart when I try to scrape it off. That's okay.
I need to add a plasticizer and cross-linking agent.
First for the cross-linking agent, my next iterations will revolve around integrating tannic acid I extracted by mixing Ponderosa Pine bark with wood ash, filtering the liquid, and boiling it for an hour.

I've been visiting my plot the last couple mornings to prep my plot for gardening.