Melissa Ligtenberg

BEL POST #8

ALL That Glitters is Not Gold...if it's at Wheaton Labs, it's Probably Just Metal Shavings. SO METAL.

Spending time in the workshop sharpening chainsaws yesterday saw me finally reaching a place of familiarity and ease with the machine itself. I think I feel way more confident now with the removal of the main panel and bar as well as setting the chain back in properly.

I'm also grateful that the vise is set up as high as it is for my Large Marge frame. 'Tis with great ease I can sharpen 'em, lads! I'd say that confidence was what propelled me forward to tackle the two hatchets in the workshop that had been begging for a sharpening stone the last few weeks.

Off to YouTube University I went and watched a couple vids to make sure of my options for the various techniques. Again, that gorgeous vise granted me ease as I was practicing the motion with the sharpening stone. I tested them by splitting a few pieces of wood by the Rocket Mass Heater in the classroom with decent success.

This morning we were ALL back at Allerton and after doing a few more soil probes on the Hugels (still massive amounts of saturation courtesy of that glorious rain) I headed back to the main entrance. I went in hard again on the Ninebark and unearthed 4 different big-ass rootballs. I was going to stop after the 3rd one as Granny was getting tired of the stooping but then I stepped on yet another massive root and got pissed off so in I went. You'll delightedly note one pic of my huge boot marks on one of the areas I yanked a rootball...maybe we can make it a new ad for DocMartens with a Permie vibe?

Stephen was able to join us and he and Esteban went in on the auger and dug new post-holes. Pics below.

BEL POST #7

Tales of The Morning

Allerton Abbey Fences and Gates has been showing up in my predictive texts for several weeks now and it's been highly amusing for me.

It's from weeks of taking notes at morning and afternoon Boot meetings, of course, and continues to be one of our highest priorities especially as the Hugels are growing as verdant as they are and the deer and elk's desire to feast there remains unabated.

Esteban, Jessee, and I hit the Abbey this morning for the A.M. Boot sesh and went pretty hard as we're close to getting to the fabrication of the front gate, which is exciting. There was one or two posts, 3-4 fence panels down from the main entrance that were leaning and rotted out so we took down one of the panels and emptied out the junk poles from one of the neighboring panels that had collapsed as well.

I enjoyed cutting back the Ninebark as we went along, especially with the ground still soft and wet from all the glorious rain we've been enjoying. I've mostly been using the telescoping loppers and Granny's trusty old pruning shears for this work and it's proving quite satisfying.

I batch-cooked some more green lentils with our EgyptianWalkingOnions and Lovage and, my oh my, that Lovage brought it's A-Game! I'm loving using Lovage as a celery replacement as it offers a much more nuanced flavor.

With the cooler days and nights, I've not been opening the windows to let in any Summer heat so the Abbey is still maintaining at 60-62 degrees. I've not burned a fire since Saturday afternoon either. It's been very pleasant in there

BEL POST #6

Well, well, well... Granny must have found favor with the Dark Goddesses as she got to have three nights in a ROW with thunder, Lightning, and rain on her face. The luck of the Irish is also still with her, apparently, as the rain only began in earnest upon arriving back at the Abbey on my e-bike evening commutes. It was the same way back in Ireland where the rain would either stop just as I was leaving home or start just as I returned.

The Abbey has had a marvelous tending-to the last two weeks by Wheaton Labs Beloved J.R. Paul kept telling us about "The Ringer" coming in to help us out and how "everyone loves J.R." and, holy mocha, he was right. Massive gratitude to him as the downhill door opens and closes with great ease now.

We've had some blistering hot days out here in Big Sky Country and the Abbey has been maintaining at a 62-70° 4-5 days in a row.

I've been trying to maintain and rebuild some trails around the Hugels as well as a  small path from the front door of the Abbey to the main path, trucking by, and it's been pretty hardcore. I brought the big tamper the first day but it wore me out fast.

The pick axe remains a steadfast friend in these endeavors and has allowed me to make quick work of some temporary steps and longer term trails around the Hugels and the Abbey lot in it's entirety.

This morning, after a blissfully cool and rainy weekend, the Abbey is maintaining at 60-62° what with two 1 hour burns on Saturday. So Granny is still spending her nights cozy under a mountain of blankets despite some of the high 80 and low 90 temps outside last week. Oooh La La!

A Rhubarb & Custard Kinda Weekend
BEL Post #5


I've been excited to begin the annual thermal inertia test in earnest and feel like the meagre amount of data I've gotten from my month at Allerton Abbey has given me the confidence to test things here and there.

Whether I run the rocket stovetop for longer periods of time to see how Allerton reacts or leave the windows open for hours and hours on hot afternoons, the way the Abbey responds is always of interest for me.

In anticipation of the coming frost last weekend, I decided to do some cooking and keep the stove running from early morning through early afternoon. Once I'd harvested the rhubarb I needed, got it washed and chopped, I realized that the interior temperature in the Abbey had almost reached 80°! The highest I'd gotten the Abbey, prior to last Saturday, was 70° and that was from a seven hour burn in much colder temperatures.

After I recovered from my shock at the high temperature, I popped the cover on the pot of rhubarb and took it off the stove to let it continue to gently cook in the simple syrup. One of the popular rhubarb desserts I learned in Ireland was a simple dish of custard with stewed rhubarb poured over it. I don't think I'd enjoyed Rhubarb & Custard since leaving there in 2013. It was worth the wait AND the 80° temperature in the Abbey.

I also consoled myself that with the coming frost, I might not have to worry about lighting the fire at all as the Abbey would probably hold steady. I did do a small bit of cooking Sunday afternoon but only used one medium bundle of wood and then let it burn out after approximately 90 minutes.

I think our overnight low temps reached 35°, over the course of two days, but the Abbey has held steady at 60° as of this Wednesday morning, without having burned at all since Sunday afternoon.

Okaaaaaay...Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! We have a "Bulk Stage Shutdown" and we're running for cover...hahaha!

"30% RED & 100% GREEN LEDS BLINKING .................................. BULK STAGE SHUTDOWN
This indication occurs if the battery voltage does not rise properly during the Bulk Stage. This indicates that a possible battery
problem exists and that the charge cycle has been terminated at this point. Please call technical support for further
assistance"

When I went down to unplug the charger I noted the light pattern was the same and went back to the manual link that Tim graciously shared and this is what it said. I'm making some tentative plans for Monday with one of our new Boots, Lorenzo, to see how far we can get going under the hood...weather permitting. Lorenzo has way more experience with this than I so I'm looking forward to his assessment.

Timothy Norton wrote:I found a link to the service manual that might be of value to you.

https://www.batterystuff.com/files/manual-1_eagle_performance_series_man_after_10-1-10_rev_081213.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOoptZY16ydcdz_XC6WJhVl81Jh926YBeaO1KahlJBoA3E-L4v3GK

Page 7 talks about the lights and I believe this might be applicable to your case.

30% RED LED BLINKING ..................................................................NO BATTERY DETECTED
This indication occurs whenever the charger circuitry cannot detect a battery. The charger circuitry will not allow charge
current to flow under this condition. With the AC power supply cord unplugged, check the connection to the batteries for
proper polarity (black wire to negative or -). Also check for corrosion free secure connections to the battery.  

Bad battery or bad wire connecting the charger to the battery? Check if the terminals on the battery itself are corroded, corrosion can do funny things.

Ohhhh, beautiful! Thank you for this info/link. I had just popped down to the workshop to unplug the charger (I needed my e-bike charged for the ride home to Allerton this evening) and I had also just caught Uncle Mud's posts about our Bad Boy, along with the YT vids. I realized I'm going to have to take our poor Lad apart, same as they did, and check more circuitry and such. Really appreciate your response here, I'm going to spend some time on the link for the manual now! TGIF and hope your weekend goes smoothly!

Granny Gravel Bitch took an assignment she's probably going to wish she hadn't...that said, it's proving interesting as she navigates new terrain.

Before I created this post, I did take some time to read other threads involving Wheaton Lab's Bad Boy Buggy but got a bit lost in the fray so decided to push through and make the post as asked. I have one short vid of the light pattern the battery is flashing upon plugging it in and then a little more info in the other photos...one of which is Bad Boy Buggy being sent to the corner (of the Berm) to think of how his behavior has affected the precious Boots at the Lab and how he can do better in the future. Ha!

'Twas a lovely pic of him and the Berm so I left it in.

I know not what the initial issues were that grounded his ass and I couldn't get far enough in to the other threads yet to ascertain what problems they were having.

YT Video of Light Pattern on Battery
https://youtube.com/shorts/WS1c274I7e0?si=twokUQN7w2PHDYJD  

Daniel Andy wrote:Quick update as I've been eating the loaf.

This recipe ended up pretty bland.

As a vehicle for butter, jam, honey, etc, it's excellent. But I cannot eat it without toppings. Too bland.  And that's fine...a lot of us end up with a lot of jams and preserves and need stuff to put it on. This is ideal for that.  Maybe as something solid to eat with a strongly flavored soup.

But you can't just grab a slice and eat it on its own.

The bread should have some extra flavor. Maybe I need to work on adding honey, spices, more salt...maybe make a banana nut version...but by itself it's just not flavorful enough. Keep that in mind if you decide to bake it.

Ooooh, thanks for the update!

BEL Post #4

Wooooo! What a week it's been here since I last posted. Granny Gravel Bitch has been reminded of her limitations, yet again, but is comforted greatly by a large sense of self-awareness at the very least.

So far, I've had a really enjoyable week with our new Boots and WWOOFers. I'm really grateful for our SEPPers who arrived this past weekend as well. Their respective experiences, knowledge, and enthusiasm has greatly buoyed my spirit in these few short days we've had together.

I wish I could write whole posts about each of them right now but I'm at the end of my day, winding down and preparing for my short trek back up to Allerton Abbey (while also being impatient for another rhubarb strawberry galette to cool).

Today was very satisfying what with new tasks completed in the kitchen with both food preservation and fermentation and then we got to fertilize the nearby hugels with some remnants from our pantry. It might not sound like much but I was glad to glean some more knowledge around such tasks and a lot more wherewithal for my future here.

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:Hey Granny Gravel and Stinging Nettle Bitch! Following your fellow Boots through Permies I read about you, and saw you in the photos/videos. Now finally I can follow your own writings too!
Where I live (in the Eastern part of the Netherlands) there are plenty of Stinging Nettles too. I use them in many different ways. Great plants!

Ohhhh, beautiful! I'm so glad you commented as I wonder often about the Netherlands. I intended to visit your country with my Father when I was still WWOOFing in the EU but he decided not to make that trip so I stayed on in Ireland. I learned more about my Dutch culture, while living in Ireland, than I ever did from my immediate or extended family in Southern California so it's a pleasure to engage with you here and connect over our love for the mighty stinging nettle!

My Grandpa Ligtenberg was sponsored and came to California to learn dairy farming and my Father, as well as some of my uncles, also went into dairy farming as a result. For me, growing up in the 80's and seeing the transition from smaller farms into the horrors of factory farming left quite the impact. I feel my work in Permaculture might somehow make right the harm my people have done to this beautiful land. It's a foundational aspect of the fervor and persistance I've endeavored to hang onto since I first learned about Permaculture.

What a fantastic project Paul has here. Thank you, again, for commenting.