!! SEPP to Boot: Stephen's Experience (BEL)

BRK #16

Highs and lows over the past couple days. Today itself kicked off with a bit of bad news, then finished up with some satisfying work and then celebration with my fellow boots.

Gardening today was at Allerton Abbey, in the Lab. Alongside us were participants of the Permaculture Technology Jamboree (PTJ) who were building another hugel bed. In examining my own hugel assignments, I was pleased with what I was seeing at Swamp Castle. It's much greener than when I started working with it in late May:



By contrast, very little has changed with Cricket Hill, with the exception of more volunteer plants doing rather well. Methinks I simply over-mulched the areas where I placed seeds, so even if seeds did germinate they were likely unable to penetrate the layer of organic hay, and instead withered away.



Those that did make it through, like this radish, didn't seem to be doing so well regardless:



Fortunately, my disappointment was lessened thanks to Momo's cheer:



Re-energized, I tended to the hugels with water, then turned my attention to some bare, sparsely-growing areas. I amended the soil by lightly sprinkling the area with some spent coffee grounds (we'd collected quite a supply over these past several weeks of events):



This afternoon for handiwork, three other boots and I went out to the cistern on the Lab and worked out lots of our issues by re-digging a trench for a water line. Clockwise from center, here's Cory, Grey, and Caleb (in the straw hat):



Finally: last night I had the opportunity to pick up an additional guest for the PTJ, who was a latecomer but who still didn't want to miss the final week. On the way to the airport, I was treated to a rare double-rainbow. Maybe you can see it here:



Thank you for reading, and enjoy your day...!

BRK #17

More heavy work in the water line trench today. However, this time we had a jackhammer to assist us. Much, much smoother. I still feel quite like a well-tenderized beefsteak - and quite a manly one, at that - but at least we made much more progress today. Here's Grey showing us how it's done:



To provide some support for the Permaculture Technology Jamboree (PTJ), Samantha brought along several of her animals to Wheaton Labs. So I had a chance to spend a little quiet time with two of them. Here's Pepper,who likes having scratches behind the ears:



And here's one of the sheep in attendance, though I didn't catch its name (and it wasn't really the talkative sort). They're likely to be shorn tomorrow:



Finally: three guesses as to which of my glove's fingers blew out first:



I'll be seeking suitable replacements this coming weekend, though for whatever reason it's been a challenge to find some suitable mechanic's gloves (I happen to like those better than typical garden or work gloves).

Thank you for reading, and enjoy your day...!

BRK #18

The PTJ is wrapping up, and with it comes a satisfying feeling of spreading the good word and the excitement about regenerative farming and gardening, sustainable building, and - among other things - just how excellent rocket stoves and rocket heaters can be.

Here's a photo of several guests of the PTJ building the rocket kiln early in Week 1. From left, it's Amir (behind John's leg), Ryan in the background, John in the blue checked shirt, Brian (his face is hidden but I recognize his boots) and David (who also fired the rocket oven for tonight's pizzas!). These cool people and several others built all sorts of interesting and useful things these past two weeks.



Meanwhile, we boots were rolling all over Basecamp and the Lab throughout the event. Here's the typical view that Cory and I had while driving from one site to the next...



Finally: after this week, I'm bushed! Tomorrow afternoon however, I work under the direction of Mike and Opalyn as a facilitator for the SKIP event, which officially begins Saturday. Until then, I'll sit back with Panda.



Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

BRK #19

Things seem quiet, now that the PTJ has come to a close. It's also a day off for the boots. Cory, Caleb, and I visited the laundromat today to address our respective growing piles of pungent work clothes, then I addressed some errands. Caleb agreed to tag along and didn't complain at all with my terrible taste in music.

Meanwhile, I have a few more photos of PTJ memories to share, plus a personal project.

This is my insect watering station, useful on hot, dry days like today. It's placed on the east side of the hugels at Basecamp so that pollinators can catch a drink  while they're doing their work. In something like this, you don't really want it as deep as a birdbath, since they're smaller than birds and could easily drown.



Next, here's a number of PTJ participants observing and testing the smooth operation of one of the new rocket stoves during Week 1. From left to right: Michael, John, Amir, Tim, Colter, Mud, Jason, Rich, and Matt.



Finally, here's a shot of Tim welding a rocket J-tube's frame while John looks on to learn.



Video seems to be slowly-but-surely uploading, so I ought to have more videos, starting tomorrow. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

BRK #20

Another Footage Friday update. This one is just in time before the SKIP event starts (tomorrow). Enjoy!



Thanks for watching, and enjoy your day...!