Dave Burton's Boot Adventures at Wheaton Labs and Basecamp

I'm really enjoying feeling that I'm right there 'with' you guys at the Lab and kitchen :)   Thanks, Dave.

You're welcome, Nancy! Good morning! It wasn't as foggy this morning, but I think it is still a nice sunrise!

Day 40





And Gert decided to greet me this morning!



This is a view of the morning sky!



We spent the first half of the day peeling logs and planting seeds at Fred's plot at Wheaton Labs.







I think Fred's hugelkultur berm is lush and pretty! I saw some gorgeous flowers on his plot!





I saw some squashes and squash flowers! And a lot of other flowers that I don't know!





These are some of the pretty flowers I saw while I was planting apricot seeds! Some of the seeds other boots planted were peaches, cherries, walking onions, and more!





These two frilly flowers my my favorite flowers of the ones that I saw today!





We spent the second half of today taking apart the deck at the Pavilion between the Fischer Price House and the Library.





Worf, Gert, and Ferd were having a "council" meeting on the rock patio, while I was making peach chutney. I came across their meeting when I went to get more Apple Cider Vinegar from the pantry. Worf is the black fluffy black cat, Gert is the short-haired Calico cat, and Ferd is the short-haired gray cat.





Here's a closer look at the cats having a meeting.



And here's a closer look at Ferd; usually Ferd is pretty skittish, so I couldn't get very close.



This is teh peach chutney that I made! I'm going to let it ferment for two days!

Good morning! I made a frittata-like mix this morning of fried idli, eggs, and greens; then, I hiked up the "Volcano" at Basecamp!

Day 41



This is the frittata-like mix that I fried up this morning!



Looking around this morning! the sunflower's at Mike Jay's hugelkultur bed are looking pretty!



And a view from the "Volcano"!



I made a kind of carrot kimchi/sauerkraut that doesn't have cabbage in it. This ferment is inspired by the Kimchi and Ginger Carrot recipes from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. I made this ferment with carrots, onions, garlic, a red bell pepper, red pepper flakes, leeks, cauliflower, apple cider vinegar, sea salt, and ginger! The large container will ferment for between 7-30 days, and the smaller jar will ferment for between 3-6 months.







I made fermented salsa!



Everything is all chopped and mixed up! I used orange juice instead of lemon juice, because I didn't have any lemons!



The salsa jar on the left will ferment for 7-30 days, and the right jar will ferment for 3-6 months!



I also moved my soaked bean mix into the slow cooker for them to cook overnight. I will use half the crock to make fermented bean paste, and I will use the other half to eat right away.



I also made eggplant caviar! And baked spaghetti squash, too!





I checked on my dosa batter, and it is looking like it is ready to be fried up tomorrow!

Good morning! I stirred the dosa batter this morning, made bean paste, and fed three cats! I'll be frying up dosas later today, since the batter is looking nice!

Day 42





I pulled the bean mix of chili beans, red beans, and pinto beans off the slow cooker and made some fermented bean paste. I wanted it spicier, so I made it with lots of extra garlic, some ginger, cayenne powder, and chili powder.



I cut up all the garlic, onions, ginger, and couple peppers that I am using!



I processed the spicy stuff and the beans into a paste, and then, I mixed in sea salt, garlic ferment brine (to use as a starter), cayenne powder, and chili powder.



Then, I put the bean paste into three jars and hand closed them tightly. The left jar will ferment between 7-30 days; the center jar will ferment 3-6 months, and the right jar will ferment for anywhere between 7=180 days.



I saw Ferd eating this morning, and I think he's so cute! He's got nice short soft fur!





And I saw a turkey walking around behind the Fisher Price House!





I fried up half of the dosa batter that I had made! I'm saving the second half of the batter to fry up more dosas when this batch is finished up!



I fried the dosas in a cast iron pan with coconut oil!





I served the dosas with some of the ferments that I have made! From left to right, the ferments the dosas were served with are fermented bean paste, mint chutney, peach chutney, and Latin American Sauerkraut (Cortido)!



I had some of each on my dosas! On the top left is the peach chutney; on the top right is mint chutney; on the bottom left is Latin American Sauerkraut (Cortido), and on the bottom right is the fermented bean paste. I thought all four of the fermented condiments were tasty! My favorite of these four is the peach chutney!



I walked to the top of the "Volcano" at Basecamp, and it was hot outside.

Good morning! I started to make some tea this morning!

Day 43





I think it looks nice outside!



We worked on building a log gate at Wheaton Labs today! Jaqi ran the tractor to dig the holes for the log gate posts.





We took a quick look at Allerton Abbey while we ran over there to grab some tools. The floors of the Abbey are taking awhile to dry.







I limbed the portion of a tree that was used to make two of the log gate posts, and I peeled about one half of the sides of the logs that I could reach before we cut the tree to the right dimensions.





This is Jaqi and Jen working on peeling a log!



After we cut the tree into logs of the right dimensions, we hauled two seven-ish foot logs back to where we are building the log gate. We dropped one log off, and I helped finish peeling it. Then, we took one of those logs to the ABbey so that we could use a stronger drill to make a 2-inch hole in it that we can pass chains through. This is Josiah using the drill to make a hole in the log!







Jen sawed a log gate post to the right height!





This is a log gate post getting spikes added to the bottom of it to help anchor it into the ground.





This is dirt getting tamped into place around a log gate post. We took turns shoveling dirt around the logs and tamping dirt into place.





And these are the three log gate posts we put into place today!



And it was a nice day today!

Good morning! Here is a look at how some of my ferments are doing!

Day 44







Josiah cut some rebar!





And Josiah bent a piece of rebar that we used to pin the crossbar of the log gate into place.





We spent most of the morning peeling the log for the log gate's crossbar.









And we moved the log that we peeled over to the gate!





We had to position the crossbar log into place and figure out how to pin it, how much weight is necessary for the counterweight, and how the counterweights will be put into place.





Jaqi made the hole for the rebar for the crossbar to swing on.



We had to line up the crossbar log's hole with the log that it will pivot on and then pin it into place.



And we worked on limbing and peeling a log that we'll use on another gate.