evan's ant village log

Looks like you guys are living the permies life! Any plans on venturing a little further south? If you make it to the CA/OR border I'd love it if you could drop by, have another piking brainstorming session...

Day 231 (part 3)

...added some spices and salt, squeezed it all into some hog intestines, and are well on our way to homemade pepperoni!

Ooooh, so ... great!! and so 'close' to home :) I loved Matt's previous postings about how he used hugels to 'lift' one edge of his berms (sort of a small 'terrace', I guess) in his garden to create 'south facing' slopes on his north facing land. He didn't really need a 'north facing' side to a hugel, as he had enough already :) I'm in the same boat, so it was nice to see how he tackled the challenge.

And to see how he's using the 'movable' pasture, via elec. fencing, to, hopefully, obviate the need for cutting and storing the grass as hay. In our climate (among others) it seems to work well (I forget the official name for this system.) Much appreciated, Evan.

evan l pierce wrote:Day 231 (part 1)

Matt's kindly been sharing not only his home and permaculture homesteading know-how with us, but also his bountiful harvests! So many thanks, Matt!

Fresh greens and beets from the garden, juicy steaks from homegrown cows, and homemade kraut!

My twins want to know if those are Sharla's hands holding the greens. They are detail oriented!

Looks delicious

I'm just looking at this now for the first time, awesome!! Thanks you two, this is fantastic!

P.S. These two winnowed and milled some of my Perennial Wheat last night and made cookies. Seeing my home grown wheat turn into chocolate chip cookies in the hands of these two was just awesome.

Day 232

There used to be a big dam nearby, but it was recently removed, allowing all the water, silt, sand, and such that was trapped behind it to flow out into the strait of Juan de Fuca. We went down the road to the beach and observed some of the results.

We also went over to Crescent Lake, which Matt described as the most beautiful lake in the world. He might be right.

Day 233

Matt's growing perennial wheat on his land and he showed us how to thresh and winnow, removing the tasty seeds from the chaff! We milled the wheat seeds into flour and baked some chocolate chip cookies! Mmmm! Happy thanksgiving!

I'm especially grateful for my family, who is so supportive of me on this adventure. And I know I say this a lot, but I'm super grateful for all the encouragement and support I receive from you lovely permies! It's great to have you all along for the ride! And endless thanks are due to Matt for being an extraordinary host and an excellent teacher of so many homesteading skills. Thanks Matt!

Also I want to thank our first Patreon patrons for their monthly donations! Thanks Walter, Baxter, Jesse, and anonymous benefactor, (you know who you are,) for supporting our permaculture quest!

Day 234

Matt and Sharla made felt out of wool from Matt's very own sheep! I filmed the process for Sharla, so expect to see a felting video before long.

Sharla added some felt to the inside of a hat, making it extra super cozy. And on a sewing spree also turned a blanket into a poncho!

Day 235

Having some time away from the land has been nice, but I'm itching to get back to work. Seeing Matt's house and gardens and especially his stoves has inspired me to do a bit of sketchup design work. Specifically, I've been sketching out some ideas for a potential addition to Siesta, and also roughly modeling the surrounding landscape. I also stuck a model of Matt's kitchen stove in Siesta, because it's pretty much the most practical and beautiful stove I've ever seen.

I have mixed feelings regarding this addition. On the upside, it would increase the interior living area by about 40 square feet, (from 120 to 160,) allow me to put the stove further away from the middle of the space, and also let a bit more light in.

On the downside, as it's currently modeled with a shake roof overhang, it would take extra effort to make it invisible from space. Shrubs or vines growing on top of the house and overhanging the shake roof porch would help, and I might be able to encourage moss to grow on the north side, but in the short term it would be rather visible compared to an earth roof. Lots to consider.

Being able to locate the model on the aerial photo Dan shot was quite satisfying, and hopefully it will give y'all a better idea of the layout of Ava. I'm looking forward to using it as the base map for lots more design brainstorming going forward.

Day 236

Matt had some excavator work on his list of projects: burying a water line and digging a drainage ditch for a road. He let me hop on his excavator and sink some steel teeth in the ground. Thanks Matt!

The soil I pulled up from digging the ditch I was able to put directly onto the water line. The line was near the base of a long garden bed with several young fruit trees, so I took care not to bump or bury them.

After Matt explained the technique of rolling the excavator's knuckles, I was able to form, compact, and seal the sides and bottom of the ditch. Now it should keep water from building up on the road, and when overflowing drain into a pond downhill and off to the side. That knuckle-rolling trick is a good one, and while I'm sure I've done it a few times accidentally, I'm looking forward to using it more systematically in my future earthworks.

Besides being one of the most energetic and productive people I've ever met, Matt is also an awesome baker! Check out that golden loaf of sourdough! Mmmmm, delicious!!