Kai scored a bunch of sweet heavy-duty tarps when he last went into town. We thought about how best to store them between now and this summer when we'll be using them to build a bunch of earth-integrated structures. We decided to stack them up, throw a couple of less heavy-duty sacrificial tarps over them to protect them from the sun, and then pile up a bunch of doug fir branches on top of that until we couldn't see the tarps anymore. What tarps? That's just a pile of branches...
Kai put a screw in the top of each pair of fence posts along the western border of Ava, and we started adding more dirt and tamping around their bases where the dirt had settled somewhat. A bit more tamping to make the posts extra stable and then we'll be ready to start throwing the horizontal poles on.
Kai and I made good progress on the fence along the western border today. And we learned some things about how to make the fence more efficiently in the future. Basically, we can use short pieces to space the long horizontals, both to avoid having to double them up down low where the gaps are wider and also to space them further apart up high where the fence doesn't have to be as tight.
Sharla and I went into town. We ran a few errands and swung by the restore where we picked up a nice window that'll be perfect for building a solar dehydrator. We also got some tongue and groove boards that will hopefully help us keep the dehydrator box relatively air-tight.
In the evening we went swing-dancing with Ashley and Jesse Fister! It was pretty fun, even though I have two left feet and I usually prefer freestyle flailing around on the dance floor to the structured steps of swing. Thanks for inviting us, Ashley! I didn't get any pictures of the dancing, but I did get a picture of a bird.
Awesome ant and neighbor Jim made us an offer we couldn't refuse: a party with food, beer, and a movie in his underground house! He just got his solar panel set up too, so we watched the movie on a big screen with his projector! Thanks for having us over, Jim!
Sara from Saskatchewan arrived today! Welcome, Sara!
Jocelyn prepared sunchokes five different ways for the feast! Raw, roasted, fermented, deep-fried, and mashed! I think Paul described it as a gastrointestinal gauntlet. Also, meatloaf, lentil nutloaf, salad, broccoli, asparagus, horchaita, and a strawberry coconut biscuit shortbread! Mmmm! Thanks Jocelyn and Paul and everyone who helped with the feast!
After dinner we played six-person Settlers of Catan! I started with a settlement in the middle of three productive clay pits and another settlement on a clay port. Towards the end of the game I was getting so much clay I had to try to strike deals with the other players to hold onto my clay for me so I wouldn't get robbed before it was my turn. Despite being the mighty clay baron, I didn't win... Sara did. Good game, Sara!
Did sooo much planting today! Cover crops and early spring vegetables and perennials! And so very many peas!
Saw a little onion sprout in the greenhouse planter box! And there's tons of rye and wheat and vetch coming up in the hugelberms, and even some maple tree saplings! Wooohoo! Spring!
My brother Gabe sent me some pictures he took of spring in central Texas! He's coming up this summer and will be helping our dad and fellow ant Steve get his house built and plot developed! Besides being an awesome photographer, ill rapper, and rad brother, he's also a generous Patreon patron! Thanks Gabe! See you soon!
I think I saw something from Paul saying Spring has come early this year. You started any tomatoes yet? I was thinking if you used the drinking containers from Jim's movies night and cut them in half and poke holes in the bottom ( or just cut the bottom out) and used them as reusable potting containers and you could start as many tomatoes as you could fit in the green house. Then in a month or so after the last frost date put like 1/2 in the ground, 1/4 in pots, and barter off the other 1/4.
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.jpg "Filename: 20160307_080851(0).jpg
Description: sizzling in a cast iron pan")
