evan's ant village log

Day 365 (part 1)

Sharla found a couple slugs. We offered them to the department of ducks and they swiftly devoured them! Om nom nom!

Jim and I worked on drilling a well. We had no problem getting through the layers of sand and clay, (still no rocks, fortunately,) until we discovered we were out of 10' extensions. Jim welded a few more up and we drilled holes in them to attach the pins.

It was getting sketchy holding the full-length drill with all the extensions way up in the air and keeping it balanced after pulling the bit out to remove the dirt. So Jim devised a way to hold 20' sections at a time, meaning there's a couple more steps in the process for every bucketful, but it's easier and safer to remove the drill.

Day 365 (part 2)

We drilled down a few more feet and started pulling up some exceptionally wet dirt with a relatively high sand content. We decided to send a tiny jar on a string down the hole, and when it came up with water in it we were crazy excited, whooping and yelling in joy! We still need to evaluate and decide how much deeper to drill, keeping in mind that we might puncture a deeper clay layer and drain out what could be a relatively thin water table, and when to put in a pump, etc. Also it's spring, so the water table will be higher now than say, late summer, but still...

We found water. 35+ ft below the surface. Water!

Not bad for day 365.

I've started taking some video, and if I can figure out an easy way to edit and upload them then I'm thinking I might try to post one video a week, since it's about to be Year 2... so I should probably step it up.

Happy anniversary! Woohoo!

evan l pierce wrote:Day 365 (part 2)
We found water. 35+ ft below the surface. Water!

Yes! Congrats on a breakthrough, and a milestone!

Evan, Congratulations on 1 year at the village.

This is a remarkable accomplishment. Your devotion, work and perseverance are truly an inspiration to all permaculture practicers and wannabes.

WATER!!! What a great way to mark your anniversary.

When I visited the lab last October, one of the reasons I rejected the idea of living at the lab was the lack of water.
Youz guys ability to find water is life itself. The possibilities are now limitless. Remarkable!

This day should be forever remembered and commemorated with a plaque, memorial, and national holiday, oooooooo ... a fountain!!!

How about naming your anniversary date as Founder's Day?

Wow!

Evan,

Now that it's been a year, would now be a good time for reflection?

I think all of us would profit from a report from you on regrets, dreams squashed, surprises, expectations met?

I hope this doesn't seem too overwhelming, with all your work, but you have to remember many of us are living vicariously through you.

Thank you for your leadership at the village.

I'm a little late with this, but I can't pass up a good Photoshopportunity.

hmmmm... been about three weeks since we heard from Evan ... everything ok?

Thanks Beverly, Dillon, and Lorance! As far as reflection goes, I have been doing a fair bit the past few days.

Regrets? I made lots of mistakes, but I'd like to think that none of them were too catastrophic, and I'd like to think I learned from them. That said, I do feel like I could have been less rude on this thread during the first few months when I wasn't directly responding to folks when they would ask direct questions here. I aim to be more responsive now.

Dreams squashed? It would have been nice to have finished burying my house, Siesta, and to have lived in it through the winter, but I spread my focus across many other things instead. Siesta did stay dry and had plenty of air flow throughout the winter though, and I've had lots of time to think about exactly how I want to finish it, so by next winter it should be totally done and super cozy.

Expectations met? I think the earthworks and soil-building I did worked out pretty alright. The vision is coming together. It's fun making lots of little cumulative improvements over time. Almost everything took longer than I would have liked, which is sort of what I expected. Always so much more to do!

Surprises: So many surprises! Every day brings new ones!

Thanks also to everyone who's been sharing advice, knowledge, words of encouragement, or even just following along! And especially thanks to you amazing folks who have provided so much support along the way! Eternal gratitude to those super amazing folks who have pledged their ongoing support via Patreon! Your support gives me the financial breathing room to focus my efforts on ant village and minimize the time I need to spend hunting bounties or working off-site to make ends meet.

I try not to be too obnoxious about my begging advertising letting y'all know how you can support me. I usually just have little unobtrusive links in my one-line signature, but that's not visible on the mobile site so... just in case you're digging this log of my activities here in ant village, here's some ways you can help to enable it's continuation:

1. Copy and paste a link to this thread and/or our Patreon page on your preferred social media network!

2. Pledge your monthly support via Patreon!

3. Attend the Peasant Workshop and Festival in October!

4. Come be a gapper on Ava!

5. Make a donation via Paypal or Bitcoin! (pm me for details)

Day 366 (part 1)

Technically, since 2016 was a leap year, the 366th day marked the end of my first year at ant village.

Kai, Sharla, and I took a trip to Kelly Ware's place up near Flathead Lake, and on the way we picked up some seed potatoes we had ordered from a local organic farm. Tons of different varieties: huckleberry gold, russet, mozart, and more! We'll be putting these in the ground in just a month or so.

Kelly's place was awesome! So much diversity packed into a little backyard! A permaculture playground! Thanks Kelly!

Day 366 (part 2)

It was a pretty great way to spend the last day of my first year as an ant. And thanks to Kelly, Kai, and Sharla, a huge leap forward in terms of diversity and resilience in the garden!