PEPPERS in action

Thanks Mike, that looks plenty good for a BB.  We tend to just tell them what they need to do to get the BB certified and not how to do it.  So you get extra credit!

Okay so I made a BB page for the Maintain a Mason Bee House

In making this BB page I have come to the conclusion that I do not feel that this is a sand level BB. I mean it took me 2 hours to write the BB page! It's quite technical and involves already having an established mason bee house.

Can someone please check it out and give me their thoughts?

I know much more about honeybees than mason bees but don't consider myself an expert with either. That being said, straw level seems right for this bit & your new page looks great!

I think it's gorgeous Ashley!  Gold star!

Hopefully this comes out right...  It's better, longer, more detailed and more awesome than they really need to be.  It's cool if folks want to go to that level of detail, but I'd rather get 5 BBs made that are "good" than one or two that are splendid.  I'm just worried that we have soooo many to do that folks will get bogged down if they try to do as splendid a job as this one.  You did a tremendous job!!!  Just so other folks don't think they have to make them that good.

The main goals in writing these up is to explain what is expected and how they need to document it.  A helpful youtube video and a few pictures is nice as well.  We don't need to tell people how to do the task or how to be safe doing it.

For instance, making a wofati is a huge job.  The BB for it will probably have a few links to wofati builds and a lot of requirements but won't say how to do it at all.  Otherwise it would take a small book.

Here are some that I think are in the range of "Good enough".  The first two I did so they're closer to the bottom end of "good enough".  The second two Dave Burton did so they're at the top end of "good enough".

https://permies.com/wiki/98574/PEP-BB-gardening-sand-hugelkultur
https://permies.com/wiki/138612/pep-electricity/Install-exterior-grade-outlet-code
https://permies.com/wiki/108223/pep-animal-care/PEP-BB-animal-sand-nectar
https://permies.com/wiki/113116/pep-greywater-willow-feeders/PEP-BB-greywillow-sand-urine

The Animal Care BBs are roughly 1 hour of experience each.  So I'm thinking it's a decent fit for Sand.  A secret reason to have it in Sand is so that people attempting the mason bee construction BB will see the mason bee maintenance BB and realize there is some maintenance involved.  I'll probably slide them together on the badge page now....

Yes, as I was writing it I did have the feeling it was taking too long. I guess my fear of giving misinformation or insufficient information resulting in the death of bees was my driving force!

I totally understand!  When I was writing the ones for cutting trees with a chainsaw I started to get into all sorts of safety things.  But it's too big a topic to adequately cover with one thread.  So that's why it's just easier to say the requirements and documentation and let them do the learning on their own.  You did wonderfully, I just don't want it to scare off other folks from typing up BBs

I think I found duplicate BB threads:

Roundwood Straw Bowsaw Frame:
- https://permies.com/wiki/121970/PEP-BB-roundwood-straw-bowsaw
- https://permies.com/wiki/127939/pep-wood-woodworking/PEP-BB-roundwood-straw-bowsaw

I assume we pick our favorite and the other goes away?

Good find!  They both look equally awesome to me.  If one is already linked from the badge page, let's go with that one.  If we have to chose, either flip a coin or go with the oldest or whatever you'd like.

Good call, Mike. The newer one is linked in the BB thread, I'll deal with the other.

Here is the BB I made on driving a truck and trailer backwards with turns. Mike, please take a look. In the bottom section, I didn't know whatthe requirememts are: 100 feet? how many turns? etc


https://permies.com/wiki/138794/pep-homesteading/Drive-truck-trailer-reverse-turns#1088266

That is perfect Liv!  I added a distance and turning part to the requirements and it's good to go.  Thank You!!!

Mike, please check this one: https://permies.com/t/138831/pep-homesteading/Tow-vehicle-yds-vehicle-Homestead

I really didn't know what would be required to prove that someone did it.

Also, for these BB's in which the work is "moving", I don't know if it can be proved with pictures, or does it have to be a video?

Thanks Liv, looks great!  Only thing that needed changing was making it a wiki.

Yes, for things where folks have to show something moving, I'm thinking video is the only way to do it...  A series of pictures could just be posted in reverse order

And now it's my turn on the drama-go-round...

I may work on some BB's to keep productive, but I may not be able to.

Drama sucks, sorry to hear about that.  And we totally understand!

Ash Jackson wrote:And now it's my turn on the drama-go-round...

I may work on some BB's to keep productive, but I may not be able to.

Sorry to hear that.

We do, most of us, go through things that are not always under our own control.

See you on the other side☺️.

so i started on https://permies.com/wiki/138870/pep-foraging/PEP-BB-foraging-straw-Deer

it needs some more work. I will put more effort into it soon...

Time for bed!

Looking good Jordan!  We've changed the naming convention for the BBs we're creating so that they look more "normal" on the forums.  So yours would become:

Catch, butcher and preserve one large mammal (deer, pig, elk, etc) - foraging.straw.deer PEP BB

It's all the same words, just in a different arrangement.

For requirements I'd say:
   - It has to be over 50 lbs.  I'm not sure how heavy a mountain goat or sheep is but I'm thinking they'd qualify.  We just don't want people shooting a coyote and claiming it as a "large" mammal.
   - All salvageable meat need to be harvested
   - Bones, offal, head, hide and other extras don't need to be saved to satisfy this BB

For documentation, I'd probably skip the action shot of gutting the critter.  It's sometimes hard to get the camera out when you're elbows deep in an elk

I hadn't thought of cleaning the offal.  Is that just the heart and liver or is it cleaning all the offal?  I'm probably naive here but what is the purpose in cleaning it?

I'd also require a couple photos of the picked over carcass so that we can tell that they got most of the meat.

Welcome to the pepper team!!!

Mike Haasl wrote:Looking good Jordan!  We've changed the naming convention for the BBs we're creating so that they look more "normal" on the forums.  So yours would become:

Catch, butcher and preserve one large mammal (deer, pig, elk, etc) - foraging.straw.deer PEP BB

It's all the same words, just in a different arrangement.

For requirements I'd say:
   - It has to be over 50 lbs.  I'm not sure how heavy a mountain goat or sheep is but I'm thinking they'd qualify.  We just don't want people shooting a coyote and claiming it as a "large" mammal.
   - All salvageable meat need to be harvested
   - Bones, offal, head, hide and other extras don't need to be saved to satisfy this BB

For documentation, I'd probably skip the action shot of gutting the critter.  It's sometimes hard to get the camera out when you're elbows deep in an elk

I hadn't thought of cleaning the offal.  Is that just the heart and liver or is it cleaning all the offal?  I'm probably naive here but what is the purpose in cleaning it?

I'd also require a couple photos of the picked over carcass so that we can tell that they got most of the meat.

Welcome to the pepper team!!!

I will add your suggestions.

With the offal, My opinion is this is the most nutrient dense food on the animal. So why i suggest it being cleaned would show that they cared for the offal. I do not mean every part of the offal(mainly liver heart, kidneys) It does not need to be part of it. However i was under the impression that the straw badge was harder than a straw badge. They do not need to eat it, it could be saved for the dog or cat..

and thank you!

I think we're on the same page now.  Yes, I'm great with cleaning and using the "normal" parts of the offal like heart, liver, etc.  I was thinking you were talking about washing the gut pile or saving the intestines and cleaning them out for sausage casings or something like that.

Hey Team,

I finally stole an hour to take my first stab at creating a BB, and here it is!

https://permies.com/wiki/138901/pep-rocket/Build-Tube-Style-Season-Extender#1089000

How does this look?  Did I do the wiki bit right?  Any of the content need any work?

Looks good Beau!  I tweaked some of the requirements and I made the links in the first sentence work.  You did the wiki perfectly and it's ready to go.  If you wouldn't mind digging up a picture or two of the hugel heater at wheaton labs and insert that in the BB it would be even better.  Thanks!!!

Mike Haasl wrote:Looks good Beau!  I tweaked some of the requirements and I made the links in the first sentence work.  You did the wiki perfectly and it's ready to go.  If you wouldn't mind digging up a picture or two of the hugel heater at wheaton labs and insert that in the BB it would be even better.  Thanks!!!

I added the picture and tweaked a couple things.

I am curious about the before and after temperature requirement. It seems this may yield wildly different results according to the time of year it's constructed and undergone initial firings.  Maybe that doesn't matter, as it should still show temperature changes, regardless.

Yeah, I'm not sure either.  I'm guessing if you go through all the trouble to do this project, you'd want to get that information anyway.  So it's probably not that critical, nor is it worth worrying too much about.

Ash, I just noticed a bug that maybe you can fix...?  When you're in the Nest forum and you click the link under the picture of the badge at the top, it takes you somewhere other than the Nest badge page...

Mike Haasl wrote:Ash, I just noticed a bug that maybe you can fix...?  When you're in the Nest forum and you click the link under the picture of the badge at the top, it takes you somewhere other than the Nest badge page...

Thanks Mike! An apple for finding a bug. I've squashed it.

Somewhat off topic. Are there any particular BB's posted that nobody has done yet that would be especially good to see completed for the example? Not the wiki creation, the actual BB task.

Good question...  I think some natural building ones are undone, as are a reasonable fraction of the electrical, plumbing and homesteading ones.  I can't think of any that would be a high priority to focus on versus any other.

Hey Peppers!

I have some down time today. Anything I should focus on in particular or just make more BB pages?

I think creating BB pages would be splendid!  I should get to some myself if it keeps raining here

https://permies.com/wiki/108852/pep-nest/PEP-BB-nest-sand-kitchen#1094059

That post raises a good question.

Natural non-toxic cleaning ingredients are mentioned in the background info but the listed requirements for the BB don't specify non-toxic being used. A loophole? An oversight?  

Good catch, Mike. Greywater:Sand:Dishwatetr and Nest:Sand:Dishes have similar issues.

I think it's just an oversight.

Is there some magic word for soaps that makes them 'PEP-approved'? I see the words "Readily Biodegradeable" on soaps in BB posts that were approved.

Good catches!  Some of the early BBs listed details all over in the posts and we'll still finding ones that need to be consolidated down in the Requirements section.  Those soap ones all seem like they could be fixed up a bit.  I'd be fine with "greywater safe" and/or "readily biodegradable" being the requirements for all of those BBs.  

Fixed all 3.

Kitchen clean got a little extra attention, I added a link to the thread for R's book "Clean With Cleaners You Can Eat!" and added "if any" to the cleaners. One of the premises of R's & Paul's position on cleaning is "start by trying water and elbow grease. If that doesn't work, try warm water."

Hey peppers! You all are doing awesome!
Thank you for your hard work.

I had a thought today when someone asked a textile help question in a BB thread. I answered their question but hesitated because I did not want to track the thread and get it off course.
Just a thought I won't be offended if you shoot it down.

Would it be a good use of my time to create bb question threads for badge bits that already have threads and then report them so the staff can link them to the top of the thread and avoid getting off topic while still encouraging learning and questions?

Would it be more helpful if I tried my hand at creating BB threads ?

Thanks

Hi Clay!  Thanks for the kind words and thanks for cranking out all the BBs!

I'm not sure I understand the question thread.  Would it be where you come up with questions about a BB and post them elsewhere for an answer and then we can incorporate it into the BB rules if it seems like the BB should be adjusted?

I think the biggest need is to get BB threads created.  We have hundreds (maybe thousands?) of BBs that need threads created for them.  Here are some directions on doing it:How to create a BB page.  If you're up for giving it a shot, pick an aspect you kinda know well (plumbing?  foraging?) and try to do one or two.  We'll check it over, give feedback and throw apples at you

Thanks Mike I thought that might be the best course of action but I did notice a few people commenting or asking questions about bb skills in the place that I believe is saved for certifying bbs.
I wanted to point out that this could be mitigated by having a separate thread for asking questions and having that thread noted in the first post. This would allow for people that have completed the bb to connect with those that need help and possibly create more community.
I realize people could just go to the appropriate  forum and create their own thread and that would result in much much less labor for the staff.

Thanks for letting me know what you need most. I will look over the bbs that need creation and work on one to get the format down before I do more.

Yeah, I think the way Paul wants it is that if someone has a question about a BB, just ask in the BB.  Then anyone who's done it before may get an email notice and get to weigh in.  And the answer will become part of the thread in case anyone actually reads through the whole thing.

Thanks and have fun with it!  Post here when you have your first one done and we'll look it over

Created these two BB's:

- https://permies.com/wiki/139886/food-forest-PEP-BB-gardening
- https://permies.com/wiki/139887/Landrace-seed-saving-PEP-BB

With that, I believe Gardening is all BB'd up. As always, I'm sure there's room for optimization.

Great job and thanks to everyone who helped make Gardening BB's:
- Dave Burton
- Ashley Cottonwood
- Mike Haasl
- Steve Thorn
- Daron Williams