Clay McGowen

Nancy Reading wrote:Hi Clay!
If you have time to check out the wofati greenhouse in the winter that would be interesting to me. I'm not really sure if it is up and running properly yet though?

Hi Nancy!!
Getting up to Allerton is definitely on my personal list - hoping that’s sooner rather than later. I’ll be sure to stop in the greenhouse.
If I understood Paul correctly, it is up and running and there are even some plants jamming along in there.
It sounds like it was warm in there last week when he stopped by

Anne Miller wrote:Welcome to Wheaton Labs and Base Camp. Have you gotten to tour the Labs yet?

What a wonderful opportunity...

Thanks Anne!!
I was very fortunate to spend about a month here last year - over three different trips.
I was given a full tour by former boot Brian, last May as a SEPPer.
I stayed at Allerton Abbey 5 or so nights.
Then at the 2024 PTJ I spent a ton of time up at the lab - largely at the root cellar wrangling logs with J R, but also at cooper building Stephen’s Poo with a View, and enjoying the Sauna.

But all that to say, not yet this trip. My rig is only two wheel drive and I didn’t want to risk it. On the list! Definitely wanna sauna in the snow…

Timothy Norton wrote:Clay! I love seeing the posts man. Good to see you at Wheaton Labs, I hope that you get some BBs done. :)

I hope you really enjoy your time there.

Thanks Tim!!
One done, one with pictures ready to post, another in progress, and one more on the horizon.
Glad to be able to accomplish multiple things at once!

Deane Adams wrote:Clay, I hope you enjoy your time at the lab.  Like Nancy said, I too would like to see pics of anything you harvest from the greenhouse.  Almost the end of Jan and in MT, that would really show proof of design.

Hard not to enjoy when I’m here, Deane!
Not sure if there’s anything actually harvestable, but will advise.

I was up early to run the RMH today, early enough to catch the dawn!

Besides running the rocket, I jumped in to The Cleaning Blitz with both feet.
Tidying up the entryway, kitchen, and bathroom in the fisher price house, along with sorting the recycles, took up a majority of the time.

I still wanted to clean the Solarium for Alex, our newest boot, so I used some of my nest labor time to spruce the place up while attempting another BB (clean an area rug… or 7).

I also realized how much wood I’ve been using, so I spent a little time splitting, something which will be on the agenda for tomorrow, and likely multiple more days this week too.

Frequently as I walked between the Library and Fisher Price, I noticed cats sitting in an empty bowl. I wrote it off as typical “if I fits I sits” behavior… until I realized it was one of those heated pet bowls to prevent water from freezing.
I’ll try and fill it tomorrow when I have a second, but it was too funny not to snag a pic today.

Alex was generous, showing up with a dozen Veera donuts.
I had more than my fair share, absolutely delicious. I can see why Stephen raves about them. We ended up deciding to put them in the freezer, otherwise I’m fairly sure I would have finished the box. I might have even seen Paul take a little piece!

To wrap up, I decided to decalcify some faucets for yet another BB. Sadly I think the one in the bathroom needs a little more work, but the one for dedicated hot water in the kitchen cleaned up nicely!

Howdy folks!

I’m Clay and this week I’m stepping up as high commander while Stephen is enjoying his Sojourn!

I drove out Friday, got in that evening, spent time with Paul and Samantha, and even got to enjoy The Secrets of Dumbledore in Paul Theatre.

I’m following in the footsteps of Alexandra and trying to earn my “Operate a Rocket Mass Heater for a week” badge bit.
Yesterday Paul coached me up on how to get a fire going, and after experiencing several others, gotta say the RMH in the Fisher Price house is rather dreamy. Forgiving and fantastic for a relative newbie like myself.

Before and during the Smackdown I had a fire rolling along. Ended up lighting another fire yesterday evening, but I’ll detail that in a separate thread.

I know I get a lot out of the pictures boots post, so if there’s something you’d like to see from WL this time of year, post a message and maybe I can accommodate.

Thanks for reading!

I’m here at Wheaton Labs!
Today, as part of nest labor, I cleaned up the solarium for our new boot, which included cleaning the rugs. Here’s two out of half a dozen or more.

I took them out, shook them out, beat them with a stick, laid them in the sun, then put them back! Ezpz :)

Backstage during one of Paul’s recent YouTube live calls with Alan, it sounds like his 2025 schedule is already pretty well planned out.

He did mention it as a possibility in 2026 though!!

Alan reiterated his need for a good sized audience filled with people who are engaged, prepared for his level of teaching and scientific rigor, and would benefit professionally from an advanced PDC.

That describes me!
I’m still in!

My goal, although it won’t be easy, is to find at least 3 more people who are willing and able to join.
If the 5 of us who committed could do that, maybe another 10+ would join along the way.

Find an engineer friend who’s looking at LEED certification and invite them. Find a chemist who would rather grow without synthetic chemicals rather than develop them. Or a Botanist who wants to round out their skill set.

While it’s 18 months away, I think we must keep the ball rolling if we want it to happen.

Howdy!

I’ve actively attempted to switch to desktop mode on mobile via both the Brave (chromium based) browser app, Safari, and Chrome, both using the “Desktop view” button on the bottom of pages and the “Request Desktop Site” button through the menu bar in the app, all to no avail.

I tried this on user profile pages, forum pages, different threads, and even this page.

The pages all seem to refresh, but fail to switch to desktop mode as intended.

And example page which does not switch (my profile): https://permies.com/u/332516/Clay-McGowen

Brave app Version: 1.73 (97)
Chrome app Version: 132.0.6834.78
Safari/iOS version: iOS 18.1.1 (22B91)

Times accessed approximately 4:35pm MT - 4:45pm MT

Let me know if I can provide any additional info here!

(Submitted via Brave browser)

I’m going to go with - yes!

This year we had one cold night with a string of warmer days predicted after. I wanted to give my garden another week so I tossed some blankets, towels, and tarps over my more frost sensitive plants.
As you can see below, this wasn’t perfect as the squash leaves which were touching the blanket died, but the main body of the plant was saved!

I also put a big jug of water under the blanket to also help buffer the temps.

I kept this going a few days later when a similar weather pattern rolled in.
Overall, I’d say I got at least a week longer growing season out of it.

I imagine a tipi purpose built for the task would have good results. Especially if you could find some extra mass to tuck inside as well.

I love milk. I grew up drinking a ton and I've joyfully continued that habit.
Most mornings my breakfast is somewhere between a pint and a quart of raw grass-fed A2A2 milk.
For me, this staves off hunger and doesn't leave me feeling heavy or sluggish.

Though, since this past summer, I haven't been able to fully get back to my routine of also skipping lunch/snacks throughout the day.

Coydon Wallham wrote:I stumbled on my most productive eating routine while participating in the Wheaton Labs Bootcamp.

I was at WL for the 2024 PTJ, and had quite the opposite experience.
With delicious food provided for me three times a day, I could hardly resist!

I'll be heading back to WL for 8 days starting this coming Saturday and hopefully will use that as a springboard back to the 22/2 (22 hours on, 2 hours off) intermittent fasting method my body was loving earlier last year.

There is a wealth of great info in this thread!

I used to have horrible insomnia, from childhood up through a few years ago. The major things which helped me have been:
- dark, almost pitch black room
- cold, our bedroom is ~60°F
- diet, I’ve been on a health journey and organic foods have greatly improved every aspect of life, including sleep
- stretching, I spend 15-45 minutes stretching in the dark before bed

The one I haven’t seen mentioned yet is breathing. I read an article years back which listed a specific breathing technique which is supposed to help calm the mind and help people fall sleep:
- 4 seconds of breathing in through the nose, very deeply
- 8 seconds of holding your breath
- 7 seconds slowly breathing out
- 1 second pause
- repeat

I find this not only relaxes me, but it also blocks out virtually all other thought as I’m too focused on counting and breathing to let my mind wander.

About the time I start losing count while holding my breath I realize I’m tired enough to call it quits, and fall asleep quickly from there.

Together these have taken me from laying awake for many hours staring at the ceiling to less than 10 minutes from the time I lay down until I’m out.

Howdy! Looks like the video in the main post for this wiki is private, linking a few others I found when looking up "what the heck is repointing a foundation?"

I like this one because it's short



This one goes into a little more detail on finishing