! Josiah’s Bootcamp Log

Here is a place for videos mostly about things at Wheaton Labs. Other Boots are welcome to throw videos up here as well. Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel!

Today is my first day back at the lab after traveling in August. After the chaos of the city and the roar of the highway, these golden slopes feel quiet and calm. This video shows some of the days activities and some glamour shots of Fred’s luscious Hugel berms.

So I've been teaching myself video production over the last six weeks. All of my efforts have been focused on producing videos for Paul's youtube channel, to which 8 new videos have been posted! (There are a few more available for Paul's video Patreon supporters at any given time)

It's been a wild ride for me as I had virtually no experience with video production prior to this. My background is in vegetable farming and I avoided computer work until this August when sweet serendipity immersed me in 20 hours of video editing. That grueling project kindled curiosity into a motivated passion that has kept me in front of my trusty ol' laptop 20 hours/week for the last month. It's really exciting to use my new found skill to make valuable information available to so many people. I absolutely love learning and doing the work here and it is a joy to be able to share that.

If you have been following Paul's channel, you will hopefully have noticed that the quality has been improving steadily. Recently I learned lots about audio balancing.

All the footage is shot on my Iphone 8 and I'm using the free version of Lightworks editing software. Initially I struggled with computer crashes(!), hardware limitations (CPU, RAM) and a different editing software that had a very frustrating tendency to corrupt my saved edits. Persistence and frugality won and my 7 year old MacBook Pro has been wiped clean and is functioning now as a dedicated video editing machine. CPU and RAM still limit video quality to 720p, but I hope to someday soon upgrade and be able to produce videos in 1080p and even 4k!

I'm currently working on 9 additional videos about projects here at Wheaton Laboratories. I'm especially excited about the series of videos concerning the construction of the new Berm Shed, as that has been my main focus during the day as a Boot. The first in the series is about extending the lifespan of round wood posts.



Upcoming videos in this series include but are not limited to:
the tractor mounted gin-pole
round wood joinery
adding the living roof
repairing collapsed retaining walls
and the construction of a single bay of the Berm Shed.

It's been a while since I posted anything here so I thought I should give a little update. I hope to make and post more boot life videos here eventually, so hang tight.

I'm missing Fred, so here is a slow motion video of him cutting rebar for some late night repairs.

Lots of things going on at WL these days. I've been putting lots of my attention into carpentry at Allerton Abbey which has resulted in a few good things. Unfortunately it has also meant less videos. but now I'm back in the saddle and gettin ready to put up some more installments of the bermshed series.

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"What's all that white stuff?" he asked in a confused Californian tone... but then, as if a great leviathan was rising from the sea, a faint image arose from the depths of memory... a memory of a distant place, almost forgotten from years before, whispering at the corners of consciousness... a place called... the Midwest. Ah yes, there was once similar white stuff in this distant place as well, at first enjoyable as a child, then more annoying when work wasn't cancelled like school once was...

Perhaps this white stuff will become enjoyable once again, when the rigid daily schedule gives way to a more relaxed pace on the homestead, working hard on the land because you want to, keeping the hands and feet warm through willing effort and wondering where the time went because times fun when you're having flies, or something like that... so once again the images of distant past drift down beneath the waves, waiting in the stillness and darkness until new memories join them, and the circle is complete.

Snow! I knew it would come to me!  

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