!! SEPP to Boot: Stephen's Experience (BEL)

Beau M. Davidson wrote:Do you know the origin of this recipe?

I heard it from Paul, who heard it from a professor friend of his several years ago. Word is the professor didn't know where it came from, either.

I have a dim memory of someone saying they knew how it ended up with that name, but for some reason I can't remember anything else about it. Sorry, man!

BEL #797

Did you know today was National Donut Day...?!?!?! I found this donut in a piece of wood I sawed through.



More highlights from today's afternoon session over at the solar sawmill's new location. Installation continues, and today Seth and Shawn joined me for the task.

We want to make this a permanent location for the sawmill, so we made sure to add a gravel sock to all four support posts going into the ground.



Now that all four posts are in the ground, the next step is to use the laser-level to achieve a consistent height with all of them. We'll tackle that next week.



After our tasks at the sawmill were complete, we took a moment to visit Allerton Abbey and do a last little bit of irrigation while we had the chance. I stopped by this year's GAMCOD project hugel, and things are shaping up. I'm hoping for the best out of the broader variety of plants we have growing this year. In general, with so many Boot hands available this year's gardens are looking lovely, healthy, and productive.



That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

BEL #798

Happy Taco Tuesday to you...!!!

Note to self: maple iced cookies with whipped maple topping. It's the doorway to another world.

I think the drain field hasn't been this cleared of viable mulch since I've started living here. The team has done a tremendous amount of work in moving this mulch to our gardens. It's early enough in the year that we ought to be able to have a second harvest in the autumn for winter hugel berm prep.



Seth purchased his own scythe over the weekend, and in the past couple days he tracked down most of the tool care items to help it do its job. Here he is at the peening jig.



This afternoon, Matt, JP and I finalized the new mounted version of the sawmill frame. I think we'll be able to do some test cuts tomorrow. Then we'll have all sorts of brand-new lumber, straight off the Wheaton Labs property. We're so close...! It's been almost exactly a year since we've been able to use this. Plus, completing this re-installation will be one of my Big Three project for this year, crossed-off my list.



Somehow, our measurements for the permanent posts were a bit off. To address this, we added some 2x4s to the bottom of the frame, giving us a bit more wiggle room. We then re-used the plumbing straps/tape to secure the frame to the lumber, and in some cases also to the posts. We'll come back tomorrow and use lag bolts to further secure the lumber and frame to the posts more permanently.

I'm hoping the "gravel socks" we added to these posts will keep them free of moisture and provide us with many, many years of maintenance-free frame support. We'll see.



That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

Nice Stephen! Woa, so many new boots! Keep 'em hopping, High Commander, Sir! 😉

BEL #799

Like fellow Boot Shawn has said, "today was a rollercoaster of a day." The solar-powered sawmill was running (and it felt so good to finally see it running!), though we encountered some issues related to consistent cutting. Is it the sawmill frame? Is it the logs not able to be held still while milling? Is the ground on too much of a slant or slope? We're working on solutions.

If you might have some suggestions, please watch below and comment here.



That's all for now. Thanks for watching, and enjoy your day...!