30 Days of PEP BB's - Program Design Thread

So, Paul sent some of us his idea to come up with 30 days of PEP BB's for people to do "together" while we're all at home.

I see some obvious questions to discuss before we start talking BB's and posting it:

- Should this be:
 - A smattering of BB's, so as to attract and include as many people as possible?
 - BB's of a particular Badge, such that someone following along could actually get One of the Badges by the end?! (is this even possible, I dunno yet)


I'll point out, I don't think there's any shortage of BB's for someone to do with even a suburban yard for land. The hard part will be picking which ones to do.

- Forum organization:
 - My kneejerk-answer is one thread in PEP which has a bunch of links to the BB's, wherein people post their enthusiasm and pledge to join in. Actual BB posts go in actual BB post land. We'd have to make this quite clear.
 - Other ideas?

Ok. I'm thinking of doing BB's from a whole bunch of different badges to capture as many people as possible.

I'm also thinking there'd be a cooking BB every few days, so that the BB's might play into people's meal-planning, too!

Other ideas, I'm all ears.

I like the idea of a mix from a bunch of different BB types.

Yes, I think a thread with a link to the "BB of the Day" and the thread can be used to share our experiences with each other.

I like the cooking one. We might need to be flexible with what people are cooking or pick the really basic BBs for cooking.

Should we pick a couple each day? That way if one is not possible then there is a higher probability more people can participate?

Ashley Cottonwood wrote:Should we pick a couple each day? That way if one is not possible then there is a higher probability more people can participate?

I was thinking that, too. To have an alternate BB each day, in case someone's already done the primary one, or for some other reason can't do it.

Starting to flesh it out, lemme know what you think. I'm concerned that giving a second option may make an already potentially overwhelming think even moreso; but equally concerned that not giving the alternative would leave people out.

Week 1	BB's - Join us, it'll be fun!	-or-	A possible alternative...
Monday	Cook a Stir Fry!	-or-	Bake 2 Loaves of Bread!
Tuesday	Start up your Ruth Stout Composting!
Wednesday	Sharpen a Knife!
Thursday	Carve an Ugly Spoon!
Friday	Pass The Cast Iron Skillet Test!
Week 2	BB's - You're already doing some of this stuff anyways...
Monday	Cook a Soup!	-or-	Vinegar Brine Pickle Something!
Tuesday	Build a Mason Bee House!
Wednesday
Thursday	Carve 2 Coat Hooks without Joinery!
Friday
Week 3	BB's - Keep it up! The Tiny Ad is so proud of you!
Monday	Bake a Pizza!	-or-	Salt Brine Something!
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday	Make a 5x18 Wood Sign!
Friday
Week 4	BB's - If you keep this up, you'll nearly have a badge!
Monday	Cook 2 Cups of Grain on the Stove!	-or-	Dig a Dakota Stove & Cook!
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday	Make a Crappy Birdhouse!
Friday

I would suggest moving the ruth stout composting to later in the weeks, since it requires saving up scraps. (or sorry does it stay start up? oops)

Skandi Rogers wrote:I would suggest moving the ruth stout composting to later in the weeks, since it requires saving up scraps. (or sorry does it stay start up? oops)

No worries! I agree with you, it won't be finished on the first day. My thought is over the weeks, people will likely be creating some kitchen scraps, and might need a reminder to hold onto them.

I'm liking this too.  Some potential BBs that could work well in the spring:
Compound mallet
Sharpen a hatchet
Clean up the shop
Fix a pothole
Sealed pond test
Wood burned sign
Crappy birdhouse
Mason bee house
Ladybug house
Bat house
catch a swarm of bees
Forage a dish
Make seedballs
Brand a location
Weave a basket
Sew a patch
Use greywater
Make firecider
Manually clean an oven
Clean a kitchen
Homesteading spring cleanup

Maybe this format is easier to follow... (use thumbs to vote this one or the other one)

Day of the Week	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
Monday: Cooking Day	Cook a Stir Fry!	Cook a Soup!	Bake a Pizza!	Cook 2 Cups of Grain on the Stove!
Tuesday: Critter Day	Start up your Ruth Stout Composting!	Build a Mason Bee House!	Make an Insect Watering Station	Plant 200 Seeds for Hummingbirds!
Wednesday: Tool Day	Sharpen a Knife!	Pass The Cast Iron Skillet Test!	Clean The Oven!	Create or Restock a First Aid Kit!
Thursday: Craft Day	Carve an Ugly Spoon!	Sew a Patch!	Mend Cloth by Darning!	Make a Crappy Birdhouse!
Friday: Cleaning Day	Sweep the Floor!	Wash the Dishes by Hand!	Reuse Dishwater!	Clean the Kitchen!

I think I like the second format a bit better.  For that format, is is possible to have two BBs on each day so folks have an option?

Definitely possible. I'm just wondering if it's too confusing, or make it look too daunting.  I think it's safe to say PEP doesn't lack for variety.

Do you think that if somebody wants to take part, we can say that they can choose something different and still join us in the show-&-tell?

Table with more than one option per day

Day of the Week	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
Monday: Cooking Day	Cook a Stir Fry!	Cook a Soup!	Bake a Pizza!	Cook 2 Cups of Grain on the Stove!
	Or:	Or:	Or:	Or:
Tuesday: Critter Day	Start up your Ruth Stout Composting!	Build a Mason Bee House!	Make an Insect Watering Station	Plant 200 Seeds for Hummingbirds!
	Or:	Or:	Or:	Or:
Wednesday: Tool Day	Sharpen a Knife!	Pass The Cast Iron Skillet Test!	Clean The Oven!	Create or Restock a First Aid Kit!
	Or:	Or:	Or:	Or:
Thursday: Craft Day	Carve an Ugly Spoon!	Carve 2 Coat Hooks without Joinery!	Make a 5x18 Wood Sign!	Make a Crappy Birdhouse!
	Or:	Or:	Or:	Or:
Friday: Cleaning Day	Sweep the Floor!	Wash the Dishes by Hand!	Reuse Dishwater!	Clean the Kitchen!
	Or:	Or:	Or:	Or:

It seems a bit busy for my tastes. I'm curious what y'all think, though.

Yeah, too busy looking to me too.  Could you just put two BBs in the same box for a given day?  No grid line between them?  Probably not since each thread of text is a different length and it would be a pain.

Sure, people could always just join along with their own BBs!

Dam... just clean up the shop today too!

I think more sewing, crocheting, textiles ones would be desirable. I'll go digging.

Mike, you're more familiar with the BBs. Any upcycling ones?

Looking good Lee! I like the table with two options.

We could try and have an indoor and outdoor one every day. For apartment type people or if weather sucks.

Mike Haasl wrote:Yeah, too busy looking to me too.  Could you just put two BBs in the same box for a given day?  No grid line between them?  Probably not since each thread of text is a different length and it would be a pain.

Sure, people could always just join along with their own BBs!

Mike, if so, I'm not skilled enough with HTML to figure it out.

Ashley, the "alternatives" can definitely be some of the sewing ones (patching, darning came to mind). Crafting Thursday seems a likely place for them.

If it's not too busy for people, I'll populate all the alternatives.

Ashley Cottonwood wrote:Dam... just clean up the shop today too!

Did you take pictures???

Ashley Cottonwood wrote:Mike, you're more familiar with the BBs. Any upcycling ones?

Not that I can think of, unless you consider a mallet or bench an upcycle from a stick or log...

I subbed two sewing BB's on Thursday so it's not so wood-working-heavy.

Any other edits/ideas? I think I like it better without the alternative BB's. Presumably if someone's so far in PEP that they've done these, they can find what others they haven't done yet.

It's a work of art!

No, I thought about it because it's more of a shed than a shop. It's all of my garden tools, cider making materials, and chicken feed and care. Maybe I'll just have to clean the shop too?

Looks awesome! What are the next steps? Fill in with alternatives?

I'm unsure about alternatives, I'm concerned it'll be too busy/daunting. I'm trying to get in touch with the Daily-ish writers to get more eyes on.

Once it's ready, it'll go into a new thread that'll be the actual "do and share the fun" thread, which'll get linked to the dailyish. I may be missing some intermediate steps

So would the graph go on the first post of a thread and then people talk and support one another in that thread.  When they have a BB to submit, they do it in the actual BB thread.  Or did you have another approach in mind (likely better  )

For anyone interested in helping create BB pages, I'm trying to set up a teleconference to get ourselves organized a bit.  Please chime in on this thread if you'd like to participate.

LOTS of apples get chucked at people who create BB pages.  If you're into apples that is...

Mike Haasl wrote:So would the graph go on the first post of a thread and then people talk and support one another in that thread.  When they have a BB to submit, they do it in the actual BB thread.  Or did you have another approach in mind (likely better  )

You got it in One, Mike. You described my assumptions on how this would go. Doesn't mean it's the only way, I've just not seen or thought of better alternatives.

So is this ready to go out in the Dailyish?  May need to get it into the hopper today so it pops out over the weekend...  I did look in the hopper but I didn't see it, maybe it's in there and all is well.