BEL #833
It's been a minute since I've posted a photo update, and I know that
Esteban and
Harry have been keeping most readers in the loop about the comings and goings at
Wheaton Labs lately. Still, I wanted to drop in a few more images here to fill in the cracks, so to speak. I was traveling cross-country through the months of January and February this year, and prior to that I'd only been updating when I had a video post to announce. We'll see how well I can come along and re-establish the habit of posting photos often again, plus not be redundant in the efforts of fellow
Boots.
Meanwhile... Here we go! These photos are from Boot activities between 1st - 7th March.
I finally came around to covering up the spliced wire that provided electricity to the
Woodshop and
Red Cabin. I had sheathed it with a metal pipe, but since the ground was frozen I was unable to actually bury it prior to my departure at the end of December. So now it's covered, and the bulk of the line in that spot is marked with rocks. I think we're due to add some wooden signs to mark the position of the power line... But we'll double-check the ground before we end up severing another power cable with the sign post.
I'm one of those weirdos who loves to dig ditches. Here's the touched-up drainage ditch along the driveway between the
Berm Shed and
Red Cabin.
This year's cover crop mix includes:
Alfalfa
Daikon Radish
Dandelion
Lupines
Sainfoin
Sunflower
Wild Peas (thanks, Clay!!!)
Yellow Sweet Clover
Esteban, Harry and I added cover crop to some of the berms over at
Allerton Abbey one rainy afternoon. Due to the windstorm damage at the end of 2025, it looks like we'll be scaling-back our
gardening efforts up at the
Lab while we rebuild. I wanted to keep things growing and active over there, and won't be broken-hearted as the deer eat these nitrogen-fixers and perennials. And who knows? Maybe we'll have the fences completed in time to have some late-season radish harvests and whatnot.
Seems like the deer aren't fond of digging up iris bulbs. Well, they
are kind of ugly, so...
Batteries at the
Truly Passive Greenhouse have been replaced, so we'll be able to collect temperature data without interruptions - hopefully for the rest of the calendar year and beyond.
One of the big projects for this year is to finally finish the four paddocks planned for
Basecamp (we'd really, really like to have chickens). The windstorm of December 2025 did a number on the fences there, in addition to the Lab. We have a lot of damage to repair, plus new fences to add. One panel at a time, one panel at a time...
That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!
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