evan's ant village log

Day 42

Gathered lots of rocks and worked on digging and filling the rubble trench foundation for Daboree's log walls.

Also drew up a very rough draft of Ava, showing some ideas for how I might go about dividing the land into paddocks for critters and/or urban lots for fellow permies.

Thanks for sharing your daily adventures Evan. It seems like a really wonderful experience you are going through, although no doubt with its fair share of challenges.

I am really enjoying seeing things grow and improve daily on your lot. How fun to build something out of nothing.

Although, having worked on some projects with a similar modus operandi, I must say it all seems a lot easier and more pleasant when viewed leisurely on the internet then when you're actually down in the dirt But of course you are getting all the learning and all the rewards of being on the ground. And you get those incredible mountain views at the end of the day.

Good luck!

Day 43

Biked down to basecamp this morning to find that I'd received mail from my friend Kate Muller! Kate's doing awesome permaculture work in New Hampshire, and you can follow her project here: https://permies.com/t/45065/projects/Homesteading-Live-Free-Die-state

She sent me some seeds! Many of which seem to have been harvested from her own gardens! Thanks Kate! I can't wait to get these in the ground.

I ended up spending the day at basecamp, and knocked out a little bounty work for Paul. Howard, the PDC instructor, arrived this evening, and I'm looking forward to picking his brains and helping him to make this upcoming PDC a huge success.

My wild lettuce is producing seed would you like to have some? It can survive much harsher conditions than domesticated lettuce.


It has a very attractive leaf shape. the white spots on the leaf are the seed umbrellas.

That wild lettuce looks like Puha. The local Maori name for Sow Thistle. good stuff if it is, boil it up with pork for a good feed of kai.

Day 44

Got a bit of work done peeling logs and levelling the rubble trench foundation of Daboree this morning.

Also caught a ride into Missoula to pick up some groceries and other supplies.

Today I received some mail from my lovely friend Sharla! You can check out her personal blog at http://sharlakpit.tumblr.com She sent me some rad survival supplies: a water-filtering straw, an emergency foil blanket, and a sweet solar lantern, not to mention a delightful handwritten letter. Thanks Sharla! I have such awesome friends.

Hey Evan,

Just wanted to give you some generic props for what you are doing.

I've realised today that your updates are the first thing I look for on the forums each morning. Keep em coming

Mike

Hi Evan,
I use calf panels for fencing and greenhouse/shadehouse, with both I force them into an arc. Having lived in high deer population pressure areas (Humboldt County in N.CA, Orcas Island, WA) clever tricks like high flags above fence, soap, adult male human urine, coyote piss, etc. only work when either population is low or other deer food options exist. I've seen a wiley deer force themselves under a poorly anchored fence too. I have observed that an outer fence set at 45 degrees 6' feet out from the inner vertical fence seems to discourage deer from walking up to then leaping over the fence.
BrightHeart

Day 45

Did a little more bark peeling and some prepping of the foundation for the side walls of Daboree. Then I hopped in the excavator to dig the uphill patio out, dig a wraparound drainage ditch, and finish building a nearby hugel berm.

I wish I could say that everything went perfectly smoothly and I didn't make any mistakes, but the truth is I totally screwed up and threw a track on the excavator. I didn't notice the precise moment it happened, but I was probably foolishly trying to turn too sharply while walking the machine. I let Paul know and hopefully Brian will be able to help me get it put back on when he arrives next week. Paul has been a really swell dictator the whole time I've been here, often sharing his food and giving me paying work, not to mention providing the opportunity to play on his land and with his heavy equipment. And he's so compassionate and understanding, when I make a mistake, he doesn't have me immediately thrown into the volcano.

Depending on the length of time it takes me to get the EX back up her tracks will be directly correlated to your likelihood of being tossed into the volcano. LOL