What are YOUR 20 easiest [Sand] BB's?

"What are YOUR 20 easiest [Sand] BB's?"

Hi, I'm Ash, and I'm still bonkers about PEP. I'll chime in later, but first I want to hear YOUR answer to this question.

Glossary:
SkIP - Skills to Inherit Property - https://permies.com/t/125806/skills-inherit-property/SkIP-develop-Skills-Inherit-Property - https://permies.com/t/143071/skills-inherit-property/benefits-SKIP-Skills-Inherit-Property
PEX - Permaculture Experience - https://permies.com/t/96687/skills-inherit-property/PEP-PEX
PEP - Permaculture Experience according to Paul - https://permies.com/wiki/pep
Badge - example: Gardening https://permies.com/wiki/pep-badge-gardening
BB - Badge Bit - example: Gardening Chop'n'Drop https://permies.com/wiki/98575/Chop-Drop-PEP-BB-gardening

I'd like to learn what are YOUR 20 easiest [Sand] BB's?.

#626 from this brainstorming thread: https://permies.com/wiki/40/143116/skills-inherit-property/PEP-SKIP-BB

I actually made a list this morning of the ones that I'd like to do myself and the ones that I thought my partner would like. These are my personal ones that I'd like to work through.

give urine to growies
wash dishes by hand
use water from a dishpan
deep clean interior of fridge
fry an egg so it slides around
seed saving
three log bench
sharpen a knife
sharpen hori hori knife
peen and sharpen a scythe
dry food in a solar dehydrator
salt brine ferment/pickle something
make soup
cook and serve a pound of fresh sunchokes
mint tea
perform some sort of labor over the internet and get paid at least $100
harvest, dry and store lemon balm
do laundry by hand
sweep floor
oddball

We just finished uploading our first attempts - give urine to growies

carve a simple first-timer spoon (hand tools only)
Sharpen a knife
Build a Dakota stove and cook some food
Cook a stir fry
Make a Bee/insect watering system
Make a cup of tea
Create a map
Sow a Patch
Give Urine to growies
Clean/decalcify a shower head
Put a new end on an extension cord
Do dishes by hand
Instal a smoke detector
Create or restock a first aid kit
Grease door hinges
Lable the breakers on an electrical pannel (would take an entire essay in my house!)
Use water from a dishpan
Quick Darning
Prepare a soup or salad with a minimum 1cup of... (there's enough choice on this one I think most people can find something on the list)
Bake two loaves of bread

I picked only things from the Sand level and only things that I think do not require anything special to have like a truck and trailer to drive backwards or for anything to break like repairing a tap before you can do it, some of them do require access to the outside.

Was preparing this list for the other thread of BBs I thought anyone could do anywhere.
 
https://permies.com/wiki/122865/Seed-saving-PEP-BB-gardening 
Saving seeds, there are seeds everywhere 

https://permies.com/wiki/137728/pep-electricity/PEP-BB-electricity-sand-label 
most people will have a breaker panel and labeling anyone can do. 

https://permies.com/wiki/pep-bb-nest-sand-rag-clothes
everyone has old clothes and cutting them up is fun 

https://permies.com/wiki/127884/pep-tool-care/PEP-BB-tool-straw-removerust  
everybody probably has a rusty tool laying around.

https://permies.com/wiki/129032/pep-natural-medicine/PEP-BB-medicine-sand-drypeppermint
a little more time investment, but i think anyone could this. Mint is pretty ubiquitous and easy to grow on a window sill.  

https://permies.com/wiki/107921/pep-animal-care/PEP-BB-animal-sand-bee  
https://permies.com/wiki/107927/pep-animal-care/PEP-BB-animal-sand-insect  
anyone could do these and hang them under a window.

https://permies.com/wiki/112761/pep-plumbing-hot-water/PEP-BB-plumbing-sand-tiny 
Broken toilet seat is a common enough occurance that I think most people could do it. 

https://permies.com/wiki/108363/pep-animal-care/PEP-BB-animal-sand-training 
train animal to come when called, assuming pets count anyone with a pet could do this.  

https://permies.com/wiki/113116/pep-greywater-willow-feeders/PEP-BB-greywillow-sand-urine 
everybody pees and giving your pee to plants is very permaculture. would probably get the most giggles from particpants

https://permies.com/wiki/108853/pep-homesteading/PEP-BB-homesteading-sand-smoke 
everyone could use another smoke detector.

https://permies.com/wiki/109015/pep-homesteading/PEP-BB-homesteading-sand-firstaid 
everyone needs a first aid kit.

https://permies.com/wiki/105492/pep-textiles/PEP-BB-textile-sand-patch
most people could sew a patch over a hole.

https://permies.com/wiki/101705/pep-community/PEP-BB-community-sand-map  
making a map of your surroundings can be fun, and everyone is somewhere. 


Six more that would be easiest for me personally.

https://permies.com/wiki/122923/Encouraging-volunteer-wild-plants-PEP
mulching and weeding around volunteers and wilds is basically my whole garden anyway.

https://permies.com/wiki/98575/Chop-Drop-PEP-BB-gardening
also do this anyway.

https://permies.com/wiki/111863/pep-foraging/PEP-BB-foraging-sand-dish
Could pull this off.

https://permies.com/wiki/129035/pep-natural-medicine/PEP-BB-medicine-sand-drylavender 
https://permies.com/wiki/129034/pep-natural-medicine/PEP-BB-medicine-sand-drychamomile 
https://permies.com/t/128302/pep-natural-medicine/PEP-BB-medicine-sand-drylemonbalm
Last three I do anyway, though I'm not too crazy about making a journal... 

I'd say the best introductory 20 (in my opinion)are:
Chop and Drop
Ruth Stout composting
Club mallet
2 coat hooks
Sharpen a shovel
Crappy bird house
Cook grain on a stove
Make soup
Mason bee house
Pollinator habitat
Forage a cup of tea
Brand a location
Sew a patch
Label electrical breakers
Sell goods for $20
Do dishes by hand
Clean kitchen
Shovel snow
Grease hinges
Make rags

I didn't get through all the categories before I found 20 easy ones. I also defined easy as lower amounts of skill needed than other areas, rather than physically easier in most cases. This is of course, very much an individual matter. For some people, patching a hole in clothing will be easier than dropping a tree, as an example. For me, patching a hole would be difficult, because I don't know how, but I've been cutting wood for much of my life. Anyway:
Gardening - chop and drop,  Ruth Stout composting

Woodland care - drop 6-8" tree, live and dead, with either saw

Tool care - clean the shop

Earthworks - fix a pothole

Dimensional lumber woodworking - build a wooden box

Food prep - cast iron pot hash browns, vinegar brine picking, salt brine ferment, make soup

Foraging - harvesting, making tea

Greywater - give urine to plant

Animal care - bee watering station, insect hotel, brush pile, snake habitat, clean 4 nest boxes, collect 12 eggs

Some of these may not be best to include in the "easy 20" if it is supposed to be geared to "everyone". Dropping a tree can be dangerous. Collecting 12 eggs may be impossible for some people...i do it every morning. I just tried to list the ones that are easy for me.

So, a list of what I really really need anyway!

Tool care

sharpen a knife - I tried to do this one, but I had the wrong sharpening tool. Now I have all kinds of tools and I'm fascinated by knifes and sharpening them! So I might get back to this someday. I should also do the shovel.

Car maintenance - I did the coolant and windshield washer fluid, also basic cleaning of dog hair...

Gardening

seed saving - obviously! Also, looks like fun.

encouraging volunteer or wild plants - I do this all the time although the garden is tiny. I even have a small "meadow" which is completely free to choose what grows there.

Woodland

limb trees, build fences - I do this on a tiny scale. Should take pictures!

Food

Cooking in solar oven, canning, pickling - that's what I do or I'm planning to do this year

Soup, pizza, bread - need to take pics!

Animal care

insect hotel, lizard habitats - pics are coming!

pest control - I need to document that too. Now is my first year without poisoning the snails. So far so good, although there were some painful losses. Next year I'm planning to use Helix pomatia as food, although I don't know if I'll have the courage. But I know they're delicious.

* idea: a task for a badge could be to use an animal to do some job that needs training - for example, ride a cow to the mailbox, use a cow or horse to plow land, train a horse (or some other animal) to pull a cart, etc. Sorry if it's already listed somewhere but I haven't noticed! There is plenty of things in that category.

Foraging

I love doing this! Really need to take more pictures.

Community
public art - that's my day job! Now this is serious: I REALLY need to do this and show you guys. I even have a permaculture-related art project coming.
teach a workshop - I'm planning to teach wool spinning on a supported spindle and drawing from nature. Stay tuned!

Textiles

mend a hole, sew a patch, knit a hot pad, crochet a dishcloth - need to do this / take pics

I also crocheted/knitted sweaters, leg warmers, mittens, ponchos...

Commerce

sell goods - wild rose petals, mulberry leafs, zuccini/pumpkin flowers

Natural medicine

fire cider - I must do this!

and a tincture - from elderberry fruits because I don't have the time to collect flowers...

Nest

do laundry by hand - that's what you do when you've knitted/crocheted all the items of natural wool...

unclog a sink with a zip tool - I can't find this tool anywhere, and it's so clever!

Oddball

perhaps me making a book would fit in here!

After looking over the sand BBs I decided to rank my "easiest" badges based on a few criteria:
1. Don't have to buy anything or scrounge for anything (materials already on hand)
2. Task is already familliar and doesn't require a lot of research
3. Not a seasonal/situationally-dependent task (can perform at any time)
4. Doesn't take a lot of time to complete
5. Doesn't require attention to fine details

Here's my easiest 20 list:

*Clean a bathroom
*Clean a kitchen
*Do dishes by hand
*Use a bucket of shower water
*Use dishpan water
*Clean/decalcify sink faucet
*Clean/decalcify shower faucet
*Darn/Mend
*Sew a patch
*Create insect watering station
*Cook egg on a cast iron skillet
*Create a brush pile for critters
*Dry medicinal herbs
*Create/restock a First Aid Kit
*Sweep a floor
*Oil wooden utensils
*Make rags from clothes
*Set up rag system
*Set up cloth napkin system
*Run self-cleaning oven


Some easy situational tasks that I've got on the back burner:
*Wipe condensation off windows (not sure if I can do this one, all our windows are insulated and I've never seen condensation on them)**may be able to do at the ranch
*Repair Window Screen (waiting for the cats to put another hole in them)
*Install/replace/recharge extinguisher (already done for this year)
*Supply PPEs to worksite (will do next time we're out at the ranch)
*Sharpen a knife (done on a regular basis, waiting until they need to be sharpened again)
*Sharpen/Clean/Oil a shovel (just need to make sure I have all the materials for this one)
*Make a salve (missing a few ingredients)
*Water bath canning (currently harvesting tomatoes, so will probably be doing this soon)
*Knit/crochet a potholder (can do whenever, just being lazy currently)
*Weave a basket (going to attempt with my passionflower vines after they die back in the fall)
*Build a bee house (gathering hollow sticks currently)
*Make a live mouse trap (needs to get a bit cooler, rattlers are currently out in force and I'd prefer they NOT enter our garage)
*Brand a location (will do this and sign-building the next time we're at the ranch)
*Sign building
*Two-step stool (probably have enough wood for this, just not super comfortable using the saw yet)
*Publish documents/guides as a source of potential residual income (working on a list of topics currently)
*Perform a water test (we usually do this every year, already done for this year)

Carolyne, it's funny (inside my own head) that some of the things you consider familiar and not needing attention to detail are in some cases the opposite for me

Mike Haasl wrote:Carolyne, it's funny (inside my own head) that some of the things you consider familiar and not needing attention to detail are in some cases the opposite for me

I was just thinking about that! The sewing/textiles stuff tends to be easy and thoughtless work for me since I've been doing it for so long. But skills like woodworking, electrical, plumbing, are things where since I'm not as familiar with them I feel the need to be really nit-picky.
Same with the herb-drying stuff: I've been doing it for years and don't even have to think about it anymore.
I'm hoping that through trying out lots of the BBs I'll start to get more comfortable with new skills. It's really a lot of fun!

Carolyne Castner wrote:

Mike Haasl wrote:Carolyne, it's funny (inside my own head) that some of the things you consider familiar and not needing attention to detail are in some cases the opposite for me

I was just thinking about that!

It is funny how different everyone is, I mean sweeping a floor is a daily job here, but we don't have window screens or cast iron, or self cleaning ovens... And like you although we do have windows, we don't have any with condensation. I could have a shower with the door shut, fan off and windows shut... that would steam up 2 windows! Everyones list is going to be different though I guess the idea is to find the items that crop up most. without making this a pure cleaning list!

There are so many (very) easy BBs. The only difficult thing about them is to make the photos!

Y'all are sharp!

Thank you all for contributing.

I've gathered your input for an Apple Poll, feel free to vote!
https://permies.com/t/146515