evan's ant village log

It looks like it might be a small False Solomon's Seal... I think...

Day 59

Got a few more fence poles limbed, and started shingling the skidder.

Then Fred, James, and I went into town to Free Cycles for a free concert. It was fun, and definitely nice to get off the farm for an evening. Met some nice permaculture folks and they offered to give us some fruit trees next time we're in town. They'll be transplants, so they won't have taproots, but still, not gonna turn down fruit trees.

Day 60

Finished work on the skidder, finally. I think it looks pretty good, all things considered. I'm glad to be moving on to other things though.

I can't believe it's been two months already. I feel like I haven't gotten hardly anything accomplished. I've got loads of projects started, but precious few completed. Now seems like a good time to lay out some of my goals for the next couple months, roughly in order of priority:

plant more seeds
fence around Hamelot
help Brian build the berm shed (bounty)
gather/stage materials for PDC projects
finish pond in Téjas
finish hugelberms and fence around Téjas
plant more seeds
hugelberm entire north border of Ava
build lots more hugelberms
plant lots more seeds
mulch everything
finish debris hut
at least 1 more pond
solar dehydrator
duckmobile and prep for ducklings
at least 3 paddocks fenced
most of perimeter of Ava fenced

Looks like the Western Redcedars (which is technically a juniper, but so are many types of "cedars").

evan l pierce wrote:some kind of climber growie

Honeysuckle; think it's Western Trumpet Honeysuckle, Lonicera ciliosa. Native, you can suck a tiny drop of nectar from the base of the flowers if you snap them off and nothing has beaten you too it. Apparently the berries are edible, but rarely consumed; no personal experience there.

evan l pierce wrote:cedar?

Yup, that's Western Red Cedar IMO. Wouldn't have guessed you'd have it there, but looked it up and it looks like Missoula is right near the eastern edge of its range.

evan l pierce wrote:millipede?

Yup, some sorta millipede.

I would bet the spikey berry is a type of gooseberry, maybe Canada gooseberry ( Ribes oxyacanthoides)

Day 61

I just want to reiterate how grateful I am to everyone who's been supportive of me on this antventure so far. Whether sending stuff, or sharing knowledge, or just following along and expressing appreciation for my efforts, it means a lot to me, and helps keep me motivated to keep antin' it up out here. Thanks again!

Jesse, the second ant, is apparently on his way here, and he posted some requests in the ant love thread. So, if anyone reading this was thinking about sending some love, send it his way!

Today I made some more progress on gathering and processing fence materials for Hamelot, and also gathered up a whole bunch of manure-rich straw mulch from where Tim's cows used to be. James was kind enough to allow me to load up the somewhat pungent straw in the back of his truck in order to move it over to Téjas. Some of it seems exceptionally juicy and like it will be ideal for gleying ponds, while all of it should make for awesome mulch. Thanks James!

Day 62

More progress on Hamelot. Cut the 12 bigger poles I'm gonna need for fence posts today. I'm spacing the posts every 12ft along the edges of a square about 48ft by 48ft. The two sides that run along the edge of my plot will be 8ft tall to keep out deer and turkeys, but the two sides that run along the interior will only need to be 4ft tall to keep in ducks and the occasional potbelly pig.

Erica and Ernie Wisner were here touring the lab today and sharing their natural building expertise. It was great to get their feedback on my projects, and I now feel better prepared to move forward on my debris hut once I knock out some of the more pressing priorities.

No project pics today, but check out these plants and this snake I found!

Yowsers! That snake reminds me of why I love Washington--we only have harmless little garter snakes!

Nicole Alderman wrote:Yowsers! That snake reminds me of why I love Washington--we only have harmless little garter snakes!

I disagree. Any rock east of the Cascades could have a Rattlesnake underneath. Snakes like the voids under hot rocks.

rattlesnake


- L. Daniels