Chris' Bootcamp Experience Log

Hi Boot Chris. Sorry I found your posts only now. As long as I am at the Permies forums (I think about 10 years now) I do my best to follow the threads of the Boots (and 'Ants' first) living at Wheaton Labs.
I found your thread because I was searching for an apple sauce recipe. You, the Boots, were making apple sauce. But now I'll go on searching for a recipe. I picked some apples from an abandoned old orchard ...

August 29, 2024

We had a busy day today!

We started out at the lab to repair the junk pole fences in preparation for the colder weather.  Have to keep the deer and other critters out!!

After that, as the water in the lab was out, we went by to finish the hydrant near Cooper Cabin.  It was a success!!

Once the hydrant was installed, we went back to the lab and Allerton Abbey to turn off the hydrants, then on to the well house to get all the power and water going again.

Lots of air in the lines, we will have to work it out in the coming days.

After lunch, we watered at base camp.  I did my best to saturate the hugels I was working on with the new sprinkler attachment (forgot a pic today!!).  We also checked on the apples in the solar dehydrator, they aren't quite done just yet.

After that, we went back to the lab again to water since we weren't able to earlier.  Things are looking good, and we got a decent amount of watering done.

Thanks for reading, I'll be wrapping up the week tomorrow!

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:Hi Boot Chris. Sorry I found your posts only now. As long as I am at the Permies forums (I think about 10 years now) I do my best to follow the threads of the Boots (and 'Ants' first) living at Wheaton Labs.
I found your thread because I was searching for an apple sauce recipe. You, the Boots, were making apple sauce. But now I'll go on searching for a recipe. I picked some apples from an abandoned old orchard ...

No worries at all.  I'm glad you found it, and thank you for reading!

That sounds great!

The video we watched is here: https://youtu.be/AhbrTyleEAs?si=AJbqlj3uudQUvpSS

We liked it because it was very simple and it was our first time making it.

Are you going to add spices to it?

I recently thought about some of the things I have experienced here as a "mature" boot, and thought I would share.  These tips are especially important if you are from a more humid area and from a lower altitude!!!

1.  Drink your water, LOTS OF IT!!!  The first couple of weeks as I was acclimating to the increased activity level, the arid conditions and the altitude were rough!  The dry climate can deceive you as to how much water you are losing due to perspiration, as it dries so quickly.  At home, you tend to stay drenched, as the humidity doesn't really allow for evaporative cooling.

2. Related to number 1.  They have some electrolyte mixes here, but "snake juice" is the best one.  These are essential in keeping your electrolytes in balance.  It makes a huge difference.

3.  Have good hiking boots.  You WILL be hiking up and down rough terrain here.  There are loose rocks and other things that can make it very interesting as you are climbing hills and hugels!

4.  Be in somewhat decent shape before arriving, if possible.  As I said before, the first couple of weeks tested my endurance in a big way.  I came from a pretty sedentary lifestyle in a lower altitude and humid area, so I learned the hard way

I'm sure I'll think of more, and will post them when I do!

Thanks for reading!

I thought of a fun tip.

If you get the chance to have huckleberry pie, DO IT!

They aren't domesticated, and only grow wild in areas like this, so you need to get them while you are here.  Trust me, they are delicious!

Once again, thanks to Paul for generously supplying one for us boots to try!!!

I plan on trying out the shakes when I get a chance

I'll be posting updates again soon.  Yesterday was a bear!!

I wanted to see if folks out there have any recommendations on how to start keeping bees.

As I mentioned before, I am currently planning on going to Belize, and as part of my time there I would love to start keeping Mayan stingless bees.

My current plan is to attempt to learn native ways from the Mayans living in Belize, so that I can learn their ways and help to preserve them.

As an anthropologist, this is very exciting to me

I would, however, like to not be totally ignorant of beekeeping in general.  So, if anyone has suggestions on where to start (I don't do well with narrowing down multitudes of info just to find the basic starting steps), I would be appreciative!!!

C Simpson wrote:I wanted to see if folks out there have any recommendations on how to start keeping bees. ...

The trick is sifting through all the "books" as you figure out how you want to keep bees. Personally, they are pollinators to me. So, I don't rob the honey. I took a class that included installing a nuc in a new hive. They froze to death the first winter. "Keeping Bees With a Smile" by Fyodor Lazutin showed me how to build my own horizontal hive with 4" thick insulated walls to protect them from the elements. My bees survived a zone 5 freeze for days and thrive here in 105+ degree humid weather here in Texas. I hope you and your bees thrive!