I wrote a story about Otis

I wrote about Otis on my Mindful in Nature substack, and how up until now I've been a permaculture poser.

https://mindfulnature.substack.com/p/otis-and-the-badge-bits

Man, these badge bits have me digging to get some dirt under my fingernails so I can, you know... and I'm having a great time turning my little 3/4 acre neighborhood property into Permiedise.

j

I really like the photo you utilized. When I think Otis, that is probably the best fictional recreation someone could come up with in my mind.

I'm on my 1/3 of an acre here trying to do the same! I might not be able to accomplish the heavy equipment badge bits but I am going to tackle everything else

My plan is to knock out the heavy stuff by helping others who have the equipment but just need a hand. Think they’ll help me?

j

Timothy Norton wrote:I really like the photo you utilized. When I think Otis, that is probably the best fictional recreation someone could come up with in my mind.

I'm on my 1/3 of an acre here trying to do the same! I might not be able to accomplish the heavy equipment badge bits but I am going to tackle everything else

I’m one of those people who struggles with perfectionism—what a curse in my life. As a result, I tend to spend way too long thinking and planning a thing and not enough time doing. The BBs are certainly pushing me to jump into actually trying new things more than I would without them!

I don’t think we can fit a 7 ft tall hugelkultur on our 1/2 acre lot, but there’s so much to learn beyond that… never know how far I’ll be able to get!

Excellent post Jim!  I agree with the heavy equipment comments, I couldn't do them at my place either.  I was able to knock those BBs out at Paul's place with his equipment.  This isn't required, of course, but an easy way to knock out a lot of the tricky BBs (Earthworks, Rocket, Gardening, etc) is to go to the SKIP event each summer at Wheaton Lab.

I've got a draw in the back part of my yard, and I'll be gush derned if it isn't about...five feet down, so I only have to build up two feet. The question is how to get the wood in there! And the draw is lined with black walnut trees. I'll figure it out...

j

R West wrote:I’m one of those people who struggles with perfectionism—what a curse in my life. As a result, I tend to spend way too long thinking and planning a thing and not enough time doing. The BBs are certainly pushing me to jump into actually trying new things more than I would without them!

I don’t think we can fit a 7 ft tall hugelkultur on our 1/2 acre lot, but there’s so much to learn beyond that… never know how far I’ll be able to get!

I'm retiring from all things 9 to 5 this time next year, so you can bet I'll be over to Wheaton Labs for a stint not long after that. And congrats on a really cool SKIP book. Just came in the mail today.

j

Mike Haasl wrote:Excellent post Jim!  I agree with the heavy equipment comments, I couldn't do them at my place either.  I was able to knock those BBs out at Paul's place with his equipment.  This isn't required, of course, but an easy way to knock out a lot of the tricky BBs (Earthworks, Rocket, Gardening, etc) is to go to the SKIP event each summer at Wheaton Lab.

And on that note, I think I'll brave the Big Wet and go and plant 3 goji bushes I started from seed, to near Marguerite's Apple Tree. I will definitely come in covered in dirt, but Otis knows that trees like friends just like humans do! Yes, planting them in November is better than the end of January, but they were still so small, I didn't feel they were quite ready to survive against the odds.

This won't specifically earn me a Badge Bit, but there's a project about making a map*, that's sitting on the dining room table that I'll tackle after these babies are in their forever homes.

*https://permies.com/wiki/101705/pep-community/map-PEP-BB-community-sand