Hey folks,
I attended the
PDC,
PTJ and SKIP last year, and had an absolute blast with my fellow participants and instructors.
Fellow instructors, you say?
Why yes.
It turns out, I am not great at leaving things be, when I see that there's room for improvement... so I took it upon us all to create a
Third Space Sauna, moving and rebuilding the old sauna that wasn't getting any use, and building up a meeting place around it. Fortunately, those of us who worked on it (and there were many hands involved), had a great time doing it!
I'll be sure to post some pictures, but what I'd love here is a discussion about the
project I will lead this upcoming summer, which you can join me at by following this link
https://wheaton-labs.com/bootcamp/?f=720 .
A good thing to know if you'd like to work with me:
I am an extensive planner, I like to get everything ready in advance and have a clear picture of what steps need to get done each day.
Then, once people arrive, we dance in the chaos (as long as everyone's safe!)
I do consult and teach in both the US and Europe, and will be in MT, CO, AZ and TN for some of the summer.
So, if you've got a particular problem or project you'd like help getting done in June-August, shoot me a message.
Natural building,
permaculture design, food forest gardens and tiny house builds, are some of what I've spent the last few years doing.
And if you need to build a dock, well, been there, done
dock that.
Examples of projects I would be interested in doing at the PTJ this coming summer (pipe up about your favorites, and also, if you're going to be there!):
‹ Treehouse on southwest side of the caldera
~50 yards below the picnic table (this is at basecamp, not the lab). The idea with the treehouse is that we make an entire cabin, comfortable in both winter and summer, at the basecamp. There are only two cabins available there now, and for those who don't want to camp, living in the
trees would be a perfectly decent option. Basics of building a treehouse, framing floor, walls, adding windows, door and a decent roof. Can't be heavy like some of the other structures, so perhaps insulate with
wood shavings / wood shavings & clay slip mix? Nice and fluffy.
‹ Bee hotels for solitary
bees,
- including tree-stump sculptures and sand mounds/pits in conjunction with wild flowers and berry bushes (this is a 3 day project, but several can be built) (attaching pictures), these are big, as many
Native and solitary
bees need long tunnels in order to lay eggs for female offspring.
‹ Three outhouses for the lab (build them on the plateau just to the SE of the gate, along the road to the Dog Star cabin).
Once finished, one stays there for people to use when they are waiting for the shuttle or when they just arrive/leave the lab, the others are placed at strategic places, like near the current sauna location, and one over toward Zach's
Pond. This project is really basic and doesn't hold much interest for me, but would increase the quality of life for those visiting/staying at the lab, and is super easy to do. Also covers the basics of construction, participants will learn how to use tools as well as how to look up building standards and regulations, then build together and complete a project. Good stuff, for life's necessities.
‹ Hempcrete cabin on the lab (small, like the love shack or slightly bigger)
- a complete build, from framing to windows to roof. Hempcrete is
one of the most fabulous building materials I've come across, and good news - it's scalable! Meaning not only can climbers climb it, but you can build multilevel buildings using the material, I visited a seven story hempcrete building in France a few years back. It can be done industrially, as opposed to Earthships and other labor-intense constructions, that aren't financially feasible for large-scale projects. Can be clad with any siding, from lime plaster to clay to shingles, wood paneling, metal sheeting or whatever. It's hypoallergenic, rodent and fire resistant (withstands forest fires), and can be 100% reused
should your house ever need to be taken down. If properly built, it can stand for centuries. - Looks like this one won't happen, but if you're interested, send me a line.
‹ Continuing with the Third Space Sauna
- last year, we did the starlit
shower, the pea-gravel runway, moved, insulated and clad the sauna, built cedar benches, installed a vent, built a changing room with bench, shelf and hooks, built a fire pit with log benches, and a miniature wood shack.
This year, we could do landscaping around the area, with scented, drought resistant plants around the
shower and runway. We could also do a food forest garden on the east side of the sauna. This would include techniques for
irrigation and propagation, to show participants how to multiply their plants as cheaply as possible, as well as planning, planting and setting up a system to care for the garden. We would have plants yielding nuts, fruits and berries all hardy
enough to withstand the MT weather.
‹ Sealing a
pond.
Somewhere, anywhere.
This would require buying bentonite clay to seal a pond, since pigs aren't going to be brought in. I don't think we realistically have time to prepare for this one, as the clay needs to come in from Wyoming, brought up to wherever we build the pond, and so on. I will only be there a week in advance, so there's a high risk of the project not being completed in time, if things aren't in place before then.
That's about it, so what one would you like to learn more about, or do?
Personally, I'd love to try the treehouse. I've done tree forts before, though never anything involving an actual door... but again, it all depends on what other project will be going on, since we share resources. Alternately, sit back and watch the instructors fight for the tools. It could be entertaining.
Then again, the bee hotel is a sweet little project, and having more people learn how to do them, can do a lot of good.
Let me know!
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.jpg "Filename: IMG_20230713_175255877-(1).jpg
Description: Lisa, the designer of the safe-from-starting-forest-fires-fire-pit, here seen working on the starlight shower")
