Chris' Bootcamp Experience Log

Hello all!

My name is Chris, and I came from the Nashville, TN area to learn more about permaculture here at Wheaton Labs in the Bootcamp.

I'll try to share my impressions of the work that is continuing here at Wheaton Labs, and hopefully make it entertaining to read.

A little backstory on me:

I am 49 years young, and have worked in many different industries over my life, the most recent being a researcher at Vanderbilt University Medical Center for about 11 years.  I have experienced some life-changing events since the COVID shutdown, and lost my passion.  I came across a project that will be built in Belize, and one that will hopefully reignite my passion for life.

Coming to Montana is part of the overall project. Getting my feet wet with permaculture, and seeing what all I can learn that will also be useful in a tropical climate is a challenge, but I will do my best!!

I've been here at Wheaton Labs for almost two weeks now, and I can say that I have certainly been enjoying my experience here!  Over the next posts I will be attempting to recapture what has been going on in the bootcamp from my perspective, in hopes that I can catch up before I leave here!!

In the meantime, I will leave you with this gorgeous picture from earlier this week.  I will never tire of the views here, that's for sure!!!

My journey to Wheaton Labs

I left Nashville, TN early on Sunday, August 4th and arrived midday in Missoula.  I had a brief layover at DFW before boarding my flight to Missoula.  It was a stress-free flight, considering I haven't flown since before COVID.

Stephen, the Boot camp Commander, kindly met and picked me up at MSO airport.  I had a little knowledge about the boot camp, mostly from what I had read on here, but still didn't know exactly what to expect.

I was pleasantly surprised when I met Stephen and Paul and how welcome they made me feel here.  My mind was put at ease, and I began settle in and start to get the lay of the land here.

Another boot, Scott, arrived several hours after I did.  His dog Zen made me miss my dog, who has been left back in Nashville with my roommate.  I'm so glad I have her to take care of him!  He's such a big baby, and he hasn't been away from me since I got him as a little pup.

Scott was also a very cool guy, and we had some great conversations together and were able to bond over some traumatic experiences we have had over the last several years.

We both chose our bunking space, and settled down in anticipation of our first day at the boot camp.

A rude awakening

When I say this I don't mean to say that I was awakened rudely from slumber, but rather that I found out just how out of shape I was during my first week here at the bootcamp.

I've always struggled with my weight, and managed to lose over 120 lbs. back in the mid-2010s, but had since gained most of it back over the years.

My first week made me question whether I'm too old for this!!!

The altitude differential, combined with the distinct lack of humidity and the omnipresent sun overhead (which doesn't go down until much later!!!) all served as a reminder to me that I needed time to adjust.  And electrolytes, sweet electrolytes!!

Stephen showed us boots the way with the introduction of three different elixirs of life (electrolyte blends) that saved my butt as the week wore on.

That first week was rough!! We got a lot of work done, and my body is finally adjusting to all of the challenges I have thrown at it thus far.  Rest on the weekends and nourishing organic (or better) food seems to be having its way with me and I seem to be shedding excess weight and achieving a higher level of fitness from scrambling up hills and hugels!!

I suspect that I will be trimmer and stronger after I leave here, which I will hopefully take with me to Belize.

Below, I have attached the first photos that I took after I got here.  Such a beautiful place, and much different than I'm used to.  That hill that the driveway is built upon is no joke!! I got super out of breath on the first week while climbing it.  I still get a little winded, but I seem to be getting used to it.

The first week

As I said in the post above, I felt like I was gonna die at some point during the first week.  Well, not really, but I like being dramatic sometimes.

One of the biggest challenges for me was moving the giant picnic table to the Western Montana State Fair.  Thankfully there were four of us at the time, which made a HUGE difference!!!

Between that and the acclimation to the altitude, not drinking enough water (and electrolytes!!!) and doing manual labor for the first time in a long time made it rough.  I feel much better now!!

Below are a couple of photos from the Fair.  It looked like it would be a good time.  It took me back to my younger years as a member of 4H, when I judged sheep

Why I'm at Wheaton Labs

In this post, I want to go into why I'm currently in the boot camp at Wheaton Labs.  I also want to detail some of the things I want to learn about while I'm here (or find resources through which to learn more).

As I mentioned before, I have been through a lot of experiences since 2020.  These have left me with a loss of passion for the job I was doing.  As a result, I crashed and burned and ending up losing said job.  After looking for work while doing rideshare, I discovered that I couldn't seem to find a job.

I stumbled across an opportunity to start over through a permaculture lens.

I admittedly had not read much (and still haven't yet) about permaculture, but I discovered this forum through the owner of some land in Belize.  We are planning an intentional community there, and am looking to this site and the boot camp for inspiration!!

After talking with her, we decided that I needed to learn more about permaculture.  I am slowly becoming acquainted through reading and exposure here at Wheaton Labs, and hope to learn much more!!

Some things that I want to learn about that may not be covered here due to the extreme difference in latitude and therefore climate:

1.  Raising Mayan stingless bees (learning from native peoples)
2.  Building with earthbag and other sustainable materials, with an eye on trying to reduce heat in dwellings
3.  Non-traditional greenhouses using cooling instead of heating to allow growth of non-tropical crops
4.  Insect and parasite control (perhaps leveraging bats and other fauna)
5.  Rain catchment systems (and possible filtering of river water)
6.  Hydroelectric (from the same river that the property sits on)
7.  Fermentation techniques (think from honey, cashews, coconuts, pineapples, etc.)

These are just some of the things I want to do down there.

Yes, it's going to be a challenge!!!  Any input is much appreciated!

Chris hope the knowledge you gained during boot, is helpful for your trip down south. Yes the picnic table was heavy, Glad it arrived safely to the fair. please keep us in the loop on your permie project!
John

J. Syme wrote:Chris hope the knowledge you gained during boot, is helpful for your trip down south. Yes the picnic table was heavy, Glad it arrived safely to the fair. please keep us in the loop on your permie project!
John

It was great meeting you, John!  I'm going to try to absorb as much as I can while I'm here, and hopefully be in better shape as a result as well

I'll probably start another thread when I start down in Belize.  It will have lots of photos as well!

First week highlights

Other things besides getting used to the climate and altitude happened here on the first week. I was introduced to some really cool structures in and around the lab area of Wheaton Labs, as well as some structures that other folks had constructed in their time here.  Some finished, many not.

I was also able to meet some awesome like-minded people, SEPPers and other folks who were here at the time.  

Here are some of the awesome structures I got to see, and continue to see throughout my time here.

Another day done

Stephen and I spent the first part of the day watering the trees over at Allerton Abbey.

I have included some photos of a tree below.  I was worried that this tree wouldn't make it, as it was a much larger tree that had somehow had its trunk broken.  As you can see, it is growing back nicely!

After that, we made a brief stop near Cooper Cabin to widen the hole to fix the hydrant over there.  We ran a bit short on time, but managed to get the 12" auger in there pretty good and made a little more progress.

After lunch, we watered the heck out of the hugels near the Fisher Price House, thw Willow bank and Apricot Alley.  There were some rather thirsty plants who i'm sure were very grateful!!

We also noticed a large amount of smoke in the mountains to the East.  We could smell it too.  Hopefully if there is a fire, it gets extinguished quickly!

So that's today, I'm going to make some more post from the last couple of weeks until I get caught up.  Thanks for reading!!!