!!!!!!!! turnkey permaculture paradise for zero monies

Allerton Abbey is nearly done. A beautiful wofati with an acre of hugelkultur gardens and a truly passive greenhouse.  The bootcamp will be putting the finishing touches on it over the next eight months or so.

If somebody spends four years in the permaculture bootcamp, I will give them allerton abbey or something similar.  So a cabin and an acre of robust permaculture garden.  



At the moment, I am offering this to people that start before march 23, 2025. First come, first serve. So the people that start this month will have a head start over the people that start in march. When the time comes, there could be four or five plots to choose from.  Including Allerton Abbey.



The permaculture bootcamp is a bit like a shitty school.  A person would come to this school and spend their days experiencing gardening, natural building, homesteading, etc. and after four years, they can coast in their own permaculture paradise. 95% of the time spent in the bootcamp is to benefit the current boots and the future boots.



As we have been bouncing this idea around for a bit, some people have asked for some clarity on some points.



Allerton Abbey produced enough food this year to nearly feed one person for a full year.  I think it will produce double that next year.  And as all the food producing trees mature, eventually enough to feed a dozen people.



Many people have attempted to speculate what would be the street value of allerton abbey if it was a standalone acre for sale, near missoula, with equivalent natural building, passive greenhouse and robust permaculture gardens.  I've heard a lot of estimates in the range of $250,000 to $450,000.  What I am offering is our deep roots stuff.



What i get out of it is the advancement of permaculture as a whole.  If this idea works, then I will write about it.  If it fails, then I will write about that.  I like the idea of a community of two dozen permaculture homes, each with slightly different permaculture philosophies.  I think that people that have read my books and listened to my podcasts probably have a good idea of what I am attempting to accomplish with this offer.



People can still pop into the bootcamp for a few weeks or months.  This is an attempt to build a permanent community.  In fact, I think 99% of the people coming here will want to see if they like it before choosing to stay longer.



More information about the bootcamp is here and discussion is here.  More information about allerton abbey is here.

Where have you been when I was 20?
I am 60 now, so all I need is a cosy place on a rocket mass heater bench
Seriously though, it is a great opportunity for young permies, not because of a chance to get the land, but to become a member of the unique community that creates and surrounds it.
Being the Gert'ish kind of person I do not care what the value of the property is, but I am sure that if only I would fit that community, and if the community would fit me (you never know that until you try), that would have been freaking priceless.
Nevertheless, this is awesome initiative and I envy in positve way anyone who qualifies, and I wish all the best to this project.

I have looked at Allerton Abbey on permies.com and I really want to see it in person. It is hard starting out by your self to build cool things. In the past four years I have not done a lot of permaculture things that I want to do because of a 40 hour a week job and lack of help. Starting from zero about seven years ago at my home, I have not done 1% of the things that Allerton Abbey has done.   If I was just staring out, going to the boot camp would be a path I would have taken. Having  Allerton Abbey done and someone living there is a massive boom to both Wheaton Labs and permaculture in general.


If you want to be a Gert then start the path now!

Such a wonderful opportunity! Not only for the outcome but because at the end of four years that person will have so many skills to care for it.

This lovely, generous, furture-focused offer could set you up for a life of joy and meaning, while neither breaking the bank nor your back.

The Abbey is astounding. It was comfortable inside without a heater, when it was nearly freezing outside.

What’s your heating bill? How many cords of wood do you go through? Allerton can keep you warm with passive thermal inertia.

How do you cook your food? Imagine harvesting all your food and fuel within a few yards of your home.

Did dear eat your garden this year? Not a concern with the junk pole fence, already built.

Do your neighbors spray their food-desert lawn? Not here, in the perennial polyculture playground of Wheaton Labs.

Cool tools? They have thousands
Cool people? They flock from all over the world

A likeminded, industrious, knowledgeable, considerate community at your fingertips.

Join the Bootcamp, build your skills, earn an acre and a cabin, and live the life of a retiree in 4 years.

Oh how cool! I'm going to ask my wife. Can she come? She has a sourdough micro-bakery now!!

What a great opportunity, & I can finally get all my badges!!

Chris Vee wrote:Oh how cool! I'm going to ask my wife. Can she come? She has a sourdough micro-bakery now!!

What a great opportunity, & I can finally get all my badges!!

Sounds like a three-fer!

I assume you are suggesting that you and your wife would be boots?

Love your idea and train of thought! I'm gonna share it with mij network for sure.
So curious as how your experience is going to be. Who knows perhaps in the future I can create a similair kind of projectin The Netherlands <3

here is a bit of a tour of allerton abbey from four years ago

a video about the rocket cooktop at allerton abbey



And since some people had questions about using it

The rocket cooktop is my personal favorite thing about Allerton Abbey.
It’s so easy to use even a Gillian like me with zero prior experience can cook dinner without concern!

I WOULD LIKE TO COME AND VISIT IT BEFORE YOU GIVE IT AWAY!  BUT KUDOS FOR EDUCATING SO MANY PEOPLE!

OK, I will stop yelling now lol.  I am currently trying to figure out ways to do the same on my property in IA. I am building garden beds from old garage door panels.  We have the compost toilet and the shower room built (made from pallets and tin roof), now on to water catchment from said roof.  The problem is the roof is only 10x7ft.  So more water catchment will be needed and another form of collection-somehow.  I am seeding the the land with various herbs and plants but medicinal and for culinary reasons.  A greenhouse will need to be built as well as a canning cellar, but the bathroom took priority, next is the bridge to the wooded area. Then I can get back on the gardens and greenhouse.  Do you currently live there and are just moving one to create another location?  Or are you in and out?  I am trying to think what time of yr to visit next year.

Also, I bet your skills would be killer helpful in the mountains down in the NC/TN area currently!  I will be going down in NOV, any chance you are headed that way?

Are huglecultre beds only made from aged wood?  I know I have been told before not to put green chips on my garden beds before, does the same apply for the piles?  They will have TONS of down wood to use it also.  

I am hoping to look at some of your stoves and try and figure a clean and simple version to weld together out of a 55gal drum.  Not the most efficient but they need warmth and have loads of wood downed.

Any insight you can provide would be appreciated!

It's come so far!!! I remember helping cobb the walls!

Make a wish!

Stephen did a GAMCOD plot this year.  A bit on the side of Allerton Abbey.  A five foot tall hugelkultur about 8 feet wide and 25 feet long. He shoveled lifeless dirt on wood. He weighed the food and ...  20,570 calories.  About 30 hours to pack the wood and dirt to the spot and 20 more hours for the whole summer for general gardening.  Potatoes and sunchokes were taken from other hugelkulturs and stuck in. Pumpkin seeds were from saved seeds last year.  So zero cost.  

If Stephen did this exact same thing for an acre, it would be over 4 million calories. The average person consumes 730,000 calories per year.  The rest of the hugelkulturs on the Allerton Abbey acre have not yet had this much attention, but we estimate we are currently touching about a million calories for 2024.  We think we will harvest double that in 2025.

This same plot will generate more calories with zero effort next year.  And Stephen is already talking about building a new GAMCOD plot next year and beating this year's accomplishment by 50% or more.  

You can see stephen's harvest numbers, and hundreds of pics here

  https://permies.com/p/2674161

I hope you encourage Stephen to take more pictures and talk about his gardening accomplishments in his thread.  Maybe he can take enough video about it that we can post something on youtube.

Of course, the BEL is running a bit light and Stephen hasn't posted any pics for a while.  If folks wanna load up the BEL ...

  https://permies.com/w/bel-fundraiser

paul wheaton wrote:

Chris Vee wrote:Oh how cool! I'm going to ask my wife. Can she come? She has a sourdough micro-bakery now!!

What a great opportunity, & I can finally get all my badges!!

Sounds like a three-fer!

I assume you are suggesting that you and your wife would be boots?

Absolutely!! She’s a diehard pollinator fan, don’t know how I got so lucky 😊

can an old guy with a bad back and knees attend boot camp ?

T Blankinship wrote: I have looked at Allerton Abbey on permies.com and I really want to see it in person. It is hard starting out by your self to build cool things. In the past four years I have not done a lot of permaculture things that I want to do because of a 40 hour a week job and lack of help. Starting from zero about seven years ago at my home, I have not done 1% of the things that Allerton Abbey has done.   If I was just staring out, going to the boot camp would be a path I would have taken. Having  Allerton Abbey done and someone living there is a massive boom to both Wheaton Labs and permaculture in general.


If you want to be a Gert then start the path now!

Not to make you jealous, but we were there in SEPPtember.  It really is quite nice.  That said, we stayed in Cooper Cabin which has some similarities, but is different.  As I recall, the floor of Allerton is quite impressive cob work (we saw it before we saw the yurt floor in person).  

For someone who could elect to get out of the financial slavery of a job, I can see being a Boot as a rather intriguing way to attain stewardship over a plot of land.

Ed Benfer wrote:can an old guy with a bad back and knees attend boot camp ?

I would suggest coming as a sepper first (rent a cabin, and then pop into the bootcamp as much or as little as you like).

Alecia Dooley-Goode wrote:I WOULD LIKE TO COME AND VISIT IT BEFORE YOU GIVE IT AWAY!  BUT KUDOS FOR EDUCATING SO MANY PEOPLE!

OK, I will stop yelling now lol.  I am currently trying to figure out ways to do the same on my property in IA. I am building garden beds from old garage door panels.  We have the compost toilet and the shower room built (made from pallets and tin roof), now on to water catchment from said roof.  The problem is the roof is only 10x7ft.  So more water catchment will be needed and another form of collection-somehow.  I am seeding the the land with various herbs and plants but medicinal and for culinary reasons.  A greenhouse will need to be built as well as a canning cellar, but the bathroom took priority, next is the bridge to the wooded area. Then I can get back on the gardens and greenhouse.  Do you currently live there and are just moving one to create another location?  Or are you in and out?  I am trying to think what time of yr to visit next year.

Also, I bet your skills would be killer helpful in the mountains down in the NC/TN area currently!  I will be going down in NOV, any chance you are headed that way?

Are huglecultre beds only made from aged wood?  I know I have been told before not to put green chips on my garden beds before, does the same apply for the piles?  They will have TONS of down wood to use it also.  

I am hoping to look at some of your stoves and try and figure a clean and simple version to weld together out of a 55gal drum.  Not the most efficient but they need warmth and have loads of wood downed.

Any insight you can provide would be appreciated!

Hello Alecia!

Welcome to the forum!
You can come visit and stay in Allerton Abbey.  We have other beautiful cabins to rent too.

Here is a link to our rentals:

https://permies.com/wiki/sepper

Okay. Okay. I. Want to come. Be. A. Part,,where is this place. ,

Shannon Reese wrote:Okay. Okay. I. Want to come. Be. A. Part,,where is this place. ,

Montana.

Deets https://wheaton-labs.com/bootcamp/

Hey this would be perfect for me I really want to be involved in the permaculture movements and I need hands-on experience. I would definitely be willing to put in the time and commitment at this place.
 Would I be able to bring my dog? I'm very attached to him and he is sort of a support animal to me.

Drew Berggren wrote:Hey this would be perfect for me I really want to be involved in the permaculture movements and I need hands-on experience. I would definitely be willing to put in the time and commitment at this place.
 Would I be able to bring my dog? I'm very attached to him and he is sort of a support animal to me.

I would guess that one person out of seven brings a dog or cat.

Cats are easy.

dogs:     https://permies.com/t/100667/dogs-wheaton-labs

Also, there is a lot of progress for "the bark park" at the ameyzheng dog star.

I'm always looking for fresh meal ideas and the "Eggs Montage" in the cooktop video look delicious!  Is there a recipe that a somewhat capable cook can follow?
Thanks!