Dave Burton's Boot Adventures at Wheaton Labs and Basecamp

Oh my!  My first time ever driving a dozer now on video!

good morning! I'm really enjoying the morning skies at Basecamp! They're quite beautiful! And Gert greeted me this morning, too!

Day 25







I sifted some sand! And Jen sifted some sand for more batches of cob, as we started using up more of the sand!



Unlike the first two cob floors of Allerton Abbey, the third cob floor (directly when you enter the building) has no plastic layer between the gravel and the cob layers. We're doing this floor as an experiment to see what happens when the plastic is removed, and if the cob floor can be made more naturally with less toxic gick (e.g. plastic).



We all worked some on the cob floor!





We had to use the planks to walk across the gravel without smooshing the gravel off level. We also use the planks to walk on the cob to minimize smooshing it.



We made more cob for the floor!





This is an update on the inside of Allerton Abbey!



We got to take turns digging dirt with the tractor and loading it into the trailer!

This is a video of me using the tractor!









Jen. Austin, and Jaqi used the tractor, too!







Some pretty plants and fungi we saw outside!





And I started some polydough! My spin on Paul's polydough is a double batch of his recipe with some instructions mixed in from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon: 8 cups warm water, 8 tablespoons APC vinegar, 2 tablespoons sea salt, 1 cup coconut oil, and enough of whatever gluten-free flours are immediately on-hand to get a doughy consistency (e.g. oat flour, coconut flour, quinoa flour). I learned that the differenece between batter and dough is that batter moves more like and liquid and sticks to the sides of pans, whereas, dough sticks to itself more. Then, I will let the dough sit for at least 24 hours (maybe longer).

This is mixing the ingredients:



This is the batter consistency. I realized I needed to add more flours to get this batter to become dough.



And now, it's dough!



The above will be eventually worked into a couple food prep and preservation BB's.

Good morning! Here’s a look at how my polydough and dosa ferments are going!

Day 26



And this is some of the signage in the Fisher Price House:

-Using the Oven and Oven Controls Panel



-Tips For Cast Iron



We finished adding half of the first layer of rough cob in the third cob floor of Allerton Abbey.



For the fourth room in Allerton Abbey, we're going to try to make a hardened earthen floor out of raw ,inseed oil mixed with dirt. The closest thing I could find online similar to our plan is douma floors, but those use lime and water instead of oil. to get an idea of whether we need to use a lot of oil or a little oil, I made a test similar to the cob tests with linseed oil and dirt. On the far left is saturated dirt and on the far right is a couple flicks of linseed oil.



These are a couple photos from driving at Wheaton Labs.



After lunch, we worked on deconstructing more of the Pavilion between the Fisher Price House and the Library. That way we can build more of the rock patio.





We took out one section of the old deck!



We also took out the weed fabric by the entrance of the Fisher Price House.

Good morning! I looked at the raspberries around Raspberry Rock to see if any of them are alive. Some of them are alive!

Day 27





Searching for raspberries along Raspberry Rock!













I saw a pretty flower on Volcano Road!



I learned operated a bulldozer around Wheaton Labs to try to widen the roads, add a crown, and add ditches. I gave it a solid try, but it was quite challenging, so, there was some slight improvement to the roads.





I added some more oat flour and quiona flour along with water and APC vinegar after 24 hours. Now, I am going to wait 48 hours before I use the dough.

Good morning! Gert greeted me this morning before I went on a walk to the top of the "Volcano."

Day 28





This is a naturescape video of the top of the "Volcano."





Last night, I fried up the fermented bread pudding I had made out of the sourdough muffins. I fried them in coconut oil and then topped them with cinnamon and nutmeg.



I built one cat box, and Gert tried it out to see what see thinks of it!







And I made a second cat box out of thicker pieces of wood, so, I'm calling it a cat bunker!





The dosa batter smells wonderful after fermenting! I put half of the batter in the fridge so that it can be used later, and I cooked the other half of the batter. Since I the dosas cooked in coconut oil are super filling, I am deciding to make idli with the dosa batter. From what I understand, idli uses the same kind of batter of dosa, but instead of being fried up like pancakes, it can be made as steamed or baked vegetarian "meatballs." I added cumin, nutmeg, and pepper to season the idli balls.



I tried steaming the first batch of idli balls, but the idli lost its ball shape and became a porridge of sorts.



I hiked to the Volcano again! It was quite beautiful, but rather hot!





So, I switched to baking the rest of the idli balls. To make this work at 3000 feet above sea level, I had to bake the idli balls at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 50 minutes. The idli balls came out delicious, and they retained their shape! This was made with soaked black beans and fermented mashed sweet potatoes are the primary ingredients in the dosa batter ferments.





I also made Haymaker's Oat Water, and I am going to let this ferment for 24-hours, instead of 8 hours, to account for the colder temperatures. I made this in two half-gallon batches. The batch on the left is without molasses, and the batch on the right is with molasses. I want to find out how the ferment and flavor change with and without molasses.