Grey's Bootcamp Journal

Days 28-32 catchup

Sunday dinner was an ambitious Indian cuisine. Mags planned the operation. I made a minty yogurt chutney and sweet and spicy rhubarb chutney, which turned out to be her favorite.

Monday turned out to be a hot one. After work, Bee and I went for a swim at the river. We foraged wild apples, a first for both of us, and processed the bulk of them into plenty 'o sauce.



Tuesday, cleaned cubbies and progressed the Solarium.



Wednesday the first big beam went up. Mags and I replaced batteries and memory cards in the game cams at the lab. I got a better idea of what all counts as Ant Village.

Thursday was garden stuff, including instruction from Paul on pruning a crotch-forming branch from an apple tree on my patch. We started trimming the big log for the Solarium south beam.

Wow, nice job on the 1/2 beam, looks great!  and great teamwork

Day 33, Friday September 3

Skipped breakfast. Spent all morning peeling a log at Fred's plot. Dez showed me the technique, and with the BB in mind, I resolved to do the whole log myself. It felt impossiblly difficult at first, but got easier as I worked my way up to the narrow end. I didn't even get half of it done, but I stuck it out for a solid 3 hours (thanks to Dez with the snack plug.)

I was somewhat dazed by lunchtime. Luckily, the afternoon was spent finishing minor jobs and collaboratively researching sources for RMH materials. After work I put some time toward my hügel project and worked on improving the the road leading up the love shack. When I had wrapped up, it was dark, and when I finished dinner it was midnight.

Day 34, Saturday Sept 4

Lazy morning for Breakfast Boy. Started on some chores around 1pm which led to a deep cleaning of the burnables/recyclables cell of the berm shed. Though a hot and smoky day, the berm shed offered enough protection for me to stay comfortable. Decided I'll be upcycling a few things like egg cartons and glass jars. More on those later.

Also, Happy Caturday

is this your first time peeling? How do you like the toolset? I have never done it but am trying to buy some peeling tools soon to start on a roundwood shed.

BRK #20
Recap of the last 7 days

K Wagner wrote:is this your first time peeling? How do you like the toolset? I have never done it but am trying to buy some peeling tools soon to start on a roundwood shed.

Yes, it is. I continued my progress Tuesday. The key tool which I haven't used yet is the draw knife. The log peeler I'm holding in the photo is great for removing the bark. Underneath that is the soft, spongy tissue which quickly dries out and hardens when exposed to air. It's best to get that layer off as quickly as possible. One technique I found to work quite well utilizes a curved tool head to remove the cambium from the wood along the circumference of the log. I'll try to get some video of that soon.

Wednesday the big Solarium beam got a whole bunch of notches cut where the rafters will go.

Thursday, more hugel path repair and chopping grass in the garden. Then continued Solarium work in the afternoon.


Friday Bee and I fetched a trailerload of bark mulch. I heard his reasons for departing from Bootcamp. He plans to continue his sabbatical, then help his mother with implementing permaculture systems on her property: certainly, a worthy cause. We finished up the berm shed repair too.

Saturday, drove me and one other to a Missoula farmer's market. I bought some body products from an apiary and some dried tea herbs from a Permie!

Sunday was spent with Paul's friend and her son who were visiting. We went out for lunch, and I got the kid hooked on a card game called Star Realms. We played for many hours.

Monday we spread the pile of mulch throughout the garden. Our newest and youngest honorary boot put in a solid morning of hard work. I operated the Kubota tractor, kinda. The last three notches on the beam for the Solarium were measured, scribed, double checked, and adjusted accordingly.

BRK #21
Tuesday September 14

Stiff back this morning. I worked with our newest boot from out of the blue, Kolomona. Used up a lot of energy early in the day setting five gallon water jugs full to drip on the hügels. We passed the time talking about Bitcoin, anarchism, and our favorite podcasts. Next up was sharpening our arsenal of chisels and wood scrapers.

Was pretty tired in the afternoon, but progress on the Solarium beam was made. We also moved a fridge and a window AC unit. Finally, we finished with chopping grass and bark mulching. Dez and Mags returned from what soundd like quite an adventure as we were cleaning up. My weariness was alleviated by some awesome tacos for dinner and time spent laying with cats on my chest.

Wow, that log peel -- what a big job!   Love the "Shoulder of Steel" caption

BRK #22

Morning meeting went for half an hour. After Paul made his smart noises and funny faces, we four boots got aligned with our nest chores and projects. I paired up with Dez to pick up a bigger pile of mulch, utilizing some handy wall extensions made to fit the trailer. Dez handled payment, I drove our payload. No dumping of said payload, so no video, yet.

Lunch was sunny side egg tacos bien hecho with sautéed onions, greens and garlic. Lumber run in the afternoon with Dez, then unloading and stacking in the garage for future use in the Solarium build. Paul rapped with us about strategy for hoisting that big beam onto the vertical posts, which we actually want to do very soon. I drove the Kubota for real up to the spot where we could get an eye on just how high the business end can go. It's probably going to work.

Collect that clover!!

Apparently they make a tasty treat fried, can make a batter to dip them in ... I can't wait to try this myself. 😋