!!!! SEPP to Boot: Stephen's Experience (BEL)

We know how much work all that was! Good job!
Bill has his garden planted. Slugs did a number on his planting of red and white Russian kale seedlings but he's got a few that are doing ok now. Rhubarb is about done for the season, might get another quart sized bag in the freezer to add to coffee cake. Nancy

BRK #269

Happy Taco Tuesday to you...!

In the first half of the day, I ended up digging another trench. To sum it up: I made a mistake with our new water line, and the new trench is a way to fix it.



Prior to lunch, I met with Paul and SEPPer Jeff to discuss upcoming projects and how to wrap up our role on the new well project before the technicians arrive sometime next week.

The afternoon was much more mellow in comparison, and I busied myself with gardening tasks up at Allerton Abbey. One of the overgrown hugel berms here...



...was cleaned up, planted with corn, labeled, and then liberally watered. When I wrapped-up, it looked like this:



I decided to seed another hugel berm near the entrance, but this one with tomatoes and peppers. We'll see how they do outside the Greenhouse. I especially like the network of branches integrated into this one, which will likely help with retaining soil and preventing erosion.



Finally: Here's Catherine taking a picture of kitties, and I am taking a picture of Catherine taking a picture of kitties.



That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

Nancy Merry wrote:Rhubarb is about done for the season, might get another quart sized bag in the freezer to add to coffee cake.

I've been so tempted to start solar-dehydrating some rhubarb. It's still going strong round here, and all I've had the time to do is grab a stalk every once in a while and start chewing on it. I need more discipline...

BRK #270

The well project and event prep were front and center. The morning was rainy. Caleb wasn't deterred from running the excavator, but the rest of us spent most of the morning indoors. One of my solo projects was to replace a set of rotating casters on one of the tables in the Classroom. Now people won't need a foot-stool to grab a cuppa coffee first thing in the morning.



We also set out one of the new area rugs today to see how they would look. Here's Wes holding down one of the corners. I think these will be a nice addition.



SEPPer Julia and I puzzled-out how to de-winterize the Shower Shack for summer events, and we also added some new plumbing to the site. Everything checked out just fine, so we'll be doing our leak test of the new water lines either later tonight or tomorrow.



Finally: the photo really doesn't do it justice, but the team worked intensely to level-out the spot for the new well's pump house. The excavator cleared the bulk of it out of the way, then Caleb, Catherine, Wes and I piled rocks, sand, and gravel on the site to level it out.



That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

BRK #271

Thursday, and the weekend is fast approaching. More event preparation in the first half of the day, followed by gardening at Basecamp in the afternoon. I thoroughly enjoy my time here.

Here's the asparagus I was responsible for last year. Looks like I didn't squash it after all...! It seems quite healthy. I don't know if this patch is 3 years old yet, but I'm tempted to throw caution to the wind and have a massive spear of asparagus as part of my dinner.



On the other side of the garden inside the paddock fence, I realized my way was blocked by two massive comfrey plants. Normally, I'd say something like "well, we're not gonna eat those, so I can take one out and plant something in its place." However, they're flowering right now and I saw a few bumblebees zipping around it, so I just decided to retrace my steps and leave the comfrey alone.



Here's some mature red clover that we use as cover crop and chop n' drop material.



Finally: as part of event prep, we laid out the new area rugs for the classroom. The pattern may be an acquired taste, but I think they bump up the aesthetics of the room in general. Plus, it feels nice walking round on it with just your socks - haven't gone barefoot yet!



That's all for now, Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!