Felled and limbed a few more trees for the duck hollow, and made what I thought was good progress on it until I realized the way I was doing it wasn't really gonna work, so I started taking it apart to try again. A little bit frustrating, but at least all the materials are pretty close to staged now.
Paul dropped by with a douser and asked me to go try and dig for water in a place where the dousing rods were getting a strong hit. I dug down 16 ft but it was drier than the last hole I dug. Bummer.
Fred and I saw an owl just outside of Allerton Abbey. It was up on a branch, as still as can be, and down below dozens of chipmunks scurried to and fro. I guess she wasn't too hungry. When I tried to get a bit closer to get a better picture she up and flew away. Those chipmunks better watch out though, she could come back.
The excavator is finally back in antville, first stop: Josh's plot. I collected and placed hugel wood for Josh and he threw dirt on it with the excavator. In no time at all he had some nicely shaped hugels.
On the way over to his house site, Josh threw a track. Whoops. At least it wasn't me this time. Fortunately we're getting pretty good at putting the track back on, and before long Jesse, Josh, and I had ol' rex fixed and greased and ready to roll again.
Paul and Jocelyn had us all over for dinner down at basecamp! Pizza! With polydough! Mmmm! Thanks Paul and Jocelyn! After dinner we played a bit of penny-ante poker, and I think I came out ahead by a few cents. Woohoo!
Someone sent me a whole bunch of cover crop seeds! I don't know who this anonymous benefactor is, but thank you! Wow! Daikon radish, crimson clover, chervil, hykon rose clover, coriander, dutch white clover, carrot, parsley, calendula, sweet allysum, white yarrow, canola, braco white mustard, nemfix mustard, yellow mustard, parragio barrel medic, antas sub clover, sava snail medic, angel strand medic, scimitar burr medic, strawberry clover, hairy vetch, cereal rye, broccoli, cabbage, chard, beets, and pak choi, plus some rhizobial inoculants! So many of these will be perfect for planting in all the hugelberms I'll be building soon. And I think I have enough to share with the other ants that are building their hugel berms too! Awesome!
Digging down in several places in ant village uncovers a layer of extremely hard clay. I feel like it should be quite possible to seal ponds on/with this layer. I'll be trying a few different methods of pond-sealing: vibrating and compacting the soil with the excavator, and then also letting pigs and ducks play there. I can see lots of places where I'd like ponds too, and I've got lots of hugels and structures to berm so I'll have to get that dirt from somewhere.
Finished the structure of the duck hollow. Now I just need to build a gate/door bit for the front, maybe some fascia bits, and then bury it. I think it turned out pretty nice. I could see spending a winter in something like it if I wasn't already most of the way done building Siesta. The weather is supposed to be relatively warm, so tonight the ducks will spend the first night in their very own shelter.
The excavator is at Jesse's plot now, making it's way ever closer this a way, and while I'm scrambling to get everything prepared for it's arrival here, Jesse is busily transforming his plot. He dug a nice spot for his house, and now he's building several giant hugelberms. It's awesome to see all the progress being made.
Using a paint-stirrer to pulverize the soaked cow pies is much faster than smooshing them up by hand. Gus, a gapper here for just a few days, helped me mix up some cob for the roof. Thanks Gus!
I think that, generally speaking, the more permies per square unit of land, the more productive and valuable that land can be. Especially if they're rad and industrious, like Kai. That's why I've offered Kai a position as an autonomous visionary here on Ava. The northwesternmost 1/8th acre, Kailarado, will be under his stewardship, and he's already started clearing brush, gathering materials to build a little Oehler-inspired home, and planning out gardens, ponds, and fencing. Good to have you as a neighbor, Kai.
Jim, the newest ant, has arrived and picked out his plot! He's gonna be my neighbor to the north. Cool! Good to have you as a neighbor, Jim!
I got the beams and rafters trimmed flush to the sidewalls, and the last batch of cob I put up, (with Jim's help, thanks Jim!) filled in the rest of the gaps in the roof save one. The next batch I do will fill that last gap and start to bridge the little gaps where the sidewalls meet the roof. It's getting there.
The ducks are getting huge! And the first five are starting to feather out! It's great fun herding them from their shelter out to the garden and back again. Just holding out your arms like wings and walking behind them is all it takes. You turn left and they turn left. Turn right and they turn right. Such good ducks.
I started building a door for the duck hollow. It'll be in the wire pole style, and will roll out and up sort of diagonally. So far I just cut the poles to length and set them in place to see how it'll look. I think it'll look pretty darn cool. It's already functional in that it keeps the ducks in, but when I find the time I'll wire it together so it'll roll.
Put up some lateral bracing on Siesta. Seems much sturdier now, and I think it'll have no problem holding back tons of earth. There's just a bit more bracing I'd like to do, and of course finishing the cobbing, (as soon as we have some clear weather again,) but then I'll be ready to throw the first layer of tarps on, insulate behind the wing walls and overhangs, stack some stone for the retaining walls, and start burying it.
Meanwhile, ol' toothless Rex is making his way ever closer to Ava. Jesse did a whole gob of earthworks over the past couple days and now Chris is up next, and then me. Gulp, I need to hustle if I'm gonna be ready for the excavator.
Chris had me operating the excavator for him, digging a hole he hopes to turn into a pond, and building a big hugel berm along his southern border. Next I'll be digging the foundation for his house, and then building the hugel berm we'll have along our shared border.
When I'm not being a homesteader or a heavy equipment operator, I play the part of a tour guide. Warren Bellant and his dad Guy stopped by for a tour, and I showed them around. They gave me some awesome ant love: a couple water jugs, a bit of carpet for my house, some quinoa and rice, and a wicked saw! Thanks Warren and Guy!
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