evan's ant village log

Day 170

Started building the hugel berm shared between Jim and I. And also had it do a little loopy bit partly around a little future pond near Kailarado.

Also did some more cobbing. And despite my constant interruptions asking him for help or this or that, Kai still managed to put in a couple posts for his house and also build a sweet uphill terrace retaining wall. So cool!

Day 171

My amazing friend Sharla arrived today, coming up here all the way from Austin! And she brought her nice, grumpy, sleepy dog Summers too! I'm super excited about working together with her on all kinds of projects!

It was movie night down at basecamp! First Jocelyn bribed us with desserts to watch and listen to her presentation on accounting and small businesses. I learned some interesting things and the cobbler and cookies were delicious! Thanks Jocelyn!

Jesse had a copy of the permaculture documentary, Inhabit, and we got to watch it on the big screen. I'd already seen it a couple times, but it's so beautifully and artfully done it was worth watching again. Thanks for bringing Inhabit, Jesse!

Day 172

After following my directions to "just drive on in over those little branches, it'll be fine," Sharla's van acquired a flat tire. Whoops, sorry Sharla. Fortunately she had a spare and we were able to put it on without much trouble.

Did a bit of excavating on the shared hugelberm, and also a bit of cob on Siesta, but the most interesting progress on Ava today was Kai's cool stonework in the sidehill patio of his house. Kailarado is really coming along.

I think I've watched Inhabit 4-5 times, all in the first week or so that I've been back.

Day 173

Sharla picked out a place on Ava for her very own autonomous zone. And she's already named it as well: Kew Zealand. Among other things, "Kew Zealand is a land of endless summers and of dogs that look like sheep." Speaking of Summers the dog that looks like a sheep, on the trip out here, she ruthlessly sat on a potted succulent. Apparently before it was sat upon, it was glorious. The succulent is still alive, but it's a little sad now.

To get the soil with which to build the hugelberm Jim and I are sharing I removed the topsoil from Pierce Parkway, making a road along the northern edge of Ava stretching from Anarcadeah in the east, behind Entshire and Kew Zealand, above the slopes of Avalon, and finally ending in front of Kailarado in the west. I also dug a ditch between the hugelberm and Pierce Parkway which should help keep the road drier, soak some water into the hugel, and perhaps also help to divert some water into the pond at the top of Avalon.

Evan, Thanks for keeping us updated on your progress. Keep it coming.

Day 174

Woke up to a bit of frost. The squash plants look so sad now, (not that they were looking great after the ducks ate most of their leaves,) but the sunflowers still seem okay. Hopefully the seeds ripen up a bit before it frosts too hard.

Used a little tractor time and graded Pierce Parkway. It's a bit smoother now and mostly slanted towards the ditch. A fine road, if I do say so myself.

Day 175

Sharla and I finished up the last bit of cobbing on Siesta, for now. As soon as it dries the next steps will be to lay the first waterproofing membrane and then Siesta can be buried in dry dirt.

We also went into Missoula to run a few errands. And we picked up some nice heavy duty billboard tarps. Should have enough for the first membrane now, and most of what will be needed for the umbrella as well.

After 174 days of posting a picture of a different species of plant, fungus, or animal everyday, I'm having trouble finding new ones. I know there are many around here that I've missed: that elusive squirrel that's always yelling at me, lots of different birds, who knows how many little insects, doubtless ephemeral growies, probably bears and wolves and mountain lions. Hopefully I'll get pictures of all these eventually, and also find the time to identify all the species I've already photographed. But for the next ten days, I'll be profiling one duck a day.

Today's duck of the day is Rocky. He had a rough start in life. Just a few days after the ducklings arrived Rocky fell into the water dish, (the sides of which were too steep and the bottom too deep; I was a terrible duck mother,) and when I found him and fished him out he was soaked and unable to hold himself up. It looked like he might not make it, and the thought crossed my mind that the appropriate course of action might be to put him out of his misery and feed him to Sir Chops. As I contemplated this act of violence, the little duckling in my palm let out a single tiny "peep."

"What!?"

"Peep!"

"You want to live?"

"Peep peep!"

And so I put him in the sunlight in his own box so the others wouldn't step on him and gave him a chance to recover. Half an hour later he was running around his box peeping loudly and wondering where all his friends were. The rock I considered using to end his life I used instead to make the water dish shallower so that such mishaps could in the future be avoided. And thus did Rocky get his name.

These days Rocky is a healthy and active duck and his feathers are coming in nicely. As I haven't determined the sexes of most of the ducks yet, he might actually be a she, and if so she may live a long and happy life as a laying hen. Even if he's a drake and thus perhaps destined for the stew pot sooner rather than later, at least he was able to grow up among his friends.

Day 176

Did a bit more excavating for Jim. He's the only ant with an actual pond that's holding water. In fact, the little puddle on his plot may currently be the largest natural water storage on the entire lab. He had me digging a larger pond just downhill of the little one and with the dirt making some hugels along the path to his campsite.

Then it was time to build the crater garden of Anarcadeah. I did my best to leave the little larch trees while making a series of terraces and a huge 10 ft tall hugelberm. I envision Anarcadeah as being a kind of a community garden, a place where inhabitants of Ava and perhaps all of ant village can chaotically yet compassionately cultivate and create to their heart's content. Kai has some designs already and I'm looking forward to seeing how he occupies and uses the space.

Today's duck of the day is Gigantor. He's always been the biggest duck of the whole flock, and for this reason I'm reasonably certain that he is, in fact, a drake. When the second half of the ducklings were introduced to the first half, Gigantor was the only one that didn't pick on the newcomers, so confident was he in his gargantuan superiority. Because he seems to be the nicest, not to mention the largest, of the males, he stands the best chance of not getting turned into stew this winter. Perhaps Gigantor will be the drake chosen to father future generations of ducks here on Ava, genetically passing along his benevolent giantism.

Day 177

A bit of rain in the forecast inspired me to get busy planting cover crops all over all the hugelberms I've been building everywhere. While I'll definitely need lots more mulch, I got some mulching done too. The ducks are so good at turning straw into shitty straw, perfect for mulch.

My little fire pit on the edge of Entshire and Anarcadeah has been a lovely place for firelit evening gatherings with fellow ants, gappers, and guests. But thanks to Kai, now it's even more awesome and comfortable. He dug out a little place for putting your feet so that your knees aren't all up in your face when sitting around the fire, and with the dirt and some rocks he built an herb spiral! It's more of a spiral galaxy actually. So cool! Thanks Kai!

The duck of the day is Petunia. She's the smallest and probably the cutest duck of the flock. And since she was banded when she arrived, she's also one of the few sure to be a hen, and the only one I'm sure is a Welsh Harlequin. Harlequins are supposed to be a particularly calm breed, great layers, good meat, and especially broody, so hopefully Petunia will be sitting on some eggs and hatching out ducklings next year.