The Ants at Ant Village - What do they need from us folks at permies.com?

So a few of the other permies staff and I have been brainstorming about how we can help the ants because, well, they're badass and we <3 them. if you have no idea what the hell ant village is, click here. Anywhoo, we just want to send them as much love and encouragement as possible because what they're doing is hard sometimes.

There IS an "ant love" thread, but it seems like they are too bashful to ask for stuff. So we're just gonna take matters into our own hands!

When we asked paul this question about what we should do for them, he said this:

As for what the ants need from permies: I think encouragement. Care packages would be fun.

Some people have sent books and videos from their own bookshelves. Both permaculture and just plain old entertainment.

Therefore, to answer the question "what can permies do for ants?" I think the best thing would be to encourage other permies to generate care packages. Maybe the first day of each month can be "ant day". Or maybe somebody can find some silly ant reference that would make it so that the 12th day of the month is ant day. And there can be ideas of what to send to the ants. Maybe encourage the old school care package with cookies. Maybe cookies with an old screwdriver, an old wood chisel and some old seeds. Maybe fruitcake! Maybe some organic treat from whole foods that the ants would not buy for themselves.

Maybe when there is a gathering, like the upcoming innovators event, somebody can list the things that would be good for ants and gappers at allerton abbey. Things that people that are driving here could bring. Blankets, pillows, sleeping bags, shovels, tools, books ....

Maybe we could take the "Care package" idea to a new level: Every two weeks, we could say "this is M week - everybody who has a last name that begins with the letter M: this is your chance to REPRESENT! You get to send a care package to the ants to encourage them through their trials." And there is a loooooong list of the things people might send in a care package.

How about a call for sketchup helpers? People that will try to help get drawings and plans out for the buildings that the ants are gonna attempt.

How about sketchup help for the bigger audience of people that want to help, but have never used sketchup? And those people might someday help ants. Maybe some of the ants could stand to learn a bit of sketchup.

APPLES! (for those of you who can give 'em) When you see a good pic or good post, they sure do love those apples. They covet those little imaginary apples. And thumbs up too.

Patreon: I think if 20 permies put up $1 per month in the patreon thing for each ant, for, say, getting a video ... ... Jesse is apparently now getting $90 per video via patreon!

Once all of this ant/gapper love stuff is all set up: spread the word. Maybe to other forums, or social media. Maybe we can get onto podcasts and radio and newspapers and blogs and stuff. Maybe more people will come out to give the ants a hand in building stuff.

Maybe there could be a funny, mock athletic video featuring each of the ants as if they are about to start the superbowl. Maybe even just a thread for that.

Maybe somebody with music skill can record a video of them playing their instrument and singing the praises of the ants and finishing with "We're all watching you! Good luck!"

Maybe somebody can take this list of things, try a few, and try to add one new thing to this list each day. Thus putting the power of creative thought behind this and seeing if it can put a jetpack on the back of the ants, without spending a penny or making a trip to montana.

SOOOOOO, yeah that's a lot. But I think it is all really valuable stuff. What are other people's ideas? What do people think of these ideas? Who wants to take some of this stuff on?

GIMME DA FEEDBACKSSSS.

sounds awesome to me! I am working on a care package to send (: unfortunately I cant do some things like seeds but other things I can do.

could someone there gather up a few info's for us though? I don't think it happened when it was suggested before and I think that was long before the end of the 20 month party so those people aren't there anyhow... but..
shoe sizes? clothes sizes? someone needs coats or sweaters? I got literal tons of yarn, would knit mittens be good?

I have some things starting to fill a box now but if an Ant or someone there could put up some of this sort of info it would fuel the gift sending fire I think (:

How about socks? I saw a post on social media yesterday that socks are the most needed but least donated thing homeless people need so it strikes me that ants might like that too. And with Winter coming up I bet a few of the ants could use some really good quality thick socks. Not that I can afford to send any myself these days, but at least I can toss out the idea and spread social love when the time comes.

kadence blevins wrote:sounds awesome to me! I am working on a care package to send (: unfortunately I cant do some things like seeds but other things I can do.

could someone there gather up a few info's for us though? I don't think it happened when it was suggested before and I think that was long before the end of the 20 month party so those people aren't there anyhow... but..
shoe sizes? clothes sizes? someone needs coats or sweaters? I got literal tons of yarn, would knit mittens be good?

I have some things starting to fill a box now but if an Ant or someone there could put up some of this sort of info it would fuel the gift sending fire I think (:

Awesome Kadence! I will try to point the ants to this thread so they can post their sizes n stuff. I think with winter coming they would love mittens!

Ron Helwig wrote:How about socks? I saw a post on social media yesterday that socks are the most needed but least donated thing homeless people need so it strikes me that ants might like that too. And with Winter coming up I bet a few of the ants could use some really good quality thick socks. Not that I can afford to send any myself these days, but at least I can toss out the idea and spread social love when the time comes.

I <3 socks so much! Wool socks would probably be good for them. Montana winter is scary!! hahah

On a humorous note...

I got literal tons of yarn

Josh did say (jokingly) at one time that he was going to make his shelter an earth-bermed tent. Seeing this, maybe the berm-ish part of a bermed tent could be a yarn burrow.



Please don't take that there comment ^^above^^ seriously, if someone sent anything close to a pallet quantity of yarn, it would become nesting material for animals faster than everyone here could learn how to knit and use it all, considering our current storage conditions.

But yes, warm clothing will be very beneficial coming soon.

hahaha! ok a ton might be a little more than what I really have.. but at last count I did have two trash bags full of yarn, a not quite full bag of various finished items, a small trash bag full of my handspun, plus more than a full big trash bag of fleeces!
so... a metric ton, not so much, but still a whole freakin lot (: hahaha!

mittens, socks, hats, scarves,... got it

Speaking of socks, Darn Tough wool socks have a lifetime guarantee (https://darntough.com/about-us/our-guarantee), which is pretty darn nice when you wear through socks like I do. All the reviews look really good, too. They're pretty expensive (about $20/pair), but some places have them on end-of-season clearance. I found some on sale on amazon a while back and I'm seeing places like Pike to Peak and GoBros have them on sale. Perhaps an eternal, warm, replaceable pair of socks would be a good gift?

Yak Tracks or Stabilicers for walking around in the snow and ice. I love these.

http://smile.amazon.com/Stabilicers-Lite-Serious-Traction-Cleat/dp/B000GUCDDG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441121798&sr=8-1&keywords=stabilicers

Wool blankets are great gift since they can be used as blanket or a very warm curtain. There are many military surplus blankets available and they are longer than throw blankets.

Tea would go very well with baked goods, dehydrated fruit, nuts, and other edible treats over the winter. Hot coco would be a good gift too.

Sketch pads, graph paper, tracing paper, markers and colored pencils for winter designing of spring and summer projects. These can be picked up with back to school clearance sales at big box stores

Kate Muller wrote:

Yak Tracks or Stabilicers for walking around in the snow and ice. I love these.

http://smile.amazon.com/Stabilicers-Lite-Serious-Traction-Cleat/dp/B000GUCDDG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441121798&sr=8-1&keywords=stabilicers

That's a GREAT idea. They get SO much snow up there.