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

 
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Location: Wheaton Labs, Montana, USA
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BRK #351

So the sunchokes are out-performing everything once again this year. My old hugel berm over at Allerton Abbey, Cricket Hill, has some 9-footers with thick stems. Flowers are blooming, which is another good sign. Here's a status picture, including another sunchoke photo-bombing from another hugel berm in the bottom left.



Over at Basecamp, there's plenty of vegetable life. Seems to me like the sunflowers are late-bloomers this year (I was thinking they were out earlier in the summer last year), and there are several with multiple heads. This one is like a hydra... Here are two photos, maybe a week apart. More heads keep appearing.





There's a promising pumpkin hidden among these broad, spiny leaves... I'm keeping a close eye on this one.



Finally: it appears that some yellow-jackets have moved into one of the dry-stack stone walls behind a Basecamp tree. I'll have to keep an eye on this as well...



That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!
 
Stephen B. Thomas
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Location: Wheaton Labs, Montana, USA
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BRK #352

Earlier this week, I sat down with Paul during one of his "lawn chair design sessions." We discussed the start of a plumbing system for Allerton Abbey. The next day, I shared the video footage I'd taken, and then drew them a diagram of what Paul described. The end goal is to provide a way to shut off water to Allerton Abbey as needed, then drain the line leading to Allerton Abbey so water won't freeze in any of the plumbing. Here's my diagram.



Here's the start of the process: digging a hole near the hydrant closest to the rear of the Abbey. Liam and I have chipped away at this for a couple shifts. We found the pipe underground in a surprisingly short amount of time.



Meanwhile, Shai and Dez have been replacing timbers on the rear wall of Allerton Abbey.



Later this afternoon, Liam and I visited the drain field for some chop n' drop goodness.



Finally: this is exactly why I built the lattice wall by the front porch: it's an artfully-disguised kitty cat jungle gym. I think this is the one Dez named Razzputin.



That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!
 
Stephen B. Thomas
pollinator
Posts: 1246
Location: Wheaton Labs, Montana, USA
2325
9
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BRK #353

A mixed bag to wrap up the work week. Here's today's sunrise. The sun is rising later and later, literally with every single day that passes.



Here's the bad pun for the day. I think this shop vac really sucks.



Here's a sleeping bee:



Finally: here's the ebike battery that, due to my mistake with the multimeter, lost not just the first fuse that it came with, but also the second fuse that Liam had replaced it with. "Oh, that multimeter won't add any current. Go ahead and stick it in there." FRZAPPP!!!  Luckily it didn't explode on us. My apologies, Liam.



That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the start to your weekend...!
 
Stephen B. Thomas
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Location: Wheaton Labs, Montana, USA
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BRK #354

I rode my bike all throughout Missoula today, and I feel like a million and a half bucks.

Here's some graffiti I passed along the Milwaukee Road Trail, in west Missoula.



I enjoy this bike trail quite a bit. It's all designed to prevent bicycles from needing to cross heavy auto-traffic roads unless it's at intersections. Here's a panoramic view of the north-south stretch of Reserve Street. There's a pedestrian and bicycle tunnel underneath the road, and pathways up to the road level should a person want to travel along Reserve instead of across it. There are other roads that have received the same treatment. It's an admirable system.



There are also two community gardens along that route. One is mixed into the residential area (I think it's called the Milwaukee Path Community Garden?), while the other marks the terminus of the western end of the Milwaukee Road Trail, and is called Orchard Gardens Community Garden. Both are decent, and it looks like Orchard Gardens has attached residences and solar power panels along its building roofs. The Milwaukee Path Community Garden reminds me of the local effort I participated in for a few years before moving out here to Montana.





On some stretches of the bike path, there's an open waterway coursing through a concrete-reinforced channel. Maybe this is a tributary to the Clark Fork that's been "managed"?



Next: ducks!



That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!
 
Stephen B. Thomas
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Posts: 1246
Location: Wheaton Labs, Montana, USA
2325
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BRK #355

Projects and lining ducks up in a row on a Sunday, then it's back to work for real for real tomorrow.

Wrangled some replacement fuses for electrical appliances, including the ebike batteries. Liam already replaced the fuse and we'll be testing the battery on a bike this evening.



I puzzled together this plumbing fixture for our upcoming Allerton Abbey waterworks shut-off plan. We'll tape these connections, wrench everything together, then install it later this week.



Finally: a second zokin is completed. This one's a bit more thorough than the first I'd made earlier this month, and I think it will stay together longer. The next two on the agenda will be machine-sewn, so this is the last "homey" zokin I'll be making for a while.



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