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

BRK #369

Photos from this past Friday's building project at the Dogstar cabin.

Shani, Haile, and SEPPer Lisa joined me over there to repair a wall section. There used to be a window, however it was placed right next to the upper bunk and when someone broke the pane of glass  when staying there one night we decided that a more impact-resistant option was appropriate for that spot. So after SEPPer Jeff and I discussed the options, we decided upon a slip straw-insulated wall to be installed there. The team took care of the project in one afternoon.

Here's SEPPer Lisa at the mixing spot, just outside of the Dogstar.



Slip straw is just a little bit different from cob. You use primarily mud and water for your "glue" and then dunk the straw into that until it's saturated.



Then the saturated straw is pressed into the form for building.



You build up your form a little bit at a time, from the bottom to the top, as the lower sections become filled with the pressed slip-straw.



Once the form is full, then the slip straw needs to dry. After that you can remove the form or keep it in place as the structural part of the wall (slip straw on its own really isn't useful as building support).

For now, I think we're keeping the form intact as the wall. Here's the view from the inside...



...And out.



I think the team did an excellent job on this construction project. It's certainly more resilient than what was there before, and I think it'll last quite a while. We may come back and finish the exterior with some linseed oil. Maybe after SEPPer Jeff and I have a discussion about it.

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

BRK #370

Monday, and back at Boot tasks.

Liam, Dez, and I trundled up to have a look at the excavator and attempt to re-fit its treads. Here are our assembled tools:



Paul suggested we bring up some bar clamps and try squeezing everything together. Liam suggested fitting bars within the treads and then using the clamps to squeeze them together. Dez was behind the wheel of our vehicle and both tugged with a tow strap and then winched with a come-along in an effort to bring the treads together.



Well, so far nothing has worked. We'll do some more research, then come back at it later this week.



In the afternoon, I coached both Liam and SEPPer Lisa on using the sawmill. We're stocking up on panels to finish the Swede-ified Sauna and to stock up for winter building projects.







Earlier this evening, I made some more sauerkraut. I'll have photos of the batch tomorrow.

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

BRK #371

A very Happy Taco Tuesday to you...!

Today's photos are a bit all over the place. There was a lot happening on this otherwise typical Tuesday.

First off, I wanted to give a shout-out to Austin Durant, fermentation expert, who I channeled while making this sauerkraut last night. In a month, it ought to be ready to devour.



Meanwhile, this morning Dez and Liam were rebuilding the wall at the rear of Allerton Abbey.





I taste-tested some of the Basecamp pears today. Unfortunately, they seemed a bit too unripe for prime time, but they were still snappy and sweet.



These roma tomatoes are still growing, and it looks like they'll be ripening in waves.



Finally: wrapping up the workday before dinner, I hiked up the mountain here at Basecamp to take down some dead-standing wood. I'm grateful for the usefulness of the tree jack. It's an excellent tool. It helped in making sure this curved tree fall down the mountainside in the direction I wanted (as in, not towards me...!).





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

BRK #372

Just another beautiful day in the neighbourhood.



It's been a pretty fantastic week so far. Working with SEPPers to bring them up to speed with Boot tasks and projects here and there. Lots of cats crawling all over. Harvesting has begun. Played some Azul (a tile-laying board game) this evening. "Life is a pretty sweet fruit," as an old friend of mine would say.

Here are Dez and SEPPer Aizen splitting wood for our winter stockpile.





After some discussion this morning about preserving our harvest, we took a moment to collect from some of our potato plants. We're very pleased with what we've seen so far. This is from only a portion of the plants we've cultivated at Basecamp, and we've already collected half of the quantity of seed potatoes we purchased in the winter.



We brought them down to the Classroom for curing in the shade and cool temperatures.



Methods of storing the potatoes we'll try this year include:
- Slicing and freezing
- Pickling in salt brine
- Root cellaring (we tried this last year and weren't successful, so we're tweaking our process a bit)
- Mashing and freezing

We may also attempt some drying of sliced potatoes and see how that turns out. Personally, I'm most excited about pickling them. Those, and the sunchokes - which are also prolific.

The rest of the garden is still going strong. The new well has made a tremendous difference at Basecamp. I'm always on the lookout for more pumpkins, and they're not disappointing me.



This is the biggest one I've seen yet! The deep green colour makes me think this has some more growing to do. Thankfully, it's inside the paddock so random wildlife will have a tougher time snatching it from us.



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

BRK #373

Another Friday Eve has come and gone. Lots of fun garden stuff today, as harvesting has begun.

The corn is beginning to turn brown. We'll likely start bringing it in two weeks from now.



Waaaay back in the spring, the label for this plant read, "Eggplant." But is it a cucumber plant? Zucchini?



In other news... Here's Liam sloshing around some clay in a bucket. We're cobbing tomorrow, and we'll need to reconstitute this stuff to make the building material. We ought to have enough to make a mess with tomorrow morning.



We're dropping an assortment of cover crops and over-wintering crops in open spaces round Basecamp, now that the heat has cooled and the season is coming to a close. Garlic went in today, and we blended an assortment of cover crops including daikon radish, vetch, ryegrass, clover, and more.



Finally: Here's Dez with a valve extracted from Judy (our big red truck). He's going to clean it and reinstall it, with the hopes we can squeeze a little more blood from the stone and she'll run for a little while longer.



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