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

BRK #382

Perhaps I had bitten off a bit more than I could chew, literally. I retired early from my bicycling trip around Missoula today with an upset stomach. Oh well. I did catch a few photographs in the meantime.

For example, here's a photo of one of the tributaries alongside the Clark Fork River, near where Higgins Ave crosses over the Milwaukee Road Trail.



In the southeastern corner of Missoula, there's the Bellevue Bike Park: a place where people can "off-road" and ride on agility-based skill obstacles with their bikes. Seems like a lot of fun. Here's a panoramic view of the main obstacles:



Back at Basecamp, I reviewed the progress of the dehydrating sunchokes. Things looked all right, so I set up another cooking fire to keep up the good work after sundown.



Finally: we had a delivery of 10 cubic yards of gravel on Thursday. Here's the pile. Much of it is destined for some hydrant projects to be done prior to the first frost (we maybe have a week or two), then the rest will likely be used during the Fall Fest event to help with the Sepp Holzer Root Cellar construction project.



That's all for now. Going to nurse off this stomach ache with some hot tea... Enjoy your day...!

BRK #383

It's a Monday, and our first day with some new Boots. Welcome, Alex and Syd!

We started off the day with some hydrant touch-ups. The entire group worked together to bury one of the hydrants that had laid dormant (or at least unused) since before the summer events. Here's Liam as we shroud the wooden post and hydrant pipe with gravel.



Syd and I then peeled off to replace a hydrant that had stopped working for some reason. Dez had started the dig last week, and we finished it.



Upon closer examination, we realized that the weld holding the hydrant's internal workings together had somehow snapped. But in the start of the autumn...?





Anyhow, we replaced the busted hydrant with one I'd picked up over the weekend - turns out that an 8' long hydrant really can fit in a Toyota Corolla - and we'll test it tomorrow.

In the afternoon, we started things off with cleaning and slicing some sunchokes, and then "initiated the dehydration protocol" for them. Based on the time it took for our first batch to finish up, these ought to be done by Wednesday: just in time for us to start preserving some of our potato harvest.



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

BRK #384

Happy Taco Tuesday to you...!

Here's my morning. I'm loving it.



I think I spotted a hobo spider today.



Here's our first task of the day. Syd and I wrapped-up in replacing a well hydrant. Here's Syd tamping down the soil in the hole we'd dug. We ensured there was gravel surrounding the post to the right by filling dirt in around a cardboard form.



The finished product:



In the afternoon, we were prepping the grape arbor for some soon-to-arrive grape vines. The whole team was involved with this. Here's Liam and Alex while digging out the area, in process to fill it like a hugelkultur raised bed.



Here are the finished beds. We're hoping to receive some grape vines in mid-October. Thanks, Hans!





Another admirable thing the team accomplished today: plenty of sunchokes were pickled today. Some garlic and poblano peppers are in there, too.



Finally: here's an obligatory cat photo.



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

BRK #385

The Boot day continues, rain or shine.

We encountered a problem with one of the batteries in the Bad News Boy Buggie... One of the batteries is misbehaving. Might this be the same one upon which I replaced the terminals? I can't recall. However I think it's time to change out that battery in the hopes we'll be able to drive it around again soon.



Meanwhile, the hydrant seal-up job continues. This one's in Far Arrakis (the sand pit). Alex, Dez, and I were here this morning, while Liam and Syd worked on the Love Shack's "cob hat" project.



In the second half of the day, we focused primarily on preserving potatoes from this year's harvest. We're trying a lot of things we didn't do last season, and I'm expecting good things to come of it. Here's the team in the kitchen with those spuds...





Here in the dehydrator are cubed and shredded potatoes. As the weather has grown colder, we'll be sure to take advantage of the rocket booster inside.



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

BRK #386

Didn't have my camera the first half of the day - my shoulder bag strap unraveled again - but I do want to note what the team did this morning.

- harvested plenty more sunchokes
- planted some in marked areas in Dances With Pigs Meadow
- planted some in reasonably-orderly rows at the Lemon Tree Site
- planted some all over the berms at the entry gate of the Lab

I ordered a variety of seeds yesterday, and I hope they arrive next week. We'll be planting them along with some fruit tree seeds near the sunchokes and see if we can start more edible plant life in unexpected areas.

In the second half of the day, we completed 99% of the work needed to protect the new water lines across Basecamp. I was driving the tractor around, pushing mounds of sand and rock into accessible places. Here's Liam showing excellent form in picking up a bucket full of sand:



Syd and I replaced the bad battery in the Bad News Boy Buggie:



We did a test drive up to Plum Plateau at Basecamp, and there was still a slight burning smell coming from the battery compartment. There's no obvious damage to any of the batteries, so we'll have to keep a close eye on the internal mechanics to see if we can identify the source of the issues. I have a feeling we're not out of the woods yet with the Buggie's electrical issues, but at least it's running for the time being.

Finally: here's Syd posing by the new "cob hat" at the Love Shack:



Once it dries, we'll refine the opening at the front and the cavity under the cob mass (you can see a little bit of sand down there, which was mounded up and used as a form), empty out the sand, and fire it up to see how it performs. We're hoping it's all done prior to the Fall Fest event in late October.

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