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

Piqued my curiosity as to why the stove needs more wood than the RMH.

Love the "bling" effect of the lights backing the dish station, it has the makings of quite an exotic experience

Annette Jones wrote:Piqued my curiosity as to why the stove needs more wood than the RMH.

Ah, well maybe I'm just partial to (obvious?) rocket mass heaters these days. I know it was custom-built (nothing was there prior to Cooper Cabin being built), and it does have a unique side-flue - and a bread-warmer slot or something like that, right over top of the wood feed/mouth.

It certainly helped warm things up in there, at the very least. So it's not something to complain about, either. I guess I can just chalk it up to yesterday being my first-ever firing of it, and I have a feeling I ought to study and practice with it a bit more. Cooper Cabin has a nice, homey feel to it and I enjoyed puttering around in there, feeding it more wood on occasion, hearing the crackle of new wood catching aflame, the natural light flooding in through all the windows. It's a nice place to hang out, in my experience.

And yes! Katt and her daughter suggested the lighting addition, and I think it helps tremendously...!

I appreciate your comments, Annette!

BRK #500
(it's a new milestone...!)

Woke up at 4:30-ish to begin the first full day of the Garden Master Course. I am particularly grateful I'll be able to drink coffee all week.



After breakfast had been served, I had a chance to catch my breath. It was still early in the morning, and seemed to be cheerful though covered by the clouds.



I also took care of a handful of tasks I'd missed last week during class preparations. One of them was checking the various trail cameras. Here's the one by Cooper Cabin, featuring a bounding young deer.



Here's that canine once again. It doesn't seem like a typical dog to me, and it looks too large to be a fox. I think it's a (lone?) coyote. Also seems like it hangs out by the front gate a lot, as I didn't see it on any other cameras.



Finally: my new camera placement was a bit of a let-down. I was expecting to see herds of deer and hopefully elk, several pictures of each. However, most of the time it was a blurry, solitary deer almost out of the field of view by the time the camera snapped a shot. Oh well. The good news is that I'm convinced I ought to move it next time, so at least I won't need to hike out that far to check on the camera.



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

BRK #501

First off: kitty update! Here are (clockwise from left) Stewie, Roez, and Brian.



We're actually able to use some of the harvest we preserved this past autumn. Former Boot Liam and I had set up this rudimentary cold frame last year prior to his departure. We buried a few dozen sunchokes in it about three or so inches deep.



The result: several of the smaller ones shriveled up and really weren't serviceable, so I tossed them onto the hugels to hopefully become volunteers. However, the ones that were already large stayed firm, and were good enough for eating. I brought this small sampling back to Basecamp for our chefs: Katt and Becca. There may still be more under that cold frame, so I'll have a second look tomorrow.



Our potato harvest has stored very well this past winter in the various well pump houses we have. Both pump houses here at Basecamp kept our 'taters fresh, intact, and without creepers/vines/etc. I think we did a nice job with these. The only damage we encountered - as far as I know - would be damage suffered while the potato was still in the ground (green skin, punctures from pests, etc.). We ought to definitely do this again this next growing season.



And speaking of preservation, my ferment from last week is lively and ready to eat today...! Cabbage and carrots.



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

BRK #502

Must have been a breezy day. Bob was doing his little dance.



Checked on the potatoes we'd stored in the Lab pump house, and the picture wasn't as pretty as yesterday. Seems like they were all fouled and shriveled-up by temperatures that were too low.



The good news is that storing potatoes at Basecamp seems to work excellently. We loaded them in crates in the pump houses - which likely didn't become as cold for a variety of reasons - so in the future I think that's what we'll stick with. And sunchokes can be stored in sandy soil, so long as they're easily retrievable, like under our window/cold frame. We may want to try this with potatoes as well, now that we know that it works passably well. These are all things to remember for next season's harvest.

The Garden Master Course continues. We're putting the batch box rocket mass heaters to the test in the Classroom and the Woodshop. The mass temperature for the RMH in the Woodshop is reaching temperatures in excess of 100 degrees F. It's lovely to walk up to it at 5:30am or whatever, press my hands against it, and it's still pushing 85+ degrees F.



Oh! And I made hand sanitizer. Simple ingredients: two parts "iso-purple alcohol," one part aloe (as in, scoop out all the pulp from the stalks/ribs and throw it in there), and maybe 6 drops of lemon juice. Blend it all together, and you have sanitizer that makes your hands feel great.





Finally: we bid farewell to two kitties today: Fern and Brian were adopted today! We're all wishing them well in their forever home.

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