From the event. Here are the pics of the general layout. I got some of these pics from marisha's video here: http://vimeo.com/42238837

The first pic shows the "instant classroom and kitchen". From left to right: teacher's yurt; sky lodge (with central campfire); the classroom; the kitchen. I think that for a property that does not have the facilities for this sort of thing, this worked out really well.

The second pic is the classroom. Lots of awesome couches. There were about 50 people in there at any time. When sepp arrived, it was figured to be at about 100 total, then dropped to 80 on the third day.

The cook came to a table of us at breakfast and said "oh no! the person that was supposed to do the dishes didn't show!" So a bunch of us popped out and rescued the situation. Some were more obnoxious than others.

Skeeter talking about soil and I'm videoing him.

The last moments of the PDC - just before we begin the Sepp phase. You can see flathead lake in the background.

Sepp arrives.

jack arrives.

(jack is standing uphill of me (hi jack! )

Jessi standing next to a hugelkultur bed. They started off taller than me. Then they got their tops mushed down a little.

great photos..you must be taller than anyone there eh?

^not sure what time of year this was taken or how old the bed is, but it doesn't appear to be as moist as i imagined hugelkultur's to be?

Devon,

this was taken few weeks ago (i.e. Spring) and I guess it is not too moist because the beds are just established. My understanding is that when they are just put together, hugelkultur beds are basically like regular garden beds, only steeper. This means that you need to water them at first, but once the vegetation cover is well established, that's it, no more watering.

in that case this makes perfect sense, mine arent moist yet either but by the "mushed down" comment i had assumed they were older... anyway, nice pic

Kelly Ware just sent me these to aerial pics that her brother took.

You can see the ponds. And you can see gobs of hugelkultur beds.

WOW!!! SOOOOO much nice than those aerial views that show just big blocks of different shades of green

Sepp must be able to 'see' the aerial view in his mind's eye. I reckon that's part of his genius. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

BTW, isn't jack spirko around 6' tall? I know you're tall, Paul, but you put him in a hole for that picture, didn't you.

Jack is actually on the uphill side of me because standing on the downhill side makes him even shorter!

that is so cool, it sure doesn't look all brand new

It sure would be nice to see some closeups now of the beds to see how they have done since early spring...

I live in Florida so the internet is my only way to really see this project unfold. Hopefully someone is documenting the transitioning of these beds over time. We don't get many opportunities to see things like this here in the U.S.

I will try to get something up today.

paul wheaton wrote:I will try to get something up today.

Sweet! This project is so cool.

not to ask strange questions but is the landowner ok with visitors stopping by and looking at the progress if an appointment is set up ahead of time?

also, im assuming paul just got busy, such is life, and he didnt promise anything, simply said he'd try, but where is the update at?

Why didn't I know about this earlier!!! Must have missed it somehow in the daily-ish that I get from another Email. I have Sepp's Permaculture book and it is underlined, highlighted and dogeared. It would be wonderful if I could attend.

He is going back soon!

http://www.permies.com/t/32800/rockies/Sepp-Holzer-Day-Intensive-Whitehall