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

Coydon Wallham wrote:I think the same problem developed for Julia last year over the same time period before JR put the new hinges on just about this time. Is it known what it would take to skim a bit off the cob floor and refinish it just in the area of the sweep?

Technically speaking, I'm sure that of course someone knows what it would take.

Being more reasonable in my reply: should the problem repeat itself (again), then yeah, it's likely we'll be looking into something that dramatic as a long-term solution. It would be a shame to do that to the floor, in my opinion. But if we want something more permanent and trimming the door doesn't seem to do the job, then I think it'll be on the menu of options for next time.

BRK #558

Happy Taco Tuesday to you...!!!

In the first half of the day, we visited the Tipi for a bit of a touch-up, and I found this little fellow relaxing on the outer wall as we entered. Looks like the larva of maybe a lightning bug? The shape certainly seems similar, but the colour is definitely not.



More progress on the Wheaton Labs GAMCOD plot...! The second layer of logs is covered almost completely. We also brought over more logs for likely the final layer of wood from some very old mushroom-cultivation spots. Tonight's compost is also going to be "blotched" in there tomorrow.



Over at the Lab's pump house, I introduced the team to my favourite digging tool: the Pulaski...! Here's Ben chopping out a stump with it.



Finally: here's a photo of the current progress of the pump house trench project. This task is a kick in the seat of the pants. However, after the first foot or so of earth was removed, things seemed to go a bit quicker.



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

BRK #559

A curious task we worked on today was to prepare some card scrapers. For those who don't know: this is a tool used to smooth wood surfaces by shaving off a little of the surface at a time. If you do it well, you end up with elegant curls of wood shavings, and a seemingly-polished wood surface. Paul picked up several of them and we broke them out today in an effort to get them working.

Here's Ben executing the first step of prepping a scraper: using a flat file to create as flat and straight an edge as possible.



Next, you want to use progressively-finer sharpening stones to repeatedly create a small burr, then remove it. By lining up the card scraper with a bit of finished lumber, you can ensure the 90-degree angle required to have a straight edge.



Next step: here's Brian using a ceramic burnishing rod (I was too concerned that we'd break this, so this weekend I'll pick up a steel one) to draw out and stretch the steel in preparation to make its final burr edge.



Ben worked on his a bit more later in the day, and was initially successful with shaving a piece of pine to a very smooth, flat surface. I think with a proper burnishing rod we'll have a greater measure of success, and if I can find some hardwood planks then I think these will be exceptionally fun and satisfying to use.

We also harvested more stinging nettle today. Some was served fresh at lunch as part of an egg scramble, and since I like nettle tea we began drying some in the rocket-boosted dehydrator and in the kitchen ceiling racks. Here's the batch we started today in the dehydrator.



Finally: we wrapped-up the day with some serious grass-plucking and mulching of the garden hugels at Basecamp. I think next week will be a heavy planting week for some of our less-frost-tolerant plants. While mulching, I was admiring the pear tree blossoms:



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

BRK #560

What a fun day...! A wide variety of Boot tasks in lovely weather, a trip on the ebike to the Lab and back again, interviewed about the dehydrators for a YouTube video, and then board games to round out the evening.

Here was our primary task for the morning: patching up a blown-over junk pole fence up at the Lab. Windstorms try to knock us down, but we'll build them back stronger every time. Big thanks to Brian and Ben, who did the majority of the work on this.



More progress on the Wheaton Labs GAMCOD hugel...! ...Decorations added by me in post.



We added a protective mesh of hardware cloth to the bee houses today. I had never seen leaf-cutter bee cocoons, until today.



Here's the finished bee house renovation. There's no chance for birds to reach in and peck-out the bees from their hidey-holes now. Brian and Ben also renovated two additional bee houses, found up near Plum Plateau and Raspberry Rock.



Finally, for reference: sunchoke sprout.



And here's a kale sprout (second year).



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

BRK #561

At the start of the day, here was the structure I call Skeleton 1.



In a couple hours, here's what things looked like:



We'll be back to clear out the ground cloth and a few bits of insulation that are scattered around the foundation. Otherwise, this one is more-or-less "uninstalled," and I hope to see it either inhabited by a long-timer who wants to do something worthwhile with the land, or that nature takes over again and erases any trace that there was once a structure there.

There are a few abandoned plots and derelict structures scattered round Ant Village. I hope we can be rid of most of these in the weeks and months ahead.

Meanwhile, in the afternoon we busied ourselves with adding more soil to the hugels, and then setting-up a sprinkler on it. We're going to be planting a lot next week, and I think these beds will be ready for anything we can throw at them.



Finally: in preparation for event season, we've begun prepping and tuning-up the "analog" bicycles here at Basecamp. Here's Sage, the machine that's closest to being finished (we have our tune-up checklist attached to the bike seat). We were patching flat inner tubes, adding grease to the drivetrains/chains, and changing-out brake pads. We'll have a respectable fleet by the time people arrive for the PTJ in a couple months.



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