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

BEL #613

Ever wonder what a crate of potatoes you'd forgotten in the pump house for months looks like? I found this out today. We're planting them tomorrow in the hopes we'll have even more potatoes at the end of the season.



Ever have Lambs' Quarters that's too tall and bitter to eat? Then why not use it as mulch?



Hugels can benefit from the longer stems, rich with foliage. They can help hold down more organic matter while still providing more shade to preserve water.



In PTJ news... Beau shows off the forms that will be used to make Myco Blocks. These are the modular mycelium insulation bricks he and his team have been working on this week.



Here's Michael O, applying the first layer of the revised cob floor in the Yoga Yurt. He and Jason toiled most of the day on applying and smoothing cob, one glob at a time.



Finally: thanks to previous Boot Nan for the care package of work gloves for her team mates. We appreciate it, Nan!



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

Stephen B. Thomas wrote:
Finally: thanks to previous Boot Nan for the care package of work gloves for her team mates. We appreciate it, Nan!

Finally someone responded to all of the carefully framed pictures of Stephen holding things with bare fingers poking through his frayed 'hobo' gloves...

I have a package ready...have had for a week...I just don't get to the post office much. Ordered a bunch of light colored Home Depot gloves...they'll be there by the 9th. Gotta support our Boots!

Tina Wolf wrote:I have a package ready... [...] Gotta support our Boots!

Just made an update to the Boots Love thread, and your recent gifts of coffee and cooling towels are noted there. Thanks again for your generosity, Tina!

BEL #614

What a way to end the first week of the PTJ...! It's been loads of fun, and it seems like everyone is taking away a lot from the good vibes and the natural building experience. Having guests at Wheaton Labs is always a breath of fresh air, and this group of talented, interesting individuals is no exception.

Here's a sizeable segment of the full group, lifting the Round Door project into place for safe storage over the weekend.



Angela, Cheryl, and Krista process willow and twine for a basket-frame that will serve as the scaffold for a mycelium cat house, part of the Myco Blocks Project.



Angela was also packing some of the Myco Block forms earlier in the day. Here she is with one of the filled forms, ready to clamp on the lid so the mycelium can do its work.



Here, team lead Katie and guest Chad complete more renovations on the WilloWonka, one of the Willow Feeders at Basecamp.



Finally: they don't look like much to me, but there's an adult robin diligently guarding this nest any time I look around the corner. The nest is pretty much at the center post of the Berm Shed, and the adult flies away every time I take three steps toward the area (which is frequent). In a week or so, we'll see how many baby bird heads are poking up past the edge of the nest.



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