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

Beau M. Davidson wrote:Hey Stephen, the DC thermostat for the well pump house arrived. [...] Not sure the best way to hand this task off, so I'm hoping you can help.

I'll team up with a few folks and have a look at this likely after the SKIP event is done. Paul passed it along to me earlier today. At least now I know what it is.

Tina Wolf wrote:Once you recover from all the summer events, do you think you could detail where all the gardens are at WL/Base Camp?

This might be a fun project...! I think we can take care of that, likely in mid- to late-August.

BEL #626

The end of SKIP 2024 Week One, and I am beat...! Lots of fetch quests over the past several days. Here's a quick update.

One of our timber tools is nowhere to be found. While searching across the Lab, I stopped by the Sepp Holzer Root Cellar site from the PTJ. It's an imposing structure. I'm excited to see it finished sometime in the next several months.



These adobe bricks were finished by the SKIP participants yesterday, and are drying in the "front yard" of the Classroom. Were I not so enchanted by the prospect of using slip straw for a structure (eventually, an upgrade from my totally awesome tent), I would experiment more with these.



Here's some of the dry-stack retaining wall "rock fetching crew." Pictured here (left to right): Matthew, Rebekah, The Rocky Mountain Hirsute Dipshit, Aaron, and Eli.



Finally: speaking of the RMHD, here he is again, posing next to something that actually smells worse than him: eight cans of landfill trash.  Also pictured here: Roy, with his snazzy, custom-fit lumber rack.



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

BEL #627

A blistering-hot Saturday in Missoula. Spent a lot of time zipping my bicycle from one shady spot to another, prior to doing errands for Basecamp.



The mountains are shrouded in haze. This is wildfire season. Here's to hoping it doesn't become worse - at least prior to the end of the SKIP event.



The buckle on my bicycle helmet somehow disappeared into the ether. To the rescue: Missoula FreeCycles...! I picked up a couple buckles and a "Great Divide" water bottle for a modest $10 donation.



Stopped by Tandem Cafe' today for the first time. I'd had their vegan donuts a few times before though until today I'd never seen their physical location. This little painted decoration was just outside their front door.



Paul has lent me his copy of Restoration Agriculture, by Mark Shepard. I'm finding it highly-instructive. Now that I am stewarding an acre, the possibilities of how and what to grow are swimming even faster in my head. For instance, hazelnuts and apples recur time and time again as ways to improve "verticality" to the edible landscape. Wrapped a chapter on honeybees and hives today, and it provided insight on how to pursue this in a more "bee-philic" way, and up at the Lab, in the near future.



Back at the Lab: here is chicory. Frequent guest Rebekah clued me into the plant, and gave me some tips on how to prepare it for a drink that's a suitable alternative to coffee. This will be yet another plant I want to aggressively cultivate. Pro tip: chop it before you roast it.



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

BEL #628

I've a back-log of images to share. These have all been turned into animated GIFs.

Here's fellow Boot Ben during PTJ 2024, using Mike Haasl's fancy, antique, hemlock peeling spud. He's removing bark from likely a Ponderosa Pine here.



When attaching the cable for the Bobra Line near the Berm Shed, fellow Boot Rio brought out a bunch of her tree-climbing gear. I don't know the name of this tool, however Rio used it along with a clever foot-hitch to climb a rope she had previously hung down. The result was that she was able to climb back up to her original spot without needing a ladder to do it.



Finally: I caught these dried flowers on the stalk during an unusually breezy afternoon. It was mesmerizing to watch them.



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