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

BEL #659

Today was gorgeous. Must have been a Wednesday.



Chris and I are still chipping away at the hydrant replacement. We end up only spending about 20 minutes at a time over there, and in general digging when you don't know how deep you can go before hitting something (and avoiding hitting it with a rotating, 12-inch auger bit) can make things slow. There is noticeable progress, however. The auger shaft is about four feet in length, and we've dug down that far. Now we're widening the area so that a person can fit down there to do some more precise digging.

That auger is fantastic.



Over at the Boots' GAMCOD hugel berm: there's a pumpkin-ish friend hiding over there, for sure. They, and a bunch of their buddies.



I was spending a large chunk of today's afternoon shift harvesting Sepp Holzer Grain from the berm near the Classroom.



My supervisor, Black Spark, was very on-top of things today (and also happens to be very pregnant).



Finally: we're also harvesting apples this year. There are a few trees that did nearly nothing last year, only to have a massive crop now. Here are two perfect granny smith-style apples in the rear paddock of the House. I brought them in for tonight's dessert.



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

BEL #660

It's Thursday, and time for another GAMCOD update. Plenty of positives to report. Just need to add more variety into our vegetable mix. There may be time for radishes and kale...



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

BEL #661

One of our biggest tasks today was to address an error message that keeps showing up on the washing machine at the House. Not a very permaculture-ish task, but definitely an important one round here.

Chris and I disassembled the machine after doing some online research. Seems like there's some kind of issue with the water pump, which sucks water out of the tub and sends it into the drain.



We removed and cleaned all the pipes and tubing, the pump itself, and even removed the gasket that connects the tub to the front of the machine (with a tight wire fastener...sheesh!). Unfortunately, our efforts proved fruitless after a test run or two. While filling with water and spinning the barrel seems to work okay, the machine still doesn't like draining the machine after it's been filled. Looks like a replacement motor is our next step. The good news is that we know what to go after immediately once we take the machine apart again.



Earlier in the day, we spent time over at Allerton Abbey and the gardens. I planted additional kale and daikon radish on the GAMCOD plot. If we want it to be "official," then we'll need a wider variety of food growing in it. So this is our attempt.





Finally: here's one of the Abbey kitties trying to hide from us: in broad daylight, no less.



We also saw a little black kitty over at Cooper Cabin, though it ran off as soon as it noticed we were there (driving up in an electric-hybrid pickup truck is quieter than most other vehicles that visit the Lab!). We'll be dropping off food over at Cooper as the days go by, and see if we can do an informal head count of those in residence.

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

BEL #662

A Saturday doing some of the things I love most: bicycling round Missoula, and some of that along the river, paying smiling women to serve me pastries and coffee. Could be a lot worse.

Meanwhile... The final succession plant I expect to see before the true end of the summer would be these small, white flowers. They're not on climbing vines, though they look much like the honeysuckles and bindweed that were noted in earlier posts. They're scattered throughout open spaces and meadows across town.



Back at Wheaton Labs... Here I am changing my dressing. As the old saying goes: "The accident may not have been your fault, but the healing of your injury is completely your responsibility." I change this dressing every day, though it's almost three weeks old. Staying diligent with it is the key to no complications down the road.



Chris and I fit in a game of Dinosaur Island earlier this week. This is the "roll n' write" version, which takes up much less table-space and is still very entertaining. Imagine creating your own "Jurrasic Park" style amusement park, and managing the business side of it as best you can. Definitely a "business management" kind of game, wrapped in a '90s art-direction package and accented with cool dice. I figure later games will take less than an hour.



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

BEL #663

A couple "before and after" shots of today's tasks.

Spent some Nest Labor time taking care of the greens growing between the stones on the patio. Not complete yet, but definitely put a dent in it.



I also replaced the rain fly on my tent today. After two years, it finally ripped in the wind. I'd say I extracted my money's worth out of it. Personally, I'm amazed at how much the colour had been bleached by the sun.



While at the patio today, G-Dawg (AKA Gandalf) kept an eye on me, making sure I stayed on-task.



Paul had a few spare daikon radishes sitting in the kitchen, so I took it upon myself to make some quick pickles in ACV. They'll be ready for snacking by dinner time tomorrow.



Finally: I've been reading through Mark Shepard's Restoration Agriculture, and in chapter 12 there's this handy chart to compare corn to perennial crops. The point he's making here is that while corn farmers are touted as the closest thing we have to "feeding the world," well, it doesn't do that. Rather, a perennial mimic of the oak savannah is a way to provide not just more calories, but vastly more nutrition than a corn monocrop cultivated in the same amount of space. In particular, hazelnuts are a nutritional power-house. It's a wonderful book and I've been able to take away a lot from it, including several concepts I hope to integrate into the acre I'm stewarding once I've the time to start work over there.



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