Stephen B. Thomas

BEL #782

A Monday in May, and we're back at it. Lots of healthy rain over the weekend to help the seeds while we were away. We had two WWOOF Week participants stick around and want to stay as Boots, and that's great.

Speaking of which, fellow Boot Shawn and I were at work in the Bark Park today, chipping away at the main gate. We removed one of the gate posts, dug a wider post hole with the electric auger, then dropped the new post in place.



I continued work on the gate itself in the afternoon. Thanks to Fred's previous video help, I'm crafting an angular support for the inner portion of this gate. Again, shooting for tenon and mortise joints to hold it in place. We'll also have junk pole "pickets" nailed on the gate, so with all that support I think the gate ought to last for a while.



At the morning meeting today, I told the rest of the team, "If we bring back some walking onions, I promise I'll process them and put them all in a soup." So they bring back four buckets full of 'em.



In other news... Looks like the landslide is shaping up as hoped. Lots of taproot species growing in there, primarily daikon radish. Once the greenery is all established there, we'll trim down those posts so they don't wick away as much water over time. But for now, they provide some crucial support and can't be removed without consequences.



One last image for today. After Seth and I started work with the Shower Shack last week, we noticed that this temperature/psi gauge was leaking water. "It's like a lava lamp," I described during today's morning meeting. I uninstalled it today, re-wrapped it with teflon tape, and reinstalled it, to no avail. Something inside the gauge has broken/failed, and it seems like a replacement is in order.



This Boot Team is a solid bunch of good, hard-workin' folks. I'm grateful for all of them.

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

BEL #781

Each Sunday begins with the Cleaning Blitz, and we move on to Nest Labor and personal projects. I wrapped and initiated a couple personal projects today.

I completed the final version of this sign for the WilloWonka earlier today, using the laser cutter/engraver. It's currently in the Woodshop drying its first coat of linseed oil. A couple more coats, and I'll mount it outside. Both Paul and I are pleased with this one. A sign for the Cooper Pooper (Wheaton Labs' indoor willow feeder) is next on the agenda.



A friend of mine asked a few questions about how the peeling "spud" works, and how it differed from when using a drawknife. The simplest explanation I offered was something like, "You stab with the peeling spud, while it's more like you bring something closer to you for a hug with the draw knife." Pictured here is the peeling tool/spud, along with the shaving horse, built by Mike Haasl a couple years ago.



Later in the day, I used the draw knife and shaving horse to clean the bark from the scraps of wood I'll use for my next shelf project for the tent. Being that they were very old junk poles, I'm debating on the usefulness of peeling the bark from them, along with the fact that I discovered several grubs crawling around in them and I'd likely be happier about my prospective furniture had I not learned of them...



Finally, a question. Our band saw caught on a knot, and then jammed and bent while in operation. I can't bring myself to throw it out, since it's still plenty sharp. But it's so bent that the kerf of the blade is greater than 1/4th of an inch. I bent it back into shape as best I could by eyeing it up and not using special tools, but I am still concerned that it's crooked and/or twisted in some way. Is testing this blade the next step? Is it recommended to -not- try to repair/refurbish band saw blades? Any suggestions?



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

BEL #780

To celebrate the end of the week, the rest of the Boots cooked up a fantastic meal, including - among other things - smashed sunchokes and a mixed greens salad from the hugel berms. What a great way to wrap-up a Friday.

We've moved the Three Sisters operation for this year to a nearby hugel, in an effort to allow the Corn Scoop to recharge for at least a year. Here are fellow Boots Jared and Catherine prepping and planting a berm with corn.



Matt and Seth discuss leveling-out the area where we're hoping to move the battery bank - Leviathan - to its new home.



Why not have a seat in the Chateau de Poo, where you can experience the softness and splendor of mullein: AKA Cowboy Toilet Paper...?



Seth and I encountered this leaky PEX pipe this week while attempting to bring the Shower Shack back online.



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

BEL #779

Here's a video that's a kind of companion to my first log-peeling video, featuring fellow Boot Jared, peeling logs. I peel all the bark from a 10-foot long, 1-foot diameter, spruce log. I'll do the same thing in mid-summer, the autumn, and the winter, and compare the time it takes to finish them all.

Enjoy!



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

BEL #778

In this video, I fell my tallest tree yet. Of course, I'm demonstrating use of the tree jack.


Thanks for watching, and enjoy your day...!

BEL #777

(I was in Boy Scout troop 777 as a kid. )

Today was a fun one.

Here are fellow Boots Jared and Shawn. Those log sections are destined to be turned into steps on Hugel Prime, a "showcase" section of the hugel berms inside the fence of Basecamp.

Good work today, guys.



The ground around the Pump House at the Lab - which had undergone some heavy construction and earthworks last year - is finally showing signs of recovery. Various types of ground cover are appearing of their own accord.



Catherine and I built several trellises for use with climbing vines and ground-cover plants that might need a leg up. Here's one next to a seasoned grape vine, inside the back yard paddock of Basecamp.



Finally: we completed the transport of all the log sections cut from a tree we felled up by Raspberry Rock last week. Now all that's left is to peel the bark and set them to dry. Thanks to Seth and Matt for their assistance in bringing the logs down the mountain. Plus, they showed me that multiple wraps of the chain isn't always the best strategy. See here, where a single loop of chain was sufficient to grip this log snugly and keep it under the log arch for the entirety of the trip.



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

BEL #776

First off, welcome to WWOOF Week guests, brothers Matt and Shawn...! Thanks for being here, guys.

Here's the latest GAMCOD update for the Boot Team. We'll be doing some more direct seeding this week.



Thanks for watching, and enjoy your day...!

BEL #775

In this video the Boot Team builds a Worm Town up by Raspberry Rock. Enjoy!


We could have added other natural materials, such as twigs and sticks, other woody bits, and so on. But this ought to be a good start.

Thanks for watching, and enjoy your day...!

It ought to be the Arrowleaf Balsamroot.

Jared, have a look at our "Native Plants of Montana" poster in the kitchen, and you'll see its spitting image on there.

A question of my own: has anyone tried eating the root? I've read and heard that it's edible, and the ones we've dug up on occasion have an impressive root mass that's just begging to be sampled.