Stephen B. Thomas

John Hutter wrote:What if,

the interior of the structure is completely sealed off from the unpeeled framing (cob doesn't need bark to stay in place) and

there is no bark anywhere there is wood on wood contact in the frame - or the only contact points are the cut ends of logs.

Depending on your climate and the amount of moisture trapped in the logs, I'd still be concerned with mold and fungus growing in those logs. Particularly if you seal it all up with cob prior to adequate drying, I'd think that the cob would absorb at least some of that excess moisture and then gradually break off. I imagine (as this is all a thought experiment anyway) that this would lead to rotted logs in the worst case, and in the best case scenario periodic applications of additional cob would be required, at least until the logs were sufficiently dry.

If there's a way to assure that the logs have been dried, then I'd feel a lot more comfortable in using them with the bark still attached. Otherwise, personally I would spend the needed time in the Spring to peel some logs.

Lately I've been studying and observing quite a lot about sunchokes. And I'm almost convinced that, were I interested in dating, I'd be a sunchoke.

I grow without permission.
I defy corporate influence.
Extreme conditions don't faze me.
I'm a turn-off to the typical.
When others wither away or evaporate, I'll still be there.
However if you put me on a shelf, I won't be around long.
My true value is secreted beneath the surface.
Even on my bad days, I will always have more value than a potato.

BEL #832

Here's a video recap and assessment of how one of our hugel berms has recovered after suffering a landslide last year. Things are looking all right over there.



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

Way to go, guys...!

Last year, we had pumpkins and counted the calories for the flesh separate from the calories for the seeds. Wise move.

Cécile Stelzer Johnson wrote:Did you use a special cultivar? I know OIKOS had some that they have selected for their ability to stay close to the mother plant.

I think our current stock is the equivalent of a landrace version. Every year, we grab some from a plant and then drop them in areas that had no sunchokes that season.

Sunchokes have been growing here since before I arrived (over 3.5 years ago), and I don't recall Paul or any other gardeners here ordering any from elsewhere. There are so many here at this stage that it seems silly to even consider purchasing any, ever. It might be to the point that we have separate cultivars growing at Basecamp versus those growing at the Lab. Those parcels of property are about 2 miles from each other, and some microclimate differences may have emerged over the years.

All the sunchokes from this current video series were grown at Basecamp, while all those in the GAMCOD project videos are grown at the Lab. It would be interesting to see if there were any noticeable differences between the plants' yields based on where they were harvested, but just from a casual glance I haven't observed any.

I'd posted our latest video about the length of the sunchoke harvesting season. Things grew wonderfully through the month of October. I think it will be even more impressive at the end of November.

If I were to be somewhat technical about it, I would say all those sunchokes came from about three square feet of surface area on a hugelkultur garden bed.

BEL #831

Here's the latest sunchoke/Jerusalem artichoke video update. Looks to me like they grow wonderfully through the month of October.



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

Yes Nancy, it arrived and Paul picked it up earlier this week. Thank you so much for all the goodies. Fellow Boot Zach and I sampled the laverbread, and that kind of blew our minds. The biscuits went great with our homemade rhubarb jam, and disappeared way too quickly. We'll be chipping away at your generous bounty in the days ahead.

I'll have a closer look at those "pie spices" you included, and will likely find no other use for them but to drop them in the soil...

Once again: many thanks, Nancy...!!!

I think we did some excellent work over there at the lumber mill today.

BEL #830

Here's a research video I cut together after fellow Boot Esteban and I found an enormous, currently-unidentified vegetable growing just outside the Library.



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