Hal Schibel

Minimum requirements:
- Make a camping cot-size mattress
- Adult standard cot size (approximately 74 inches by 26 inches) - Mine is 72 by 30 inches
- 3 to 5 inches thick - Mine is 3 inches thick
- Fabric must be a natural material (cotton, wool, linen, etc.)
- Stuffing must be a natural material such as bedstraw, straw, feathers, seed husks, or wool fleece

To document completion of the BB, provide proof of the following as pictures or a video (< 2 minutes):
- Describe the size of your cot and the materials you will use
- Post a before picture of your materials
- Post a picture of making the tick (outer mattress cover to be stuffed)
- Post a picture of you stuffing your tick
- Post a picture of your completed mattress

We inherited an awkward-sized platform bed that was made by my husband's grandfather. I decided to turn it into a nice window hangout space. I put in a planter box and had about a cot-sized space left over (roughly 72 by 32 inches). I bought some heavyweight cotton duck canvas fabric. This was three yards of fabric with a width of 62 inches. The finished mattress is 72 x 30 x 3 inches.

Here is the starting fabric:


Cutting out the pieces - I cut the whole thing in half lengthwise (to be 31 inches wide) and then cut out the sides. The sides weren't quite long enough so I had to stitch some extra pieces together.


Here I'm sewing the pieces together:


This is what the cover looks like on the bed (unstuffed). It ended up being 30 inches wide and about 6 feet long. I had a couple extra inches on the side, but if I move the planter box out a bit then it takes up the extra space and leaves room for the curtains to close without hurting the plants.


Stuffing the mattress! I ended up re-stuffing it several weeks later because the method I used here was just stuffing as much straw down as I could fit and squishing it down. More on that later.


I sewed a button flap on the end. I wasn't sure how I wanted to close it until I already stuffed it. I made the flap in such a way that the buttons are hidden.


Here is my dog trying to lay on the very stuffed and lumpy mattress. The middle is higher than the sides and you just slide off. I left it like this for several weeks to see if the dogs could help me pack down all the straw.


It packed down quite a bit but was still lumpy. The straw packed into clumps instead of distributing evenly, probably because each piece of grass was super long.



A nice blanket over the top made this a cozy bed. But I still wasn't happy with the lumps.


I eventually re-stuffed the mattress by placing it horizontally on the floor and placing small handfuls of straw at a time. I paid extra mind to stuffing the edges and corners really tight and for the straw in the middle, I took smaller handfuls and kind of balled up the straw to add a little more spring. i know that it will get compressed over time, but I would rather it get compressed with the straw going in all directions instead of as clumps of horizontal straw that just turns into a mat if that makes sense.


I ended up using less straw this way than the first time I stuffed it. This is all the straw I had left over (and yes, I did this inside in the mudroom instead of outside in the snow for it to get wet).


This is much better. The dog is also not falling off because the straw is much more evenly spread. I still have more work to do in order to finish this window seat (like making a bolster pillow instead of using a punching bag) but it's getting there and I'm finally happy with the mattress! Even though it's small, we can just barely fit two adults and two dogs piled on top of this mattress.

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must post:
- a picture of your comfrey leaf, freshly harvested
- a picture of the comfrey leaf in the oil with a description of what oil and other ingredients you used
- a picture of your completed salve in its permanent, labeled container/jar

Harvesting comfrey from the avocado pot:



Drying:


Adding olive oil to the dried comfrey:



The completed (strained) oil:


Melting beeswax in with the oil. This was 1 1/4 cups of oil and 1.3 oz of beeswax.


The salve in its container:


Complete:

Minimum requirements:
 - Make an infused oil using plant material you harvested
 - Use comfrey leaf

To document completion of the BB, provide proof of the following as pictures or a video (< 2 minutes):
- Harvested plant material (either being harvested or just harvested)
- Making the infusion (plant material in oil) with a description of the oil and any other ingredients you used
- Finished (strained) infused oil in its labeled jar

Harvesting comfrey from the avocado pot:



Drying the comfrey:


Adding olive oil:



I set out to leave this in the pantry for 6 weeks, but because the 6 week mark was on Christmas and I was pre-occupied with the festivities, I forgot about it for another 6 weeks.

Straining:


The completed oil:

I have a comfrey plant growing with my indoor avocado tree. It was getting a little big so I harvested some of the leaves and hung them up to dry for later use in a salve.

Minimum requirements:
-  Harvest, dry, and store enough comfrey leaf to make a tea, infusion, or decoction.

To document completion of the BB, provide proof of the following as pics or video (< 2 min):
- a picture of the fresh herb being harvested or just harvested
- a picture of your herbs drying (hanging, in a dehydrator, in a bag, etc.)
- a picture of your herbs in a sealed and labeled container
   - label shows where the herbs came from, the date, and the method of drying

Here is the comfrey:


Harvesting:


Hanging to dry:


Putting in the container:


Labelled:

To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
- weave a belt at least 3/4" wide and long enough to be used by a real human
- add a buckle to the belt - it can be simple (two metal rings) or complex - show that the belt is the right size for the buckle
- use natural materials
- use warp-faced weaving techniques like tablet weaving, backstrap, etc.
- finish the ends

To document your completion of the BB, provide proof of the following as pictures or a video (less than two minutes):
- before showing the materials and loom setup
- weaving in process
- you finished project

Gathering materials.


Setting up the loom. I decided to experiment with the colors.


Pretty!


Starting to weave. I eventually noticed that one of the yellow strands was twisted and fixed it.


The long strap. I ended up not needing it this long.


The completed belt! I used a key ring for the buckle and I crocheted a little strap around the side to hold it in place. It is 1.25-inches wide (I can provide a picture with a measuring tape if needed).

I made my first $20 selling eggs! I'm so excited!

Minimum Requirements:
- Something you grew, harvested, or foraged
- Included preserved food stuffs like jam or sausage
- No more than 10% of the finished product (by value) can be purchased

To get certified for this BB, post the following:
- Show that you harvested, grew, or foraged the item(s)
- Show the price is at least $20
- Provide proof that it sold  

Here are my chickens and some of the eggs that I have harvested recently:



Here is my first two dozen sold for $5/dozen and the resultant $10:



Here is the second two dozen sold for another $10:

To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
 - you must install a smoke detector

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must provide:
  - a before picture of the location for the smoke detector
  - a progress picture of the installation
  - an after picture of the location for the smoke detector

The church kitchen did not have a smoke detector.

Badge bit requirements:
- Make a pair of knitted socks
- must be made from natural yarns, such as wool, cotton, hemp, silk, linen
- socks must fit the wearer's feet - not too tight or extremely loose
- socks must be knit on no larger than US size 5 needles (3.75 millimeter needles)


To document your completion of the BB, provide proof of the following as pics or video (less than two minutes):
-  your materials
-  your socks in progress
- your completed socks on feet

I accidentally ordered sock yarn with some other colors I was planning on using for a sweater, so I thought I'd take a swing at making socks. I made myself some very simple wool socks and they are nice and soft and lighter than I was expecting.

The yarn. Only one color so no fun colorwork this time. It's 100% wool.


Starting the sock at the top. I think these were US size 1 needles or something close to that. Definitely smaller than 5.


Measuring them on my feet.


Completed socks!

I loved this idea so much I implemented it! I started growing sprouts in the summer to dial in the process and amounts. We had the first day of winter last week and it was snowing. Too bad the snow has mostly melted already! Usually by winter we'll already be a month into the snow.

To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
- you must grow sprouts to feed chickens or other appropriate fowl in the Winter

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must:
- post a picture of the unsprouted seeds
- post a picture of the sprouted seeds
- post a picture of chickens or other appropriate fowl eating your sprouts in the winter

I have been sprouting hard red wheat with a little bit of black sunflower seed mixed in. Other things I tried to sprout with no success include oats, peas, and barley. After experimenting with type of grain and amounts for my flock, I settled on 2.5 cups of wheat with sunflower mixed in per tray, fed twice a day and sprouted for five days each. At first I was sprouting for eight days to get a nice tall grass and fed them to the chickens once a day, but I definitely needed more sprouts and the chickens also would eat the roots and grains first and would leave a bunch of the green stuff on the ground so I determined that five days was the minimum amount of time for the grains to get a good sprout and was also the number of shelves I have for my setup. I have 26 birds (3 of them are ducks).

Here is my unsprouted wheat. I put a 50 lb bag in the container and mix 10 cups of sunflower seed.



Here is my rack with the trays on the left being their breakfast and the trays on the right being their dinner. You'll see date labels on all the trays but I was only using those for the first month or so as I was experimenting with this setup. The trays drain into 5-gallon buckets that I fill with 2.5 cups of oat groats and split peas. I water the whole system twice a day with a gallon of water (half a gallon for each side) and the water drains into the buckets and soaks the oats and peas.



Here's what the sprouts look like after five days. Some small amount of green grass but quite a bit of roots. I also add a half a cup of supplement in the morning that I make with flax, kelp, and DE.



Here's the bucket of peas and oats. When the chickens are fed inside, I strain out the water before feeding them so I don't get the floor of the barn all wet.



This is the chickens' winter home. It's snowing!



I don't have a feeder for the sprouts - I tried putting them in a feeder but the chickens don't always eat all the sprouts and then I end up with a buildup of sprout-cicles. So I just throw them on the ground. I have found that they love the fermented peas and oats a lot more than the wheat sprouts.



Yummy sprouts. Sorry the picture is fairly dark. There is not a lot of sunlight this morning with the snow.

I have discovered that I really like carving spoons. This is my third spoon I've carved so far and each one keeps getting better. I made this for my dad for Christmas out of the stump from our Christmas tree.

To get certified for this BB, post three pictures:
- Your chunks of wood that you are starting with
- Progress about half way through, with the hand tools you have decided to use for this
- Final product (a lightweight spoon you can eat with)

Starting wood:



Partially completed:



Finished spoon:


Oiled with walnut oil: