permaculture bootcamp - learn permaculture through a little hard work

Dave Burton wrote:How many of the six spots for the 2019 boots are available?

There are 2, maybe 3, depending on things.

New questions via purple mooseage today:

Is there a spot left for winter bootcamp in 2019 and what is the deposit and cost for a 4-6 week program?

As it says at the top of our main bootcamp info page, and earlier in this thread, there are currently two spots open in the bootcamp. (Which might change soon with the number of recent inquiries.)

Also as it explains in both the main page and this thread, the cost is $100.00, for any amount of time.

The bootcamp program is next starting up February 2, 2019.

Is there a specific amount of time that is recommended to come and work?

I recommend reading through the FAQs on the main bootcamp info page, to get a bit more of a feel for what it's like here. Listening to podcasts is also highly recommended.

In my opinion, one week might be a bare minimum, just to learn what we do (as mentioned a few times, the podcasts give you a jump on this), where things are, how to use certain tools or equipment, etc. so that a boot starts to feel like they are getting the hang of things. Two weeks is better. More time is even better still.

Currently, we do not have a set schedule of what experiences might be available when. Fred does an amazing job in so many respects and provides excellent leadership for a hands-on, hardworking experience. At the same time, there are priorities that might make it so that quite a few weeks in a row in winter could be spent on primarily one task. For example that one task for a few weeks could be something like thinning the woodlands, possibly limbing or peeling logs/junk poles, with some snow plowing thrown in. In other words, it could be a bit tedious - it is called "bootcamp" after all!

Some boots like to schedule their time here to coincide with workshops. We hope to announce our main 2019 workshops soon.

I hope that helps!

Hello, i was wondering if we would be able to take Saturdays off and work Sunday through Friday only, or if we would have to do mandatory work on Saturdays?

Currently the bootcamp runs monday through friday.  

Sometimes when we have an event that runs through the weekend, the boots trade days.

I am enthusiastic and serious about this and I dont mind working extra hours. Im used to working 10 to 14 hours a day, but I do have a strict observance of the Sabbath, but I am also willing to make up with extra work if anything arises.I understand that you have a strict narrowing process, so I'm hoping that you will still be able to consider my position at your boot camp.  I really hope to go back to a more natural way of living and this seems to be a really great opportunity. Thanks for offering it.

Go ahead and send in the coin.

While you are here, you can spend the time above the 40 hours working on PEP stuff if you like.

Coin sent. Do I need you to send any information?

Christopher Lopez wrote:Coin sent. Do I need you to send any information?

I just sent you an email.  Fred or Coco will be contacting you to work out the particulars.

With two new boots I thought i was gonna update the first post .... but ....

Apaprently ... stuff ....    


As of this moment, we now have two spots open for the bootcamp!


Here's the wacky math:  A couple weeks ago we had two spots open.  And now we had two more boots.   So we have zero spots open, right?  Only it turns out that one person signed up for the bootcamp program but they didn't know about our "no pot" thing.   And while they are cool with going a week or two without pot, the idea of months without pot ...   okay, so that person is shifting gears to come in a non-boot sort of way.   And i think the other boot is rescheduling also - but for different reasons.  

So, this means that we are back to having two openings on Feb 2, 2019.  

First come, first serve!

As of this moment, we now have one spot left for the bootcamp!

A couple days ago we received coin, but there was an oddity, so I replied and thought "in ten minutes they will send a note back and I will announce that the bootcamp is full, so we are now starting a waiting list.  

But there has been no response.  

So I am posting to say that if somebody else sends in the coin, and will respond to email and get everything sorted, then they will be in ahead of the other party.  

After all - for the other folks, I don't know if they are wanting to be on a waiting list for next summer or if they are coming on february 2 or what.  

I suppose if they are wanting to be here on feb 2 then they might say "I paid when there was an opening so you have to let me in."  - and my response to that is nuh-uh.  

I am trying to make the best of a whirlwind of variables.  And if a person cannot respond to my emails in a timely fashion to get details nailed down, I have to "make the best of it."

So, if there is one more person thinking of joining the bootcamp on feb 2, you might want to send your coin today!   And if you are the party that sent coin a few days ago, and you want to start Feb 2, then you might want to respond to those emails today!

I would totally be game for getting on a waiting list if any spots become open later!

An e-mailed question:

I have work and other commitments this year. When do you start the winter boots for 2020?

It varies, and could change or be earlier than this, though it's likely that winter start date in 2020 will again be the first part of February.

By the by, if you're a boot and wondering why you haven't received a reply yet, we're trying. There will be some delayed replies this month (January).

Okay, I'm coming off a 13 hour straight shift so I am certain I might have missed something here. Just bear with me while I stumble like a drunk through this.

I can sign up to be in a Permaculture Boot Camp where I will be taught how to properly do permaculture? For just $100? In Montana? For real?

Ovid McBride wrote:Okay, I'm coming off a 13 hour straight shift so I am certain I might have missed something here. Just bear with me while I stumble like a drunk through this.

I can sign up to be in a Permaculture Boot Camp where I will be taught how to properly do permaculture? For just $100? In Montana? For real?

More like:  you will do a lot of permaculture and homesteading work.   You will be guided by fred.  Sometimes me, jocelyn or coco.  Work, work, work.  40 hours a week working on projects.  8 hours a week on "nest" stuff (cleaning, mending for the immediate group).  Outside of that, you will have access to tools and materials for projects you think are cool - although I suspect that some people will be knocking out BBs for PEP stuff.

You will be learning about my idea of permaculture in montana.  And, I suppose, a bit of fred's ideas of permaculture.  I think it is "proper", but the beauty of permaculture is that there are many schools of thought under the permaculture umbrella.  And there won't be a classroom with a teacher saying "this is how to properly do permaculture" but there will be opportunities to talk about permaculture stuff.

After a month, you will select and acre as your playspace for your spare time.  

There is one spot left.  

Hi,

I am still keeping an eye on this and weighing out my current situation. Is it possible to get an email to ask about some personal topics so I can better plan out if this will be good for me?

Thanks

Mle Power wrote:Is it possible to get an email to ask about some personal topics so I can better plan out if this will be good for me?

Did you read the FAQ that talks about that?

We just got another payment, so I suspect that the bootcamp is full now.  Once we exchange a few emails then i will know for sure and update the first post in this thread.

For those of you coming to the bootcamp to get started ....  it sounds like, as always, fred is a couple steps ahead of me.  Feb 2 is saturday.   The bootcamp runs M-F, so it would be a fair bit of sitting around on saturday and sunday.  But Fred has talked to most of the boots and it sounds like folks are gonna show up on sunday, get settled in and everything starts monday morning.

Just a reminder that the food we provide is staples.   Vegan with some eggs.  If you like lots of beef, you will want to bring your own.  Also, because of past comedy, we no longer supply coffee - so if you are a coffee drinking, you will want to supply your own.    I know that most mornings, fred leads the charge on making oatmeal.  Nearly every lunch features PB&J and dinner has a bit more variety.   Tuesday eve is taco tuesday and usually theres lots more stuff.  

Some people are like "I want beef at every meal!  And I'm not a bazillionaire, so you gotta figure it out!" (this might seem ridiculous, but we actually had something like this once)  Jocelyn has a few bounty projects that boots can do on the weekends that pay enough for your beefy needs.  Or cell phone needs.  Or maybe even both!

The last person emailed back to say that they are coming this weekend.  So that's it - the bootcamp is full.  

At this time we are doing the whole "waiting list" thing.  My guess is that some folks will arrive and will bounce after the first week.  So there will be openings.  And others will bounce after a month.  Or two.  And some will move into being ants.   So I suggest you go right ahead and gets signed up for the bootcamp now and get on the waiting list.

I want to take part in the boot camp but the earliest I would be able to get time off work would be April. When would the next boot camp open up and is there going to be one around that time? Also, should I go a head and pay for one of the future ones? Thanks.

To answer your question I would need to know the future of each of the current boots.  Will they go for ant village?  Deep roots?  Will they change their minds at some point?  

So I don't know when the next opening will be.   Pay the fee and you will be second in line on the waiting list.   When there is an opening we will see what your availability is.

We had two no-shows, so


there are currently two spots open in the bootcamp!

am i allowed to bring my hunting rifle?

We are fine with folks bringing their firearms.

Of course this assumes that any and all firearms are kept and used with the utmost safety, respect for the rest of the community, and within whatever laws apply. You are responsible for learning about and following the hunting rules in Montana.

ok thank you very much for letting me know, i dont no my way around with computers very well so its hard for me to find what i want. anyways i hope to be out there by my birthday march 14th. peace of pie

Wesley Cantwell wrote:ok thank you very much for letting me know, i dont no my way around with computers very well so its hard for me to find what i want. anyways i hope to be out there by my birthday march 14th. peace of pie

Welcome to the forums Wesley! You're welcome of course. We're looking forward to meeting you!  

how many spots are left for boots

ok im starting to understand the computer and this site more, i see the 2 spots are still open.

There are three active boot threads, each filled with dozens of pics of bootcamp life:

     Philip Huerta

     Christopher Lopez

     Robbie Bassen



Here's just a handful of the pics I harvested from those three threads at this point in time ...

Adding some final touches to the couch balcony roundwood timber framing project




Here's Philip getting some experience plowing snow with the tractor:




Cooper cabin in winter:




Getting experience harvesting wood:




working a chisel.  This is to put a roundwood rail next to the stairs going up to the couch balcony




shaping roundwood for the rail project




the rail is now rock solid:




Since it is so cold outside and there is so much snow, it is a good time to turn to indoor projects.   This mezzanine floor was built in a less than sturdy fashion.   12 foot long 2x4s on 24 inch centers were taken out and replaced with 2x6s on 16 inch centers.








The washing machine was making a terrible sound and jocelyn was getting worried.   Philip popped it open, found the problem and it is now running smooth:




Here's Chris sharpening a hatchet:




Robbie making cinnamon rolls






With so much happening in the shop, everybody is getting plenty of experience running the batch box style rocket mass heater in the shop




On a saturday, everybody completed the PEP BB for a club style mallet:

On the topic of food, first this:

Jocelyn Campbell wrote:We'll provide a lot of staples (like beans and rice, bread, flour, oats, pasta, potatoes, squash, oils, seasonings, etc.), peanut butter, veggies and fruits....that sort of food. It will be a quite frugal, however all organic (or better than organic) diet.

The cooking options will vary. Initially, during the winter, cooking and access to the Fisher Price House kitchen will probably be the most normal. Later, if a week is spent working at Allerton Abbey, it might be the propane cooktop and propane oven in the Abbey. Or, it could be using solar ovens at base camp, or the rocket oven down at the shop.

We have purchased extra pots and pans in order to have enough cookware for the boots. Bringing your own stainless steel mess kit (your own bowl/plate and utensils), and/or your own cast iron pan, might be helpful, but isn't necessary.

And here is my own take:   All boots must be thoroughly punished for the actions of all the people that have come before them.   Further, to get things to all work out, the money spent on food needs to be kept pretty light.  

We no longer provide coffee or meat.  

Breakfast tends to be fruit and oats.   Lunch tends to be PB&J.   Dinner appears to feature rice, beans, squash, spag, home baked breads, pizza, etc.  

(Fred and Jocelyn, please feel free to edit this post - I'm linking to it from the first page)

Jocelyn edited to add:
--We do provide some eggs, whole milk unsweetened yogurt, and butter.
--We provide more seeds and coconut that other nuts because organic nuts are VERY expensive.
--Packaged/processed foods are kept to a minimum here - this is weird to lots of folks. I.e., we buy dry bulk beans, so even the garbanzos, pinto beans, refried beans, etc. are cooked from scratch. We do buy whole grain "sliced bread" (it's the best thing!), tortillas, tortilla chips, store-bought jams (as a few examples of packaged foods); but if you want granola (we don't buy processed breakfast cereals), cookies, pop tarts, energy bars, canned soups, salad dressings, etc., etc., you have the option to make them from scratch with ingredients here (on your own time, outside of bootcamp time) or buy them yourself.
(Repeating again that these food items are, of course, organic or better most of the time. I so wanted to type that in every where, and had to restrain myself. )

Can foreigners join the boot Camp? As a Brit I can only stay 90 days
Peter

Peter Burn wrote:Can foreigners join the boot Camp? As a Brit I can only stay 90 days
Peter

Yup.  We've had lots of foreigners come through for a few months.  

Hello Paul!
My name is Emil from Chicagoland, I just paid the 100 bucks for the bootcamp. Should I drive over now?

Emil,

You might want to edit your post so you don't share your phone number with the all of the internet - especially robo-callers.

You might start packing up, but we need to first put you through our grinder questionnaire.  We'll try to make it quick.

im running behind, is it ok if i come to the lab in late april or the start of may? my uncle needs some help rebuilding his house, i dont know if i will help him, i really want to come out and help you guys and learn as much as i can especially with gardening cause i have lots of seeds that i want to share. I will decide what to do when you guys get back to my post thing on here . MAY THE FOREST BE WITH YOU!

Wesley,

Do what you gotta do.

I tried to check with Jocelyn.  Apparently the big list we have on everybody is a mess because of ... reasons.  And it sounds like Jocelyn will sort it out "soon".  

But it doesn't really matter what is on her list.   The bottom line is that the bootcamp is "first come, first serve".  Once full, we start a waiting list.   Currently there are about seven people that would like to come by later than today - so they are all on the waiting list and they are comfy remaining on the waiting list.  

There are two spots open today.  Once they are full and you say "here I come" I will have to say "don't come now, we're full.  We'll drop you a note when a spot opens up."

So the next question is:  once full, when will the next spot open up?  And my answer is:  there are way too many variables to be able to even place a bet.

I know that what you would like best is to have me say that we will hold this spot for you as long as you need.   But we have projects to get done, so we gotta do it this way.

Thanks for the heads up!  Let us know when you might be en route again.

alright i have a new departure date, i will be leaving april 10th. im also concerned about getting caught in a blizzard heh heh not on my list of experiences just yet. if a spot is still available or opens up that would be awesome AWESOME i hope to see you all soon. it feels good to know that there are people out in the world who have lots of ideas that are shared, thanks Akhu peace brother

paul wheaton wrote:

Peter Burn wrote:Can foreigners join the boot Camp? As a Brit I can only stay 90 days
Peter

Yup.  We've had lots of foreigners come through for a few months.  

Loads of research and I can't find a flight I can afford.  Should have checked first eh. Anyone have any ideas?  I live in the north of England.
Peter

ive had an idea about making a beehive out of a used wine or other alcohol barrel for many years, i wonder if anybody would want to try making one with me. i have a couple styles in mind. not sure if i can find a blacksmith to help make some parts for one style.

Peter, gosh, I don't have any ideas for you on the getting here from England. International flights are crazy expensive.

Wesley, we would love more beehives here, and that sounds like it could be cool. We currently do not have anyone working with our beehive here at the moment, so it would be checking with the boots when you get here.

Today, these questions came up via e-mail:

First, will there be somewhere that I can store my electric and acoustic guitar during my stay without them freezing or breaking?

We could make room for these in the library some where. The library is usually kept at a minimum of 50°F, though it is a community space that is not usually locked.

Im working with a 15 degree graded sleeping bag so I would definitely need to borrow some gear to avoid freezing. Im not even sure with the appropriate gear that camping in Montana this time of year would be doable. I’ve never camped in weather that was single digits or below zero. Any answers?

We have some camping gear available for boots, plus extra blankets and such, but we don't exactly have winter camping gear.

Currently, three boots are staying in the bunk bedroom in the Fisher Price House. We have room for one more boot in that bunk bedroom.

There is a possibility of staying in the library, on a cot or the couch. Though it's somewhat under construction due to some shelving renovations. Or, we have two cabins at base camp, though you would need to provide your own firewood for heating either of those spaces (and wood heat is the only heat for the cabins). Paul provides the firewood for the Fisher Price House and with 6 of us helping stock and stoke the fire, it's a shared workload that is more efficient in a number of ways.