299 – Laboratory Update Part 1

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In this podcast, Paul and Jocelyn discuss the progress going on at the lab. They take a bit of time to go over the reasons why the haven’t done a podcast in a while, and the main one is the whole getting money thing. They talk about different money expenses and how this year has gone a bit differently than planned.

Paul does announce that there will be no formal workshops in 2015. They briefly discuss the excitement going around the labs due to the Rocket Mass Heater workshopcoming up.They are open to other people coordinating and facilitating a workshop at their place, that would be fine.

Moving on to what’s been going on at the lab, Paul tells us how the gappers found a massive huckleberry patch about 10 miles from the lab and have been harvesting service berries all summer. They talk about how they do have goals and plans for a permaculture kitchen garden but their priories have been building habitat.

They talk about the dump truck catastrophes and Paul mentions how they have some really good long term gappers and how helpful that is for making plans for the future.

Next,they start in and get to sharing about some of the projects going on. They have the two poopers that are fully functioning but now, for the next year they can put a lot more focus on aesthetics. They discuss how they have been focusing on how to get people to want to use the poopers outside rather than inside. There has been all sorts of optimization including how to deal with menstruation in the pooper.

They discuss the berms that got planted a little late. They are pumping out some food including lots of peas that are done. Jocelyn explains that they trucked in soil from the laboratory because the base camp is very rocky. She talks a little bit about their 12 foot high berm with a walking ledge but mentions it is super steep so hard to plant.

Paul and Jocelyn mention how they celebrated the one year anniversary of moving to the land on June 3. They talk about how far they have come since they first got here. So much has gotten done even though it seems like there is so much to be done still.

Next they talk about the sawmill improvements they have made. They have done a lot to make pumping wood out easier and consistent. Paul talks about the specific changes that have been made. In general they have been training specific people to do specific things because they will be here for a long time and so it is nice to know that the knowledge will be here for a while.

Relevant Links

Kristie’s Weekly-ish Pics
Sam’s Photos from Base Camp
State of the Lab
Winter Shelters for the Lab

You can discuss this podcast on this thread at Permies.

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