Permaculture Bootcamp

About an hour away from Missoula, MT.

Through the winter, all Boots definitely get a bunk in a heated space.  During the warmer months, most Boots get a bunk if they want one - although sometimes (rarely) all the bunks end up spoken for during an event, and the Boots make do with tents.  We found that most Boots prefer to tent it during the warmer months so they can have a private space of their own rather than sharing a bunk space.  All Boots get full access to the Fisher Price House kitchen and bathroom year round.

Some people want to stay here in an RV (or land whale) or trailer-camper or something similar.

We have had some people come and park and they don't need to connect to electricity or run a generator. That always seems to work out fine. I guess what they bring is like a huge box that has beds in it and all their stuff.

Sometimes people bring a few solar panels - that has worked out great too.

And we had somebody come and they wanted to connect to our power. And they used a LOT of power. I suppose I don't mind if they throw in some huge gob of money that is way bigger than what it will add to my electric bill. Like maybe a hundred bucks. But we aren't really set up for that right now. Maybe in a year we can have some spots to plug in that wouldn't be so dicey. So, for now, let's just say "no" to plugging in.

Next, we had some people that ran some noisy, stinky generators. Let's just say "no" to that also.

I think the best bet, at this time, is to set up on timber company land. There are lots of spots nearby and folks can run their generator as much as they like.

If people want to park here and just be a dark box, or use some solar panels, I'm fine with that.

Yes, you can start at 7:50am, but you won't get any breakfast.

Maybe you would like our Sepper program - rent a structure here and join in on Bootcamp activities whenever you feel like it.  

I guess the Bootcamp is for people that are cool with being a morning person or are feeling like they would like to have more structure in their lives.  A lot of homesteaders and farmers work 12 to 16 hours a day starting at 5am.  And they work seven days a week.   So this is already a lot easier than that.

Yes.  Take a look at the thistle program.

In a perfect world, we would have systems set up for dogs here at Wheaton Labs. We would love a  Dog Village. Alas, we are currently not set up for dogs unless you can ensure that they will be super well behaved (find out more about that here). Perhaps building a permaculture Dog Village here at Wheaton Labs is a project you would like to undertake! 

Wheaton Labs is a tobacco-free, vape-free and, drug-free campus. We don't mind folks having a little hooch from time to time, provided that they pack out the bottles or cans. And we do ask that you go very easy on the hooch - due to some past events we would like to forget.

Here's some ideas!

• dress for being outside in whatever Montana weather might bring! Layers, hats, boots are recommended.
• average temperatures in June range from 46°F to 77°F (or 8°C to 25°C) and June can be our rainiest month!
• average temperature in winter is about 20°F with occasional snow
• bring your own water bottle, travel mug, etc. to stay hydrated.
• bring your favorite gloves, safety glasses or tools as you wish - we will have limited amounts available (though be prepared for the tool monster to eat your tools.)
• bring an external battery pack if you need to charge your devices and plan to stay on the Lab property, which is off-grid.
• if you are camping on site, bring your camping gear and your own towel for our outdoor rocket-stove heated showers.
• flashlights are recommended!
• (if applicable) bring/use only biodegradable, natural soaps, sunscreens, and other toiletries (low to no scents are appreciated, too.)

Sort of.  If you are ready to come out and there are openings, then yes - that all worked out great.   But if you say "I'm ready to come out next week" and we are full, then we will say "We will let you know when a spot opens up."

Normally the bootcamp is first come, first served.  And there is a waiting list that has people that are wanting to come later (or right away).  But once the bootcamp is full of people that are actually here, then it is full.   You must wait until there is an opening, and we don't know when that will be.  When there is an opening, we will email the folks on the waiting list with the day they can join. If that day works for the person, they reply saying, "Yes, I can come!" Lots of people might reply like that.  After 48 hours, we will select one person that replied.   The criteria for selection will be mostly "who has been on the list the longest" followed closely by "who responded first."

BUT!   We understand that there are some people with a variety of schedules to sort out and would like to arrive on an exact date in the future - but they don't want to plan their life around this if there is not a spot.   So we devised a guaranteed-spot-ticket.   If you would like a guaranteed spot for some point in the future, pay $500 with this link: https://permies.com/pp/500/bootcamp-guaranteed-spot

Yup.  No problem.  And if we don't like you, we can ask you to leave too.  

Yup.  A one way ride during normal hours (8am to 9pm) on the weekend is $20 and during crazy hours is $50. No rides during the boot project time (Monday through Friday).

And if you are giving somebody a ride, Wheaton Labs subsidizes the rides for $20 each way.   So, if you give somebody a ride, you end up with $40 for normal hours and $70 during weird hours.

Yes.  Sorta.  Sometimes recycling needs to go to town or other errands in town need to be done.   If you have a valid drivers license and won't crash my stuff, then the trade is that you run the errands and you get free use of a rig.  Just fill it up in town.    And if there are no errands to be run - stuff can often times be figured out (some other sort of exchange, or somebody else with a rig can give you a ride, etc.)   In the end, it seems that we haven't had a shortage in this department in the past.

Sorta.   Usually, you'll be doing boot stuff during the workshops.   (Unless you did a trade for a workshop - in which case you are an event attendee and not a boot during the workshop)  As you do boot stuff during the workshop, a lot of what needs to be done involves the workshop.   So you kinda get to be hip deep in the event as it happens.  Kinda.  

We have had residents with their own animals in the past.  Cattle, goats, pigs, chickens, ducks, etc.   I choose to not raise animals myself until the animals can get 90% of their food from what we grow and we have a paddock shift system in place.   Otherwise, the deer and wild turkey obliterate all that we try to grow.  

As I (Paul) write this, there are bees at the Bee Hut and there are some paddocks created and some under construction.  This could be the year we have permanent animal systems started for all the boots that are passing through.

A permaculture internship would require an affiliation with a university.  Probably with the university ag school.  And nearly every ag school is on the leash of a chem-ag company.  And we don't want any part of that.  So we are proud so say that this is definitely NOT an internship.   Outside of that, I suppose there might be some similarities between this program and an internship program.  

An apprentice program is going to guide somebody toward a trade where they will eventually make a greater income because of years of experience.  While it might be possible that some boots would think of it that way and, therefore, think of this as something that smells like "a permaculture apprentice program," the end goal is more like what is described in the article "are there millions of permaculture millionaires" where the hero, Gert, has a small home with a large garden and fully realized the permaculture dream.  Not of working 40 hours a week in a trade, but in having a fully symbiotic relationship with nature.  That said, within the natural building world, there are apprentices and the bootcamp does include a huge amount of natural building.  But our mission is to guide people to building their own stuff, rather than turning it into a job.

Nearly all WWOOF stuff is seasonal.  During the warm months.  So when the fall rolls around, it is time to move on.  While people can be part of the bootcamp seasonally, we hope it will eventually fill up with people that are seeking a very long term experience - ending with an acre of land here and living here for decades.  

Most WWOOF sites are not as intent as we are with natural building.

Most WWOOF sites are not as intent as we are about permaculture gardening techniques like hugelkultur and polyculture.  

A lot of WWOOF programs are about pulling weeds.  We have a lot more natural building and developing a relationship with "weeds."

With WWOOF, you work and the host will sell the results of your work. You are a temporary worker to help bring in a crop. With the bootcamp, your effort is for creating food and shelter for yourself and future boots all in the hopes that great boots will eventually become permanent members of our community. YOU are the "crop."

So I guess the Bootcamp program would appeal to folks looking at WWOOFing.  I like to think that what we are offering is far better than any of the WWOOF offerings in many ways.  Richer experiences, the potential to stay very long term.   Some Boots get a full ride to PDCs and other workshops.  Some Boots get an acre of their own to play with.  

There's quite a few ways to get a little jingle in your pocket:

COIN-1: Several boots have harvested hundreds of dollars by posting pics and videos of theirs experiences here in the BRK program.

COIN-2: And if there is a special tool or bit of warm clothes you would like to have, the boots love program participants have proven to be quite generous.

COIN-3: When people need a ride to and from the airport a person with a rig could harvest pick-up and drop-off bounties.  (Normally $35 one way during normal hours and $55 for crazy hours)

COIN-4: When a boot is here long enough, they can harvest some coin giving tours.

COIN-5: Sometimes we have a rush and there is a need for people to help with rentals - and that pays money!

COIN-6: Some ants and Deep Roots people have paid for help with their plots - building and gardening.

COIN-7: We have a neighbor that sometimes needs some construction help and has paid for that on evenings and weekends.

COIN-8: Some residents in the past have set up Patreon accounts and made a few hundred bucks a month posting videos and pics.  

COIN-9: When you have a plot to play with, you can build a fence and some gardens and a structure.   And then you can sell those improvements to somebody else.  

COIN-10: When a Boot is here long enough, they can harvest some coin helping with events on weekends.

COIN-11: Sometimes people come in the Sepper program and would like to build experiences.  Mostly with a SKIP BB.  If you have experience with that, there can be an exchange.

COIN-12: From time to time, the bounty program could be available to people with experience that have been in the Bootcamp long enough to be self directed.  And there are currently bounties of $100 to $300 for making videos that go into Paul's youtube channel.

No.

We used to do this sort of thing and we still ended up hearing about way too many cats.  "And as long as I got you on the phone ..."   So what we do now is:

A:  ask you to please post your questions to this thread.

B:  once you have paid the Bootcamp fee, then we know you are serious.  If you really need to have a phone chat, you will be able to talk to a human.

C:  once in a long, long while, a person needs to ask a question via email instead of a forum for a very good reason.   In that case, I ask that you head to this forum and ask.

Yes, for a week or two.

Some Boots have done that.   They simply take pictures of what they are working on during project labor and then post them to get the BB in the evening.  

Further, several boots have taken advantage of their time here on evenings and weekends to knock out a lot of BBs.  

I think that with the regular Bootcamp project labor and a few evenings and weekends, a person could get PEP1 certified in 10 to 12 weeks.

We have run the math a few dozen times.  Every time we see that it would be cheaper for us to simply pay a pro to do this stuff.  But our greater missions include:

    - infect more brains with permaculture stuff

    - build community

And the biggest mission of this property: grow the future leaders of permaculture.   To do that, we need to find people that have not yet bonded to a piece of land, teach them permaculture, hope that they stick around for decades, eventually teach and expand what permaculture means.  It all starts with people that are interested in building permaculture experiences.

Have questions about Bootcamp? Ask them on this thread HERE on permies.com!