Permaculture Bootcamp at Wheaton Labs

I’m Paul Wheaton and here’s a video which gives insight of the permaculture bootcamp at Wheaton Labs featuring Fred Tyler & Cliff Ponder. Fred Tyler (land manager and bootcamp coordinator for Wheaton Labs) explains what the permaculture bootcamp at Wheaton Labs is and benefits for the participants. The Bootcamp program in a nutshell: work on permaculture and homesteading projects, get a bunk and some basic food staples. You pay $100, work, and then receive tickets to our events or even an acre of land.

Participants get experience with:
- using a variety of rocket mass heaters
- harvesting wood for building, burning, hugelkultur, mulch, etc.
- building furniture and structures from roundwood
- building fences - building with cob
- earthworks, ponds, hugelkultur
- permaculture gardening
- cooking
- cooking with wood fired stuff
- wildcrafting
- solving homesteading issues
- scything

Fred points out how people come and build skills and exchange skills. Fred went through the program and now has two acres. A recent project included a lot of roundwood timber framing. In the video we see Michelle and Tuesday harvesting sunchokes with Fred.

Cliff Ponder, a bootcamp participant talks about his experiences in bootcamp learning round wood timber framing with master artisan Bear Paw and Nick Fouch. Cliff was here for a couple of months and then attended the permaculture design course and appropriate technology course for free - as a sort of work trade. Cliff talks about building paddocks with our junkpole fence style and rock jacks (above-ground fence posts used in rocky terrain).