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Jesse's Ant Village Videos

Inge Leonora-den Ouden

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Craigslist seems so useful! Why isn't there such a list here in the Netherlands???

"Also, just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them" (Luke 6:31)

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Julia Winter

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Mmmmmm, when is turkey season?

Your house is looking good, it's great to see all the different homes going up, and the community building.

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Jesse Grimes

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The burying of my house continues! After getting the rest of the dirt around my house dug out to shape the insulation umbrella layer, Ben and I laid down the first the first tarps and cardboard layers. Kai came by to lend a hand and we got the tarps covered back up with the dirt I removed just a week before. Another Gapper, Scott, came for a short visit and helped me trim up all the boards I have been making with my chainsaw mill. We got them installed on the front retaining walls of the house and found that I only had enough boards for these two walls. Down the road, Josh found a new use for the excavator when he needed to remove some posts he had buried last year.

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Now accepting Gappers for the Permaculture Bike Park project.

My Ant Love wish list:

Biodegradable Bar Oil for my chainsaw. I'm gonna need a lot of this for milling lumber with my chainsaw mill.

Darn Tough Socks that come with an unconditional lifetime warrantee! I go through socks like goats through a fence, these are supposed to last a lifetime or they send you a new pair! Size 12/XL please

Jesse Grimes

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The week started out on an exciting note as Ben discovered a 10 point White Tail deer buck that had been killed by a mountain lion the previous night. After some inspection it was back to work on the house, although the rain made it impractical to lay down more tarps for the umbrella layer. Fortunately, I needed to finish the last of the retaining walls, and build a box along the roof line to hold the dirt in up there. I also found time to help out a fellow Ant, Sean, get a door installed on his nearly finished house. With my house nearly ready to bury, we had a disturbing discovery one morning when the excavator would not start. Thankfully, a diesel mechanic friend of mine was able to walk us through some troubleshooting over the phone, and we were able to get Rex up and running again.

Inge Leonora-den Ouden

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Hi Jesse. That deer's skull (with antlers) would be nice to put on the wall of your wofati-house. You could use the antlers for hanging all kind of stuff

"Also, just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them" (Luke 6:31)

Jesse Grimes

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Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:Hi Jesse. That deer's skull (with antlers) would be nice to put on the wall of your wofati-house. You could use the antlers for hanging all kind of stuff

Believe me, I've thought of it! But Ben claimed them already by going over there and chopping the head off. Right now it is hanging up in a tree letting the yellow jackets pick it clean.

I just finished everything I need to do to get a hunting licence here, so I may be fortunate enough to harvest my own buck in the future.

Jesse Grimes

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After working the Summer to get the structure of my tiny house finished and ready to handle the weight, I am finally putting the soil layer on my earth sheltered house. Earth sheltering alone helps to moderate the wide temperature swings of the Montana climate, but I am going a bit further to hopefully minimize the amount of heating I will need to do in the winter, while keeping the house cool in the summer time. I am installing an insulated thermal mass behind and under the house by using the "insulation watershed umbrella" technique described in the book "Passive Annual Solar Heating" by John Hait. Because of the guidelines requiring the use of non-toxic materials here in the Ant Village, I am experimenting with using cardboard as the insulation layer, instead of the polystyrene foam boards recommended by John Hait. This made the burying process a bit more complicated, but overall I think it will work out well. I also had some challenges finding enough dirt within reach of the excavator and the house, due to some very worn out teeth on the excavator bucket. In the end, I found out that burying an earth sheltered house requires A LOT of hand digging, even if you are using an excavator. Hopefully, all of this extra work in the beginning will result in a lot less work over time gathering and splitting firewood to heat the house.

Miles Flansburg

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Jesse, you are getting close ! Looking good.
Do you all still have a welder up there? I was wondering if you could weld some heavy pieces of scrap steel onto the bucket of REX to help dig a little better?

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Jesse Grimes

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Yeah I have a small welder, and believe me,I've thought of that. The challenge is getting power to the welder without using an hour of machine time to get Rex over to the solar leviathan. He moves quite slow.

Hans Quistorff

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The challenge is getting power to the welder without using an hour of machine time to get Rex over to the solar leviathan.

I think you could set the bucket in the back of the pickup and disconnect it to take it to be welded.

Hans Albert Quistorff, LMT projects on permies Hans Massage Qberry Farm magnet therapy gmail hquistorff

Gary Huntress

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Incredible job, Jesse! You da man! I was wondering if you could re-explain your earth tube design. I didn't quite get the whole concept of how it's supposed to work.

Hans Quistorff

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Until Jesse gets a chance to reply this is what I understand and have been thinking about to use in a passively heated greenhouse. During the day even in the winter the sun coming in the windows can heat the space above comfort level and at night the cooled air cn pool on the floor.
By contact with the soil on the roof and the berm on the north side the air tube open at the peak of the ceiling cools the air which causes it to fall down and out the end of the tube. At the same time the air in the tube open at the floor level is warmed by the soil and rises to replace the air being drawn out by the upper tube but is still much cooler than the exiting air which in turn is warming the soil it is in contact with.
At night the process reveres.the cold air pooling on the floor is able to continue to fall down the tube open at the floor level drawing air in from the upper tube which is warmed by the soil that has cooled the hot exiting air during the day.
The theoretical result is fresh air with a moderation of temperature from the extremes outside and possibly banking heat in the berm for the winter during the summer

Hans Albert Quistorff, LMT projects on permies Hans Massage Qberry Farm magnet therapy gmail hquistorff

Gary Huntress

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Thanks, Hans. That was a very clear and succinct description. I think I'm starting to get a grasp on this design. So, are the outer ends of the tubes left open all the time?

Jesse Grimes

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Gary Huntress wrote:Incredible job, Jesse! You da man! I was wondering if you could re-explain your earth tube design. I didn't quite get the whole concept of how it's supposed to work.

Hans gave a pretty good description of what is happening. Basically the house and the tubes together create a convection current that pulls air into the house through the intake tube and out through the exhaust tube. So in the summertime, hot outside air gets drawn through the mass, which will pull heat out of the air and cool it down. By the time the air enters the house it should be nice and cool, close to the temperature of the mass which has cooled over the winter.

This would also work with just one tube, the intake, if I opened the window up high in the house to let warmer air escape. However, with the second tube, the exhaust, up high near those windows, the warmer air will instead be pushed into that tube, where it will start to cool back down towards the temp of the mass while sinking down the downhill run of the pipe, further powering the convection current. This exhaust tube will also help to transfer more heat into the mass over the summer, so that when the cold weather comes the mass has more heat stored inside it.

Now that it is cold outside, that cold air will be drawn into the intake tube and through the mass, picking up heat along the way. So by the time the air gets to the house it is close to the temp of the mass, aka much warmer than outside. This warm air will continue to heat up slightly while in the house because of the south facing windows, or because I'm running a wood stove if its not quite warm enough. This will continue to power the convection current and push air into the exhaust tube.

Now this is where the heat exchange part of the earth tube set up comes into play. The first part of the intake tube runs right next to the last part of the exhaust tube, and the air inside the tubes is running in opposite directions. So that nice warm air from inside the house which is escaping via the exhaust tube will enter the heat exchanger and run right next to the cold air coming up the intake tube, by the time the exhaust air reaches the end of the line it will have conducted most of its heat into the cool air coming up the intake. This means that the heat that was going to escape along with the exhaust air is now being pumped back into the house via the intake air.

This will also happen in the summer time, but with the "coolth" inside the exhaust air being transferred to the intake air.

Of course this is all just an experiment, and this is only how I think it will work. I'm excited to see how it actually works. For a much better explanation with fancy pictures and diagrams, you can read Passive Annual Solar Heating by John Hait, which I based the whole thermal mass/insulation umbrella/earth tube design off of.

Gary Huntress

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Thank you very much, Jesse (and Hans), for taking the time to provide me with a thorough explanation. I was familiar with the use of earth tubes but only for cooling purposes during the hotter months. Sounds like a great design and it'll be interesting to see how it works out. Thanks again.

Jesse Grimes

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Once I finished the huge project of getting my earth integrated house buried, I was ready to take a break from working on my Ant Village plot and head back out to California to see my family and friends. But first, there was a few things that needed to be done before I would be ready to leave. A rainstorm was on the way, which pushed me towards getting the underground tarp layer of my insulation/watershed umbrella completely sealed up and ready to withstand the winter rain and snow. This included installing some window sills made from some of the pine slabs I had milled up with my chainsaw mill. Also, since I had the excavator on my plot already, I decided to go ahead and start building some bike jumps, starting the permaculture bike park aspect of my design, which I am really excited for. To do this I had to move an unfinished skidable structure that was in the way, as well as cut down all the conifer trees that were in the path of the jumps, turning them into hugelkuture beds that will grow food in the future.

Jesse Grimes

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With the house buried and closed up for winter, I was able to take advantage of having the excavator on my plot to do some major earthworks that I have been planning for a while. I very roughly shaped in a couple of jump lines for the future permaculture bike park, keeping in mind the water collection aspects of these features and how they will interact with the growing areas and hugelkulture berms I build up at the same time. Again, the toothless excavator bucket made it difficult to dig as I had planned too, so finishing these jump lines will take a considerable amount of hand digging, much like I have done in the past with my friends at our local bike jumps in Orange County, CA. Hopefully I can get a good crew of volunteers next summer to help build out the bike park portion of my project. Once the jumps were piled, all that was left to do was create a dry storage space for the winter, as my large tarp has become full of leaks after being out in the sun for so long. I decided to finish the skidable platform I started last year by installing a shed roof made primarily of recycled pallets. On top of the pallets I installed what we have been calling a mulch roof here in the Ant Village. It is a quick and simple roof that involves a tarp layer over the roof structure for waterproofing, covered with enough mulch (mostly Douglas Fir boughs) to keep the sunlight from reaching the tarp and degrading it. This roof also serves the purpose of making the structure visually blend in more with the forest.

Jesse Grimes

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This isn't an Ant Village video, but I felt like I should share it here as what I'm talking about fits in well with what Wheaton labs and all of us in the Ant Village are working to promote in the greater world. To paraphrase Paul, we can't just spend all our time getting angry at bad guys, we need to learn how to do good things in our own lives. I feel like there is value in balancing the two.

Skip LaCroix

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I want to give a huge applause to your video about Standing Rock and the many ways that you so graciously listed to actually do something realistic to work towards a better future for ourselves and our progeny. I have seen dozens if not hundreds of videos and postings about Standing Rock and most, if not all, have been just more of the same old being angry at the bad guys with no ideas or suggestions for how to actually create a positive change moving forward. I wish I had a million friends on Facebook to shove it in all of their faces and lead them towards the light. Thanks again and please keep up the fight and the good work that you do.

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Jesse Grimes

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Thank you Skip. One of the things that inspires me most about permaculture is the fact that is a solutions based method/practice/movement. I think most people are reasonable aware of the problems in the world, but they just tune them out after a while be a use they don't know what to do about them. Standing rock is bringing an incredible amount of people around to the awareness that something must be done to end the oil economy, what is really exciting is the opportunity it has created to expose a huge audience to the solutions that permaculture offers. There will be more to come in this space soon.

Jesse Grimes

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Here is an update on the lawn to water harvesting garden that Ben and I built last summer in Redmond, Oregon.

Jesse Grimes

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I ended up coming back to the Ant Village earlier than expected, as I was heading out to support the water protectors as Standing Rock in North Dakota. A few of us from the village worked together to build a rocket mass heater and bring it out to the camps to install in one of their winter structures and help keep the people warm while using far less firewood. I set up a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for the materials and a trailer to bring it all out there. Here is the link: https://www.gofundme.com/rocket-mass-heater-at-standing-rock

While I was in the village, I thought I would film a tour of the houses that everyone has been working so hard on, as I know that there are lots of people following the Ant Village that are itching to see the progress.

Julia Winter

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Thanks SO much for this video. It's great to see all the amazing houses the village has created since I was on the land a little over a year ago.

This one did it - now I'm a Patron!

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Kerry Rodgers

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Thanks alot, Jesse! I guess this is the video we've all been waiting for. Congrats to all the ants on their accomplishments, so far.

Jesse Grimes

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Thank you Julia!

Thank you too Kerry. I was pretty excited to see everyone's places too. They changed so much in the month I was away.

Robbie Asay

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Jesse Grimes wrote:I ended up coming back to the Ant Village earlier than expected, as I was heading out to support the water protectors as Standing Rock in North Dakota. A few of us from the village worked together to build a rocket mass heater and bring it out to the camps to install in one of their winter structures and help keep the people warm while using far less firewood. I set up a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for the materials and a trailer to bring it all out there. Here is the link: https://www.gofundme.com/rocket-mass-heater-at-standing-rock

Jesse do you have a contact person at Standing Rock? Someone else was asking about taking an RMH there so maybe you could coordinate with them as far as getting one out there: https://permies.com/t/58940/Standing-Rock-stoves-winter-advise#514499

I've sent of a message to a friend there to see who I could refer people to. Most of his family lives in Standing Rock and he is at the protest site. An Elder requested a woodstove and I'm unsure if this is a permanent encampment(at least as far as this protest goes) where the RMH could be moved or taken apart and set up again elsewhere later.

Jesse Grimes

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In mid November, a few of us from the Ant Village traveled to Standing Rock, North Dakota, to help support the water protectors demonstrating against the Dakota Access Pipe Line. Our general goal was to help with winterization efforts at the camps, but specifically we planned to build a rocket mass heater. Rocket mass heaters are a perfect solution for the problems of a great need for heating, limited firewood, and the low air quality due to numerous conventional wood stoves and open fires spread around the camps. Also, we hoped it would present a big opportunity to tell, and show, many people about how rocket mass heaters work, and can serve as an alternative to heating our homes with fossil fuels, as we recognize that the best long term solution for stopping the oil pipe lines is to drastically reduce our own consumption of fossil fuels. We packed up my truck with winter camping gear and rented a small trailer to carry the rocket mass heater supplies, then we set out towards North Dakota for what would turn out to be an incredible journey and experience. This is part 1 of that journey.

While we were helping out with the winterization efforts at Standing Rock, Evan put on a demontsration of how you can build a simple but effective rocket cook stove out of nothing more than some used soup cans, some mud, and a bit of inexpensive perlite insulation. Tin snips, pliers, and a nail for poking holes are the only tools required. These little stoves are great for cooking or boiling water, and use a surprisingly small amount of wood for a large amount of heat. Just one more example of how simple do it yourself technology can help move us away from dependence on fossil fuels.

Jerry Sledge

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Jesse

You may want to send some of your contacts this information. Mike Adams the Health Ranger is offering to test the water for contaminates for all Native American tribes.
http://www.naturalnews.com/2016-12-13-health-ranger-science-warrior-pocahontas-native-american-waters-pollution-heavy-metals-fracking-lab-science.html

If this is the wrong place or if it is inappropriate, please re-post or delete.

Thanks
Jerry Sledge

Jesse Grimes

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Jerry Sledge wrote:Jesse

You may want to send some of your contacts this information. Mike Adams the Health Ranger is offering to test the water for contaminates for all Native American tribes.
http://www.naturalnews.com/2016-12-13-health-ranger-science-warrior-pocahontas-native-american-waters-pollution-heavy-metals-fracking-lab-science.html

If this is the wrong place or if it is inappropriate, please re-post or delete.

Thanks
Jerry Sledge

There was someone who came to Standing Rock and taught classes on how the tribes could test their own water, since the States refuse to share their testing results with the tribes. I imagine the Health Ranger has already contacted the Standing Rock tribe, but I think they would be the ones to share this info with.

Jesse Grimes

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Julia Winter

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I need more! What happened next??? Did you finish the pebble style RMH? Did the cob RMH work? Did you all have to move??

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Jesse Grimes

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Julia Winter wrote:I need more! What happened next??? Did you finish the pebble style RMH? Did the cob RMH work? Did you all have to move??

Sorry Julia. Ive been waiting on an update and some pictures to finish off the last video, but i think my friends out there are having challenges getting them to me. Im just going to put out what i have in the next two days. But yes, it was finished and is being used as far as i know.

Julia Winter

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No worries. I know how it goes. Just looking forward to the rest of the story, whenever it shows up!

They were lucky to have you there to help finish up the cob RMH!

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Skip LaCroix

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Location: Reeds Spring, MO z 6-7 prev South Florida, z 10a-10b 1989-2015 prev 1981-1989 North Vermont

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I read an article stating that protesters were facing drastic anti technology measures attempting to inhibit news and social media postings. Everything from direct account hacking, fake WiFi spots for transmission intercepts, to fake cell towers blocking phone transmissions. Hope they are still ok out there because I haven't seen much on Facebook since reading that article.

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Jesse Grimes

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I'v been holding off on releasing this video in hopes that I could obtain some pictures or video of the heater in action at Oceti camp, from my friends still at the camps. This proved to be challenging due to the weather and other conditions, but I was able to provide a verbal update at the end of this video, and the heater is now in operation and keeping people warm.

Jesse Grimes

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In Early December, a friend and I stopped by the Be The Change project in Reno, Nevada. We take a short tour through this excellent urban/suburban permaculture demonstration site and home.

Jesse Grimes

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Here's a video about what has happened to the backyard where I had one of my most successful gardens three years ago. Besides three of the beds being turned into one large raised bed, nothing has been done with the backyard in that time, nothing has been planted, and there has been no irrigation. Still, some of the things we planted and let go to seed are still to be found in the back yard, along with several yummy weeds!

Growing your own fresh greens doesn't have to take a lot of work and care, as long as you are willing to widen your perception of what your garden should look like, and what you put on your plate. Many of the "weeds" you will likely find growing all on their own in your back yard are completely edible, nutritious, and delicious. In this video I give a short tour of the edible greens available in a southern California back yard, growing all on their own despite the fact that there has been no work done to the garden in over three years. By introducing some cultivated varieties and letting them go to seed, you can have your favorite greens popping up all over your yard every year without ever having to plant again. By planting perennial vegetables and herbs, you can harvest every year with very little work, just by letting Nature do what she does best.

Jesse Grimes

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In preparation for my upcoming permaculture design project near Phoenix, Arizona, I visited my friend Diane to learn about how she manages to grow a nice vegetable garden in Phoenix, despite the challenging climate and conditions. In addition to the veggie garden, Diane and her husband have created a beautiful oasis in their backyard with many desert appropriate trees, shrubs, and cacti. This environment attracts a great number of local wildlife, including many small birds, and has even become a favorite hunting ground for several birds of prey.

Jesse Grimes

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Hello everyone. There has been a lot going on in my life since I was last on my plot in the Ant Village. I had quite an experience out at Standing Rock, which led me to the conclusion that there is a great need for people to do big work in their own communities if we are going to steer our culture in a more positive direction. As you know, I am quite passionate about sharing knowledge of permaculture with as many people as I can, and have been working to build my own permaculture design business in order to start building real world demonstrations of permaculture out in the public eye. I've come to realize that in order for me to do the kind of big work I want to do, the kind of broadscale, highly visible permaculture designed landscapes and ecological restoration I feel is so vitally important at this time, I need to get more serious about my own permaculture education and self development. Therefore, I have enrolled in the Ecological Landscaper Immersion, offered by the Permaculture Skills Center in California. This is a very in depth professional training program that is designed to give students a solid comprehension of permaculture design and the landscape contracting business, as well as training in ethical business practices and social permaculture so the students' businesses can have a positive impact on the people and communities around them. Eric Ohlsen, the founder of the Permaculture Skills Center and the ELI, has a similar viewpoint as Paul on moving permaculture forward, in that we need to start taking some of the money that is currently being spent on ecologically destructive practices and companies, and funnel it towards permaculture based businesses that will allow people to make a good living while also having a positive impact on the environment. I was actually signed up for this program 2 years ago, before it was canceled due to low enrollment. So I took the $800 deposit that was returned to me and put that down for a spot in the Ant Village, recognizing that it was important for me to do something big involving permaculture at that time. Now that I have had the experience of being in charge of the large undertaking that is designing and developing my Ant Village plot, it is even more clear to me that I need to build the skills necessary to take on large projects efficiently and professionally. I am very excited to be taking these steps at this time.

The ELI program, although certainly a bargain considering the scope and quality of instruction, is quite expensive. So I have set up a GoFundMe campaign to help raise funds for my tuition. You can see the campaign and watch a video message I have recorded about it here: https://www.gofundme.com/sendjessetotheeli

I have also been producing videos and doing projects this winter as I have been away from Wheaton Labs, although I don't post them here because they don't really involve Wheaton Labs or the Ant Village. Right now I am working on a permaculture design and installation for my cousin in Chandler, Arizona. Its a completely different climate down here in the Desert Southwest, but the principles of permaculture still apply, shaped by the context of the environment and people involved. Here's the first video in the series about this project. You can find the rest on my Youtube channel, OneHeartFire.

Any sufficiently advanced technology will be used as a cat toy. And this tiny ad contains a very small cat:

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