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Gardening

Use permaculture techniques to grow delicious food. Projects include hugelkultur, chop and drop, Ruth Stout style composting, saving seeds, producing large volumes of food, polyculture, starting perennials from seed, food forest...

Natural Building

Building big things. Build experiences with several styles of natural building that work in a cold climate. Techniques: cob, plaster, straw bale, wofati, natural paint, adobe, natural roofing, waterproofing, doors and gates, dry stack foundation, make cement, cob floor, wattle and daub...

Woodland Care

Transition from using a forest to developing a symbiotic relationship with a woodland.  
Create junkpole fence, firewood, coppicing, living fence, twig construction (arbors, tomato cages, trellises, wattle fence), strip trees manually and with power tools, peeling logs, making roofing shakes, plant tree seeds, plant woodland species, grow edible mushrooms, lumber, gin pole, skiddable sheds, rock jacks, berm shed...

Round Wood Woodworking

Build everything from logs, branches, and sticks using zero glue and rarely using metal.   Nothing starts with dimensional lumber.  Power tools can be okay, but, in general, less power tools. Quite a bit of working with green (freshly harvested) wood. Small and large joinery, mixing green wood with dried wood, three log benches, spoon carving, shaving horse, sawhorse, sawbuck, furniture, shrink pot, box from a piece of firewood, pole lathe, bowl from a pole lathe, proenneke hinge, door latch...

Tool Care

Maintaining and repairing tools of all sizes.  Small tool care (sharpening/handles/etc.), power tool care (chainsaws, saws, drills, power hand tools as well as fixed power tools), large tool care (truck/tractor/etc.), appliance repair, bicycle repair, building a tool shed, optimize shop, build a materials shed, create dry places to park/charge large equipment...

Dimensional Lumber Woodworking

Includes construction, cabinetry and fine woodworking. No plywood, waferboard or particle board.  Using power tools, nails, screws are used, but hopefully less than in most construction. This badge has a strong emphasis on good joinery over more nails. Projects include: wood scorching, bird house, laying deck, shelves, wooden toolboox, stool, box, picnic table, wood bucket, skiddable lumber storage shed, porta cabin...

Earthworks

Use large equipment to make dramatic changes to the landscape.  Build roads, trails, terraces, ponds, berms, ditches, structure site prep, natural swimming pools, dry stack walls, passive garden heaters, garden ATI...

Rocket

Build and maintain wood burning contraptions that cut energy and wood use by 90%.  Build and become proficient at:  rocket mass heaters, rocket ovens, rocket cook tops, rocket water heaters, outdoor kitchens...

Food Prep and Preservation

Demonstrate cooking, boiling, baking, frying, and preparing delicious food using energy saving methods like hay box cooking or solar dehydration.  Skills include basic cooking, pot and cast iron care, preserving the harvest with canning, drying, pickling and fermenting...

Animal Care

Caring for domestic animals and providing resources and infrastructure to encourage wild animals to do the work for you.  Domestic animal care includes: chickens, pigs, cattle, rabbits, sheep, goats, dairy, bees, fish, and butchering. Wildlife care includes building homes for birds, bats, pollinators, garden-friendly insects, snakes, lizards...

Foraging

Harvest and preserve food from the wild.  Gather fresh fruits, berries, nuts, greens, teas, mushrooms, and vegetables from wild sources.  Practice fishing and hunting (with vegan alternatives) respectfully.  Care for the place we harvest from and improve it with some guerrilla gardening...

Community Living

Building a desirable community and creating community experiences for others. Skills include creating public art, cooking meals for a group, leading workshops and presentations, improving a common space, creating a community holiday, creating a LIC (labor investment collective), giving tours, creating a map, organizing community events like a swap meet...

Textiles

Mend and make clothing and other useful textiles. Skills include: mending, weaving, knitting, crochet, spinning, sewing, basketry; as well as growing fiber plants, harvesting them and creating cloth. Tasks include creating curtains, upholstered furniture, patching, darning, knitting socks, leatherwork, basketry...

Greywater and Willow Feeders

There is no “waste” in nature. Horticultural techniques for safe management of poop and pee. Using soaps and cleaners that are greywater friendly, reuse wash water in the garden.    Planting “poop beasts” like willow, poplar and cottonwood. Proper handling of  “willow candy”...  

Metalworking

Build and repair metal things. Welding, cutting, blacksmithing, casting, bending/shaping, and grinding. Large farm equipment, as well as small projects...

Plumbing and Hot Water

Pressurized, non-pressurized systems. Working with metal and plastic plumbing. Installing, replacing, or repairing pipes. Maintenance and building new systems. Stopping leaks, maintaining hoses, repair or replace drains, toilets, faucets, garden hydrant...

Electricity

Maintain and build electrical systems.  AC (alternating current) and DC (direct current). On grid and off grid. Battery maintenance, installing outlets, breaker panels, repairing and building solar systems...

Commerce

Prove that you can earn money in multiple ways, including some non-conventional ways.  Prove to Otis that you would arrive with your own income streams and would not be dependent on his savings.  Demonstrate: several income models over the internet, passive income streams, earning money through permaculture labor...

Natural Medicine

Harvesting healing herbs from a garden and the wild to establish a collection of medicines. Build knowledge of the efficacy of the plants on a particular property by recording the healing nature of each plant you harvest. Skills include identifying plants and their properties, keeping records, making teas, tinctures, oils, salves, poultices, and preserving medicinal herbs for future use...

Nest

Demonstrate to Otis that if you stay in that second house, you’ll take care of it. Cleaning, shoveling snow, laundry, simple house maintenance, and other daily, repetitive tasks that make our living space livable according to the standards of Otis...

Homesteading

Known experiences that don't fit into the other aspects...

Oddball

Unpredictable, unique and creative experiences worthy of PEP. Rather than BBs, this aspect has a point system to earn badges...