The Barracks | Home of the Collpase Laboratory

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The COLLAPSE LABORATORY

Examining a post-collapse life and
the rebuilding effort afterwards

for future humans

details and tickets

01

Year Seven - Community and Events

Amazing to think that we are just one winter away from Year 7

We are planning more events than ever before.

Look here for the full run down

Visiting

We don’t do unskilled short term work exchanges.

But if you want to visit, we are very flexible with what you contribute vs what you get.

Please read the page on visiting and drop us a line introducing yourself.

visiting the barracks

02

Screenshot 2023-08-11 at 11.55.25.png

Scrapbook

A collection of newspaper cuttings and youtube links from those times when we were newsworthy

03

Flora & Fauna

Slowly but surely, I'm working on documenting the biodiversity of the Barracks.

From native visitor birds to introduced trees, I'm building collections of things I find here.

04

05

Get In Touch

There are many ways to stay in touch...

Head on over to the forum, or send a message here.

What would you like to see? What do you want more of? Do you want to come and stay?

Start with the Barracks FAQ

Upcoming Events

Read all about it in the latest chapter of the Book of the Barracks.
Link in bio and in story

Read all about it in the latest chapter of the Book of the Barracks.
Link in bio and in story

I went for a wander. The lake looks lovely. When I came back up towards the piggies, To y and I had a bit of a chat. Then he wandered off for a nap. Quite right.

I went for a wander. The lake looks lovely. When I came back up towards the piggies, To y and I had a bit of a chat. Then he wandered off for a nap. Quite right.

I have cleared the woodshop, tidied up and chopped all the firewood, and am finally ready to start the round wood frame. I am discovering the techniques, learning the tools, and hopefully on the long slow path to getting better.
I estimate that I need to form an average of one component per week. I'm starting with the easiest ones!
And if it all works out, I might have a finished tomato house in time for next year's tomatoes.

I have cleared the woodshop, tidied up and chopped all the firewood, and am finally ready to start the round wood frame. I am discovering the techniques, learning the tools, and hopefully on the long slow path to getting better.
I estimate that I need to form an average of one component per week. I'm starting with the easiest ones!
And if it all works out, I might have a finished tomato house in time for next year's tomatoes.

Every year, @sachsen__forst publishes a summary of the condition of the state forests. Every year, they talk about how tough it is out there, about how 60% of the pine trees are in a weakened state, how they are struggling with climate change and bark beetle and how the percentage of damaged trees increases every year. Oak and beech and all conifers.
And then they come in with their machines which destroy the ground to such an extent, it won't recover until after the next ice age, for millions in profit.
But they keep the hunters' seats nice and new.
@saechsische.de @saxonytourism #visitsaxony

Every year, @sachsen__forst publishes a summary of the condition of the state forests. Every year, they talk about how tough it is out there, about how 60% of the pine trees are in a weakened state, how they are struggling with climate change and bark beetle and how the percentage of damaged trees increases every year. Oak and beech and all conifers.
And then they come in with their machines which destroy the ground to such an extent, it won't recover until after the next ice age, for millions in profit.
But they keep the hunters' seats nice and new.
@saechsische.de @saxonytourism #visitsaxony

It tried very hard to snow last night, but settled on a hard frost instead. Which is fine, December is allowed to be a bit wintry.
On the first picture, you can see a hearty supply of cabbage (savoy and winter) and kale. Scroll to the second photo, and the last of the carrots will be coming out as soon as I can get to them.
We have potatoes and beans in plentiful supply as well, so no humans are going to starve this winter.
I am down to the last week of pig food, though, and at the moment, I'm not completely sure how I feed them after that.

It tried very hard to snow last night, but settled on a hard frost instead. Which is fine, December is allowed to be a bit wintry.
On the first picture, you can see a hearty supply of cabbage (savoy and winter) and kale. Scroll to the second photo, and the last of the carrots will be coming out as soon as I can get to them.
We have potatoes and beans in plentiful supply as well, so no humans are going to starve this winter.
I am down to the last week of pig food, though, and at the moment, I'm not completely sure how I feed them after that.

I should post more. I know. Mostly, when I do post, it's because there is a story to tell, but I am also very forgetful. I always forget to have my phone with me.
There is no story to go along with this, it's just pure pretty. And I wasn't sure if everyone knows what asparagus ferns look like. So there you go. Edumakashunal as well.

And there is a story. I just remembered. I did a blog post about the events for 2025. Much will change, but go take a look. The Collapse Lab is definitely set, and early bird tickets are available.

https://www.thebarracks.de/post/year-7-community-events

Link in bio, and probably in stories as well!

I should post more. I know. Mostly, when I do post, it's because there is a story to tell, but I am also very forgetful. I always forget to have my phone with me.
There is no story to go along with this, it's just pure pretty. And I wasn't sure if everyone knows what asparagus ferns look like. So there you go. Edumakashunal as well.

And there is a story. I just remembered. I did a blog post about the events for 2025. Much will change, but go take a look. The Collapse Lab is definitely set, and early bird tickets are available.

https://www.thebarracks.de/post/year-7-community-events

Link in bio, and probably in stories as well!

What a wonderful weekend!
The first retreat at the barracks in full collaboration with another group, @berlinwritenow was not just a huge success, it felt like a building block for the future.
Thank you to all who came, and thank you to @secilhoneywill for all her work in organising and facilitating a wonderful group or writers from Berlin!

What a wonderful weekend!
The first retreat at the barracks in full collaboration with another group, @berlinwritenow was not just a huge success, it felt like a building block for the future.
Thank you to all who came, and thank you to @secilhoneywill for all her work in organising and facilitating a wonderful group or writers from Berlin!

The Collapse Laboratory.
Two answer two impossible questions,

The Collapse Laboratory.
Two answer two impossible questions,

This year, we have 6 rows of maincrops potatoes to earth up. I got three and a half done before it got too hot to carry on. I'll do the rest, starting a bit earlier tomorrow. The six rows of second earlies get a much lighter treatment, but these ones get a good foot of earth piled up. Hopefully, it'll translate to about 30 kilos per row

This year, we have 6 rows of maincrops potatoes to earth up. I got three and a half done before it got too hot to carry on. I'll do the rest, starting a bit earlier tomorrow. The six rows of second earlies get a much lighter treatment, but these ones get a good foot of earth piled up. Hopefully, it'll translate to about 30 kilos per row

It took half an hour to cut the notches in a bunch of 2m roundwood sticks, and 11 minutes to assemble our first full size DaVinci Bridge. It's held together with gravity and building it gives you a real sense of how dang clever old Leo was.
It's the actually practical and easy to make totally versatile solution for wooden bridges, but also you can, and we will, build a bunch of them and use them for storing tools, hammocking around, as a potting shed, a tree nursery and a climbing frame.

It took half an hour to cut the notches in a bunch of 2m roundwood sticks, and 11 minutes to assemble our first full size DaVinci Bridge. It's held together with gravity and building it gives you a real sense of how dang clever old Leo was.
It's the actually practical and easy to make totally versatile solution for wooden bridges, but also you can, and we will, build a bunch of them and use them for storing tools, hammocking around, as a potting shed, a tree nursery and a climbing frame.

Time to take them offers over to their summer retreat. They've not had grass under their feet for half a year now.
Happy pigs.

Time to take them offers over to their summer retreat. They've not had grass under their feet for half a year now.
Happy pigs.

Twelve happy bibliophiles gathered at the barracks for our first ever reading retreat, where we let nothing interrupt our love of a good read.
We had guided forest walks, illuminating discussions, excellent food and we hung around in the sunshine. It was lovely, and thank you to all who came and made it so special!

Twelve happy bibliophiles gathered at the barracks for our first ever reading retreat, where we let nothing interrupt our love of a good read.
We had guided forest walks, illuminating discussions, excellent food and we hung around in the sunshine. It was lovely, and thank you to all who came and made it so special!

The pea fences I made five years ago have finally been upgraded with new stakes. Probably made from black alder, Alnus glutionsa. I planted a couple of dozen of them down by the lake, also five years ago, and now there are millions of them, up to five or six meters tall.
In the world of peas, we are growing five different varieties, and I'm not in front of my planting plan at the mo, so I've no idea what they all are except for Keveldon wonder which if you're not growing, how are you even growing peas? That would be like having a dozen sorts of tomato, but no Gardeners Delight. Inconceivable!
If I remember, and if it seems interesting on Monday, I'll make sure I put the list in the newsletter!

The pea fences I made five years ago have finally been upgraded with new stakes. Probably made from black alder, Alnus glutionsa. I planted a couple of dozen of them down by the lake, also five years ago, and now there are millions of them, up to five or six meters tall.
In the world of peas, we are growing five different varieties, and I'm not in front of my planting plan at the mo, so I've no idea what they all are except for Keveldon wonder which if you're not growing, how are you even growing peas? That would be like having a dozen sorts of tomato, but no Gardeners Delight. Inconceivable!
If I remember, and if it seems interesting on Monday, I'll make sure I put the list in the newsletter!

Top left, peas and beans. One row of peas already in, second row towards the end of the week. I'm going to start on the bean gate tomorrow.
Top right, wheat and pumpkins. The grassy stuff is wheat, sown autumn last year. The spaces are for some pumpkins.
Continuing round:
Potatoes. All the earlies and super earlies went in last week. Today, I dug the first three rows of main crops. Five more to come.
Roots. If you squint, you can find the garlic and onions. They're doing ok. Also, some parsnips and leeks from last year, transplanted for seed production this year.
Salsa bed and fun stuff. Something for May
Greens. To be filled with lettuces and brassica and all that. I didn't deliberately carve a B out of it. I was going to chop it, but decided to do the salsa beds instead.
And at the front, the start of the foundations of the tomato house

Top left, peas and beans. One row of peas already in, second row towards the end of the week. I'm going to start on the bean gate tomorrow.
Top right, wheat and pumpkins. The grassy stuff is wheat, sown autumn last year. The spaces are for some pumpkins.
Continuing round:
Potatoes. All the earlies and super earlies went in last week. Today, I dug the first three rows of main crops. Five more to come.
Roots. If you squint, you can find the garlic and onions. They're doing ok. Also, some parsnips and leeks from last year, transplanted for seed production this year.
Salsa bed and fun stuff. Something for May
Greens. To be filled with lettuces and brassica and all that. I didn't deliberately carve a B out of it. I was going to chop it, but decided to do the salsa beds instead.
And at the front, the start of the foundations of the tomato house

Cleaning up the polytunnel in April already is a clear sign that we are building up for a great 2024. Getting the first lettuces in makes me happy as well. I do eat a lot of lettuce!

Cleaning up the polytunnel in April already is a clear sign that we are building up for a great 2024. Getting the first lettuces in makes me happy as well. I do eat a lot of lettuce!

Yesterday, the orchard started to glow with blossom, I moved the tomato seedlings to the polytunnel, planted some more potatoes, and got a super early row of peas in.
And so, last night, we had a frost. Just a very mild one, and it really would be crazy to think there's no winter coming back again, but it would have been very bad luck to have had it last night.
Everything seems to be doing ok, and we should still be in for a whole barrel full of apples, pears, peaches and plums!

Yesterday, the orchard started to glow with blossom, I moved the tomato seedlings to the polytunnel, planted some more potatoes, and got a super early row of peas in.
And so, last night, we had a frost. Just a very mild one, and it really would be crazy to think there's no winter coming back again, but it would have been very bad luck to have had it last night.
Everything seems to be doing ok, and we should still be in for a whole barrel full of apples, pears, peaches and plums!

Progress towards the tomato house continues; slowly. The plan is still to make the frame out of roundwood, and do it using only handtools. And so I am trying to teach myself a wholly new bunch of skills.
First up - tools. We need, amongst others a mallet, a chisel, a carving axe, a mortising axe, and a Swedish draw knife.
In the photos:
1: I didn’t have a mallet, so I made one. It is as good as it needs to be, and as rough as it came out. It will almost certainly break eventually, at which point, I will fashion one out of a single piece of hardwood. This pine version is my first attempt, and I’m pretty pleased with it. Including the overly decorative handle. A straight one would have been fine!
2 and 3: I was gifted a pile of dirty, broken, and mostly rubbish tools over a year ago. Amongst them was a mortising axe of some age. I’ve given it a bit of a restoration job on it. The head looks pretty good, and is nice and sharp now. The handle, I sanded all the way to 240 grit and it’s now so smooth it slips out of my hands when I am using it if I am not careful. I shall try to be careful.
4. Practising.
5. The dark one in the middle is a Swedish draw knife. This is mostly used for turning trees into wood shavings!

Progress towards the tomato house continues; slowly. The plan is still to make the frame out of roundwood, and do it using only handtools. And so I am trying to teach myself a wholly new bunch of skills.
First up - tools. We need, amongst others a mallet, a chisel, a carving axe, a mortising axe, and a Swedish draw knife.
In the photos:
1: I didn’t have a mallet, so I made one. It is as good as it needs to be, and as rough as it came out. It will almost certainly break eventually, at which point, I will fashion one out of a single piece of hardwood. This pine version is my first attempt, and I’m pretty pleased with it. Including the overly decorative handle. A straight one would have been fine!
2 and 3: I was gifted a pile of dirty, broken, and mostly rubbish tools over a year ago. Amongst them was a mortising axe of some age. I’ve given it a bit of a restoration job on it. The head looks pretty good, and is nice and sharp now. The handle, I sanded all the way to 240 grit and it’s now so smooth it slips out of my hands when I am using it if I am not careful. I shall try to be careful.
4. Practising.
5. The dark one in the middle is a Swedish draw knife. This is mostly used for turning trees into wood shavings!

Spring, outside work and the welcome addition of guests to the barracks have all started early this year
Arash came to chop wood, and chop wood he did! Paul & J are, as we speak, creating a beautiful, architectural concrete plinth just off the potager.
The barracks librarian, Andrea, in a change from the Dewey decimal system, spent an afternoon shovelling horse shit, and Michaela and Heini interviewed the pirate

Spring, outside work and the welcome addition of guests to the barracks have all started early this year
Arash came to chop wood, and chop wood he did! Paul & J are, as we speak, creating a beautiful, architectural concrete plinth just off the potager.
The barracks librarian, Andrea, in a change from the Dewey decimal system, spent an afternoon shovelling horse shit, and Michaela and Heini interviewed the pirate

Tomorrow, the long awaited 2024 in review paid sub only newsletter comes out. Except it turned into a different beast, but I hope you like it all the same
In other news, I'm going to start posting more here again. Pigs, plants and people coming soon

Tomorrow, the long awaited 2024 in review paid sub only newsletter comes out. Except it turned into a different beast, but I hope you like it all the same
In other news, I'm going to start posting more here again. Pigs, plants and people coming soon

I was moderately sure they were old enough and smart enough to not spend all winter escaping.
They don't actually like escaping, they get cold and lost, and can't find their way home. So I round them up and run home with them.
The fence this year looked properly secure, but when it snows 20cm in one night, even the thinnest of wires buckles enough for them to test it out.
Pigs are the only real expense of the barracks, the reason I can't leave, and, when they escape, the only stressful thing here.
If they make a habit of getting out like they did last year, I may reconsider my veganism.
#kidding #obviously #pigsofinstagram

I was moderately sure they were old enough and smart enough to not spend all winter escaping.
They don't actually like escaping, they get cold and lost, and can't find their way home. So I round them up and run home with them.
The fence this year looked properly secure, but when it snows 20cm in one night, even the thinnest of wires buckles enough for them to test it out.
Pigs are the only real expense of the barracks, the reason I can't leave, and, when they escape, the only stressful thing here.
If they make a habit of getting out like they did last year, I may reconsider my veganism.
#kidding #obviously #pigsofinstagram

Great tragedies of adult life
You don't have enough time to read like you did when you were young
If you do still read, your friends mostly don't and you don't have anyone to really talk books with any more
No-one reads you bedtime stories at night or ghost tales around the bonfire

We will be fixing all of these at the barracks next year.

(Did you know, I used to be a professional story teller? It's true!)

Great tragedies of adult life
You don't have enough time to read like you did when you were young
If you do still read, your friends mostly don't and you don't have anyone to really talk books with any more
No-one reads you bedtime stories at night or ghost tales around the bonfire

We will be fixing all of these at the barracks next year.

(Did you know, I used to be a professional story teller? It's true!)

Details in tomorrow's newsletter.

thebarracks.substack.com

Details in tomorrow's newsletter.

thebarracks.substack.com

Very few people eat peas at the barracks. There isn’t any prohibition on others consuming the green bullets of delight, but almost nobody comes here in the late spring.
I eat peas from the vine in handfuls, and then, when the beans start to produce, I stop and eat beans instead. The peas then are free to grow as many as they like, which I leave on the plant until the plant has withered and died and the beans can be harvested pre-dried. I do the exact same thing with beans.
Mostly, I’m not particularly bothered about how many peas there are in the stores - as long as there are enough to seed with next year, we’re all good. Last year, I only had enough for seeds. This year, I have seeds plus a kilo of dried. Which is a good thing and the pea fences can be put away for another year.
The first picture is of the roots of a pea plant. Peas fix nitrogen in the soil. Kinda. Actually, they host bacteria in their root nodules which do the same. Usually, you have to innoculate the soil at least once with get this whole process started. I have been hoping for 5 years that they might just fly in by magic instead of by Deutsche Post. So far, smooth roots, no nodules and no nitrogen fixing going on. It looks like my soil improvement strategy might need some money spending on it after all. Shame.
#peas

Very few people eat peas at the barracks. There isn’t any prohibition on others consuming the green bullets of delight, but almost nobody comes here in the late spring.
I eat peas from the vine in handfuls, and then, when the beans start to produce, I stop and eat beans instead. The peas then are free to grow as many as they like, which I leave on the plant until the plant has withered and died and the beans can be harvested pre-dried. I do the exact same thing with beans.
Mostly, I’m not particularly bothered about how many peas there are in the stores - as long as there are enough to seed with next year, we’re all good. Last year, I only had enough for seeds. This year, I have seeds plus a kilo of dried. Which is a good thing and the pea fences can be put away for another year.
The first picture is of the roots of a pea plant. Peas fix nitrogen in the soil. Kinda. Actually, they host bacteria in their root nodules which do the same. Usually, you have to innoculate the soil at least once with get this whole process started. I have been hoping for 5 years that they might just fly in by magic instead of by Deutsche Post. So far, smooth roots, no nodules and no nitrogen fixing going on. It looks like my soil improvement strategy might need some money spending on it after all. Shame.
#peas

Pumpkins. Blue ones, ribbed ones, big matt orange ones, little shiny green ones. And maybe most importantly, a good dozen plants of Steirische Ölkürbis for pressing oil.

Pumpkins. Blue ones, ribbed ones, big matt orange ones, little shiny green ones. And maybe most importantly, a good dozen plants of Steirische Ölkürbis for pressing oil.

I was on the Austrian Tellybox.
It's possibly my favourite of the TV outings so far.
I was planning on not doing any more telly, but many years ago, a couple of Austrians were very good to me, and I thought they might get a kick out of seeing it, so Sigrid and Heini, I'm glad you got to see it. This is for you!
It's quite funny, and quite dark, and though they missed the very darkest bits out, I think it's a good peek into happy doomerism.
It came out on ORF2, on the magazine show "thema". This is the Vimeo version of it, and the password is the same as the name of the programme.

https://vimeo.com/842424159

I was on the Austrian Tellybox.
It's possibly my favourite of the TV outings so far.
I was planning on not doing any more telly, but many years ago, a couple of Austrians were very good to me, and I thought they might get a kick out of seeing it, so Sigrid and Heini, I'm glad you got to see it. This is for you!
It's quite funny, and quite dark, and though they missed the very darkest bits out, I think it's a good peek into happy doomerism.
It came out on ORF2, on the magazine show "thema". This is the Vimeo version of it, and the password is the same as the name of the programme.

https://vimeo.com/842424159

The wood is here.
Without wood (a sustainable building material) we would not be building useful things, improving the soil with biochar (locking away carbons for a thousand years) or heating ourselves in the winter.
I was very happy when this little lot turned up today.

I try, as far as possible to use as close to zero fossil fuels as possible, also to import as little as impossible from the outside. This short cut, though, I don't think I could replicate with my own horse powers. Maybe that's something to try over the winter this year?

The wood is here.
Without wood (a sustainable building material) we would not be building useful things, improving the soil with biochar (locking away carbons for a thousand years) or heating ourselves in the winter.
I was very happy when this little lot turned up today.

I try, as far as possible to use as close to zero fossil fuels as possible, also to import as little as impossible from the outside. This short cut, though, I don't think I could replicate with my own horse powers. Maybe that's something to try over the winter this year?

I still have a small quantity of dried beans left from last year. This year, I've planted fewer peas, but twice as many beans. Oh, and last year I screwed up the broad beans. I left them on the vine to dry and they all got eaten by evil weevils. This year, I'm eating them and drying next year's seeds inside. Seeing as I only saved about 20 seeds last year, they've done ok
More pictures of peas and beans and a random arty forest photo in the Friday photos newsletter.
Go get yours now. It's probably in the spam folder!

I still have a small quantity of dried beans left from last year. This year, I've planted fewer peas, but twice as many beans. Oh, and last year I screwed up the broad beans. I left them on the vine to dry and they all got eaten by evil weevils. This year, I'm eating them and drying next year's seeds inside. Seeing as I only saved about 20 seeds last year, they've done ok
More pictures of peas and beans and a random arty forest photo in the Friday photos newsletter.
Go get yours now. It's probably in the spam folder!

It’s taken 4 years, but I now finally have water just about everywhere it is needed. The hoses are all connected up in ways that means I don’t have to keep disconnecting them and moving them from the front to the back of the Big House and back again, real filtered drinking water comes out of the taps, toilets flush and, if you are feeling particularly masochistic, you can have a very cold shower.
If you’re a guest, that is. I still use the composting toilet, and there is no running water in the loft where I live.
The most incredible thing about this whole, expensive, voyage of learning is that I am now pretty well clued up on every stage of the journey of the water, from getting out of the well, to distributing it around the building, and finally disposing of the waste water.
It’s a remarkable journey which ultimately turns a valuable, finite resource into a waste product within a tenth of a second as it falls from the tap to the plughole.
It’s not going to be like this forever.

It’s taken 4 years, but I now finally have water just about everywhere it is needed. The hoses are all connected up in ways that means I don’t have to keep disconnecting them and moving them from the front to the back of the Big House and back again, real filtered drinking water comes out of the taps, toilets flush and, if you are feeling particularly masochistic, you can have a very cold shower.
If you’re a guest, that is. I still use the composting toilet, and there is no running water in the loft where I live.
The most incredible thing about this whole, expensive, voyage of learning is that I am now pretty well clued up on every stage of the journey of the water, from getting out of the well, to distributing it around the building, and finally disposing of the waste water.
It’s a remarkable journey which ultimately turns a valuable, finite resource into a waste product within a tenth of a second as it falls from the tap to the plughole.
It’s not going to be like this forever.

In this week's Barracks In Pictures newsletter (link in bio and in story), nothing but pigs. 11 mostly previously unseen pics of the piggers over the last three years of their residency at The Barracks.
They used to be so tiny, but every winter they go to bed just to eat and snuggle and get bigger.
Every year, I think I'm going to grow enough to feed them. Maybe next year.

If you sign up to the newsletter now, it will be in your inbox at about 14:30 Europe time.

(There are two barracks newsletters - designed for busy people. The Monday one is full of words and comes out at about 7:30 in the morning, so it's in your inbox for you to read before settling into the work week. The Friday one comes out at about 14:30, so that you can enjoy some nice relaxing pictures of self sufficient living to calm you down at the end of the week!)

In this week's Barracks In Pictures newsletter (link in bio and in story), nothing but pigs. 11 mostly previously unseen pics of the piggers over the last three years of their residency at The Barracks.
They used to be so tiny, but every winter they go to bed just to eat and snuggle and get bigger.
Every year, I think I'm going to grow enough to feed them. Maybe next year.

If you sign up to the newsletter now, it will be in your inbox at about 14:30 Europe time.

(There are two barracks newsletters - designed for busy people. The Monday one is full of words and comes out at about 7:30 in the morning, so it's in your inbox for you to read before settling into the work week. The Friday one comes out at about 14:30, so that you can enjoy some nice relaxing pictures of self sufficient living to calm you down at the end of the week!)

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