!! In the quiet hours of the bootcamp grind, I found myself: Esteban's Bootcamp Experience

Yesterday's Log : 02/06/2026

The first half of the morning was spent heating up Cooper Cabin in preparation for some preppers who’ll be staying over the weekend. Once the cabin was warm and ready, I headed over to the Abbey.

For the second part of the day, I focused on harvesting junkpoles for the two remaining fence panels I have left to complete. I cut, delimbed, and staged 20 appropriately sized junkpoles, setting them aside and ready for use.

Solid progress made, and it feels good to see the materials for the last panels coming together.

B.E.L. Post # 86

Today started off on a quieter, more reflective note. I caught up on some reading and journaling, knocked out a bit of laundry, and spent some time doodling a few creative drawings. I also hauled in two crates worth of woody bits to the Fisher Price House to keep things moving there.

In the afternoon, I headed toward the lab with the intention of harvesting more junkpoles. On the way, I stopped by Cooper Cabin and met Sepper Nick. From there, plans shifted a bit—instead of pole harvesting, we ended up hiking all over the lab together, checking things out and talking through projects and ideas.

Later on, I spent some time at the Abbey addressing a muddy rut I had accidentally created earlier. I laid down two metal buckets worth of pinecones into the rut as the first step in filling it. The plan is to continue building it up by adding a good layer of green bits on top, sourced from future junkpole delimbing, to help stabilize and improve the area over time.

B.E.L. Post # 87

After the morning blitz, I slowed things down a bit. I took my dog on a trek out to Raspberry Rock, which turned into some quiet time for reflecting on the past and pondering what life might have in store moving forward. It felt good to let my thoughts wander while getting some fresh air.

Later on, I headed back into work mode and spent time on the turtle berm, extending it another five feet. It’s satisfying to see that project steadily taking shape, one small push at a time.

One big relief from the day: I finally found Roy’s lost keys. I’ve been worried about those, so it was a huge weight off my shoulders to have them turn up at last.

To wrap up the evening, I relaxed and watched another episode of Andor with Paul—a nice, low-key way to end the day.

B.E.L. Post # 88

Today started with some much-needed chainsaw maintenance—tuning, checking things over, and getting it ready for more steady work ahead. After that, I filled two buckets worth of pinecones to help with the ruts over at the Abbey, which should make a noticeable difference once they get worked in.

From there I moved on to harvesting junkpoles and had a strong day: I cut, delimbed, and staged 30 junkpoles. That brings my total up to 50 overall, which feels like a solid milestone. I’ve got 50 more to go, and once those are done I’ll be able to start filling them in along the remaining sections of the fence.

I wrapped up the day assisting Paul with filming his sunchoke and walking onion video, which was a great way to end—learning, helping out, and contributing to content that’ll be useful for others down the line.

All in all, a productive and satisfying day with good momentum heading into the next round of fence work.

Yesterday 02/10/2026 was primarily a junkpole production day for the Abbey panels.

I felled and delimbed 40 trees, bringing my total up to 90 junkpoles harvested so far. And to further clarify, my target is 100 before I start installing anything. I want the full batch staged and ready so I can move efficiently once I shift from harvesting to actually filling the last two remaining panels.

Right now it’s all about prep — cutting, limbing, stacking, and building up inventory. Once I hit 100, I’ll transition into setting them in place. If I end up with extra usable poles beyond that, I’ll scout around for other panels that could use filling. No sense wasting good material.

I also spent some time working on filling the ruts on the road — steady maintenance work that keeps things functional and improves access bit by bit.

It feels good being this close to the target. Ten more to go, and then the install phase begins.

Onward. 🌲