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

Yesterday (04/06/2026) after our morning meeting, we all gathered at the shop, grabbed our tools, and headed out to the lab. From there, we split into two crews. Seth took Caroline, Derek, and Fatty over to the sawmill site, while I teamed up with Rodger and Melissa.

Our crew made our way to the woodshed near the tipi site, where a good pile of logs was already staged and waiting. We got right into the rhythm of bucking, splitting, and stacking. There’s something satisfying about falling into that steady flow—chainsaw, maul, stack… repeat. Once we had everything processed, we hauled the firewood over to the Abbey’s rack and got it neatly stacked up for future use.

After wrapping that up, we headed back and linked up with Seth’s crew. Following lunch, we all shifted gears and made our way to the Abbey to continue working on the junkpole fencing. Progress is really starting to show there.

Later on, Melissa and I broke off and headed to Cooper Cabin to get things ready for a sepper arriving Wednesday. While Melissa worked her magic inside—cleaning, organizing, and bringing that welcoming touch—I stayed outside and got some firewood handled. More bucking and splitting, making sure the cabin would be well-stocked and ready.

Once everything was squared away, we made our way back and rejoined the rest of the crew to close out the day.

Another solid day of teamwork, steady progress, and taking care of the land and spaces that take care of us.

B.E.L. Post # 132

After the morning meeting, we gathered our tools and headed down to the lab. I dropped the crew off at Cooper Cabin, where they got to work sprucing things up in preparation for the sepper arriving tomorrow. While they handled that, I made my way out to the sawmill site.

Out there, I bucked four logs down to length and hauled them back to Cooper so they could be split and stacked for future use. Once that was squared away, I rejoined the crew.

After lunch, we shifted gears a bit. I had Caroline, Derrick, and Fatty working on debarking two junkpole trees for the tipi gate project—good steady progress there. Meanwhile, Seth and I took some time to perform maintenance on the chainsaws, making sure everything’s dialed in and ready for continued use.

To close out the day, we all headed back to the Abbey and put in work on the fences until the end of the boot.

B.E.L. Post # 133

Today kicked off with our morning meeting, then we all piled into Toots and headed down to the lab. I dropped off Melissa and Carol at Cooper Cabin so they could keep working their magic—getting the place dialed in, cozy, and ready for Jesse’s arrival. It’s been cool seeing that space slowly transform into something really welcoming.

The rest of us made our way to the Abbey to keep pushing forward on the leaning junkpole panels. During the morning boot shift, I focused on harvesting materials for the rebuild—cut down about 10 trees, each roughly 30 feet long, that’ll be used as horizontal pieces. Got them all delimbed and ready before switching gears.

After that, I moved over to the Tipi gate project and started digging out the footing. Kept at that until lunch, then after we ate, we got back out there and started on the holes for the vertical posts. We used the electric auger Paul picked up earlier this year—made a big difference and definitely sped things up.

We kept at it through the second half of the boot day and made some solid progress all around. Feeling good about how things are coming together.

B.E.L. Post # 134

Today was one of those steady, hands-on days where a little bit of everything got done.

During the first half of the day, Seth, Melissa, the wwoofer, and I were over at the Lab, rolling up our sleeves and debarking logs. There’s something oddly satisfying about peeling back that outer layer and watching the clean wood emerge underneath—good honest work, and plenty of it.

After lunch, Melissa and I shifted gears into fix-it mode. We tackled a wheelbarrow that had seen better days—the axle had popped out, but with a bit of tinkering and persistence, we got it back in working order. While we were at it, we also fixed up the air compressor hose, which felt like a small but meaningful win.

Later on, I dismantled a section of junkpole fencing out by the drive. One of the rock jack legs had given way, so it was time to take it down and reset things properly down the line. Always something to maintain out here.

We also got some potatoes planted, which felt especially good—putting something into the ground that’ll give back later. That kind of work never gets old.

I wrapped up the day by rehandling a rake, giving it a new handle and a second life. There’s a quiet satisfaction in repairing tools instead of replacing them—it just feels right.

B E.L. Post # 135

After the morning meeting, Seth, Rodger, and I rolled out to the Abbey with Seth leading the charge as point. The mission: tame those leaning junkpole panels once and for all.

We felled another live tree and carved out two more 10’ posts—bringing our total to five solid posts ready for duty. With the post holes already dug from yesterday (huge win) and gravel courtesy of the rock “beautiful” project, we moved like a well-oiled machine and got all five posts set in place. Watching those panels stand tall again… chef’s kiss.

From there, we switched gears and dug up soil from an approved section of the property and stacked it onto a berm—because no day is complete without moving a little earth around.

After lunch, we split into teams and headed back out. First stop: the Abbey greenhouse for some much-needed watering. Then it was off to the sawmill site where our team was supposed to relocate staged logs and swap them with fresh ones.

Plot twist… the tractor had a flat front tire 😅 so that plan got parked for the moment.

Meanwhile, Seth’s team didn’t skip a beat—they dropped a big tree. As soon as it hit the ground, I headed over to jump in on delimbing and bucking. Nothing like the sound of a chainsaw and teamwork to keep the momentum going.

We wrapped things up back at basecamp, and I finished out the day on a smaller but satisfying fix—repairing a metal rake. Enlarged the retaining hole with a 3/8” bit, set a bolt to lock it in, and topped it off with a protective coating on all the wooden parts. Good as new and ready for more work.