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

B.E.L. Post # 81

After the morning meeting, I knocked out 3 crates worth of woody bits,  then kept rolling right into the turtle berm work—adding more material and continuing to build up the height little by little.

After that I headed over to the Abbey to keep pushing forward on the junkpole fencing. Good progress today: I’ve nearly framed the whole section and I’m down to just about 12 more feet to go before I can start running junkpoles through the horizontal pieces.

Slow and steady, but it’s really starting to come together!

Yesterday 01/30/2026

Yesterday was a solid, satisfying boot day with a big milestone at the Abbey and some good progress back at basecamp.

For the first part of the day I was focused on the final stretch of the Abbey’s junkpole fence repair. There was a tree butting right up against the fence line, so I felled it and repurposed it as the final vertical post for the last section.

After that, I was able to finish framing the final section of the fence — which feels so good to say.

Starting this coming week I’ll begin threading all the junkpoles through the framing, which will officially mark the completion of repairing 250 feet of completely down fencing.

At that point, the only fencing work left in that area will be addressing about 5 panels (~50 feet) that are still leaning — in some cases being partially propped up by a nearby tree.

After wrapping up at the Abbey, I headed back to basecamp and kept the momentum going:

* Processed another box full of cardboard
* Processed a crate of woody bits
* Spent the rest of the day widening the hugel trails directly outside the Fischer Price house

Overall: big win kind of day — closing out the framing phase on a major fence repair project, and still getting some solid basecamp improvements knocked out.

B.E.L. Post # 82

I started the day by heading over to the laboratory and felled a few trees to turn into more junkpoles for upcoming projects. Always feels good adding to the supply pile — future fencing and builds will definitely appreciate it.

After that I made my way back to basecamp and got back on the turtle berm height project. Little by little it’s coming together, and today I was able to extend the berm another 8 feet. Slow and steady, but it’s really starting to look like something substantial.

To wrap up the day, I helped Paul for a quick moment by recording him while he harvested sunchokes and walking onions for one of his videos. Simple task, but it felt good contributing and being part of documenting the work happening out here.

B.E.L. Post # 83

After the morning’s cleaning blitz, I made my way to the Abbey and finished threading junkpoles into one of the fence panels—a satisfying little milestone. Once that was wrapped up, I headed back to basecamp and dove back into the hunt for Roy’s lost keys that had slipped from my carabiner. No luck yet, but I’ll keep retracing my steps and expanding the search.

Later in the day, I took a little downtime, watching the Andor miniseries with Paul—perfect way to recharge after a hands-on day.

Yesterday's log 02/02/2026

Yesterday was a solid mix of fence progress and basecamp organization.

First half of the day I spent my time up at the Abbey, where I finished putting up two full panels of junkpoles. It felt good seeing that section tighten up and start looking more complete. After getting those panels in place, I also walked the area and assessed nearby spots for future junkpole harvesting, so I’ve got a good idea of where I’ll be pulling from soon.

After wrapping up at the Abbey, I headed back down to basecamp and shifted gears into cleanup and prep work.

I spent time tidying up the blown paddock, organizing everything in a way that’ll make it much easier to tackle once I start the rebuilds/repairs. It’s one of those tasks that doesn’t look “exciting” at first, but it’s going to save me a ton of time and stress later.

To close out the day, I put some more effort into the rock face beautification and continued working on the turtle berm,  adding more shape and progress to both projects.