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

B.E.L. Post # 159

After the morning meeting, Seth and I headed to the classroom and got right into the Cooper Gate repair/rebuild. We ended up basically rebuilding the entire gate frame, minus one piece. This time around we upsized everything and used larger diameter stock — roughly 4".

Once the frame was back together, we headed out to the Abbey for installation and got it set in place just before lunch. The only thing left at that point was to install the lintel piece.

After lunch, we shifted gears and headed out back to the laboratory area, down at the sawmill site. We felled another tree and bucked it into 8' lengths for milling, but the sawmill started giving us trouble again.

Seth took a closer look at the motor belt and found it had torn. We headed back to the shop, grabbed a replacement belt and a socket set, and got it swapped out. After that we ran the mill again, but we were still running into issues, so we decided to pause on that rather than force it.

We wrapped up the day by heading back to the Abbey and finishing the install of the lintel piece we had left earlier. With that in place, we called it for the day.

That sawmill sure can be fiddly sometimes.  Good luck figuring it out!

Sorry to harp on this but I think the notch cuts bypassed one another on that big tree.  It's hard to be sure but looking at the pic, I highly suspect the upper cut of pacman's mouth ended at the red line and the lower cut of pacman's mouth ended at the orange line.  You really want these to end at the same spot so pacman's mouth can close smoothly.  

B.E.L. Post # 160

After the morning meeting we split into two crews for the day. My crew consisted of Lorenzo, Michelle, Shawn, and Zven, and we spent the first half of the day working around the Laboratory area. Since I was the point person for our crew, I decided to divide everyone into pairs so we could tackle multiple projects at once and keep things moving efficiently.

I paired Shawn and Zven together to buck, split, and stack a roughly 40’ fallen tree near the tipi site. Since Melissa can’t spend lengthy periods of time in direct sunlight, I had her working in and around the classroom/shop area where she could stay out of the heat while still keeping productive. She spent time collecting inventory of the pallivions, sharpening chainsaws, relocating the picnic benches from in front of the classroom bay doors to a more suitable location, along with finding and tackling other miscellaneous tasks around the area. Meanwhile, Michelle harvested junkpoles that will eventually be used as pickets for the tipi gate, getting them staged and ready for either Seth or myself to install later on. During that time Lorenzo and I continued work on the Cooper Cabin gate, installing the pickets and officially completing the project. It felt good seeing that gate finally come together after all the rebuilding and repairs we’ve been doing lately.

After lunch our crew remained at Basecamp while Seth’s crew headed to the Abbey. I had Lorenzo and Shawn work on chop-and-drop around the berm directly across from the library, while I worked the horseradish berm near the street side. While doing that, I also gathered up mulch material and built ring configurations around the baby trees near the turtle lot to help retain moisture and suppress weeds.

Toward the end of the Boot day I headed up to Raspberry Rock to spread some “candy” around the young raspberry plants that Samantha kindly brought us. While I was up there I also gathered the water jugs and hauled them back down with me. We wrapped up the day with a group photo, which I’m definitely looking forward to seeing once it gets posted. Overall it was one of those days where everybody stayed productive, tasks kept flowing smoothly, and a lot got accomplished across Basecamp.

Seeing shawn buck that log on the ground- there should be a timberjack with all of the logging tools. My second favorite tool for jobs like that (after some sort of saw)...

Thanks Mike and Coydon, I appreciate both of you taking the time to share the feedback.

Mike, one thing I failed to properly explain in that B.E.L. post was that Seth was actually running point on the tree felling and made that notch cut himself. Looking back at the picture though, I do think you’re right about the cuts bypassing each other instead of lining up cleanly. I’ll definitely remind him about it again because it’s a solid learning point. I really do appreciate you taking the time to point it out and explain it. That kind of feedback helps us improve and pay better attention to the little details that matter.

And Coydon, you’re absolutely right about the timberjack. Honestly, it completely slipped my mind while we were loading tools onto the vehicle that morning. There actually was about a 4” gap between the log and the ground that doesn’t really show in the picture, so thankfully the chain wasn’t directly hitting dirt, but having that tool definitely would’ve made the job easier on both the saw and on Shawn and Zven while bucking the log.

Always appreciate the constructive input from you guys. Still learning every day out here.

B.E.L. Post # 161

I started my morning by grabbing a pail of wood ash from the solarium, mixing it with some salt, and spreading the mixture across the patio between the library and the Fisher Price house. I worked it down into all the crevices between the pavers in hopes of discouraging any future growies from popping back up there. It felt like a simple but worthwhile little maintenance task to help keep the patio tidy without needing anything fancy.

Afterwards I spent a little time relaxing with my little doggo before heading over to the shop to load up tools for a couple projects I wanted to tackle at the Abbey. Before heading out though, I fueled up Roy for the week ahead and then made my way over there.

The first thing I wanted to address was the unnecessary open space on either side of the handle area on the Cooper Cabin gate. I gathered material and filled those sections in so the gate looked cleaner and more finished overall (please see pictures). It was one of those smaller detail jobs that really helps tie the whole project together visually.

Once that was completed, I shifted gears toward preparing materials for future fire racks near the berm shed. I felled, delimbed, and cut several trees to length — 107 feet total by the end of it. After getting everything processed, I loaded the poles onto Roy, strapped them down, and hauled them back to Basecamp where I staged them near the shop doors for future use.

After wrapping that up I headed back to my living quarters. A little while later Stephen returned from the shopping run and surprised my little dog with a rope toy, which was very much appreciated. It definitely made somebody’s day. I finished off the evening by taking Melissa back to the Abbey before finally calling it a day.

B.E.L. Post # 162

Today was a good day on the land.

The cleaning blitz went by quickly with a solid group of people — good energy, steady work, and it makes a big difference when the crew is dialed in like that.

After that I spent the rest of the day in a quieter mode: some reading, journaling, and hanging out with my dog as usual.

I also processed about 30 aluminum cans and gathered mulch from around the Fischer Price house, then laid it out on the berm.

To wrap up the day, I put together a list of priorities for tomorrow for my team, including both the assigned tasks  and a few additional items I’d like us to stay ahead on.

B.E.L. Post # 163

Today was a very productive day, and the team accomplished quite a bit.

For today, I had Tracy, Jesse, and Melissa join us for the second half of the day.

This morning started with filling up the water jugs and delivering them to the lemon tree site. Once that was completed, we headed off to the Abbey. I tasked Tracy with watering the berms, and Jesse with watering the trees, while I planned to work on adding pickets to the tipi gate.

However, I later discovered that the harvested pickets from late last week were subpar—just too thin for my liking—so I pivoted and focused on harvesting junk poles instead to use as proper pickets.

After lunch at basecamp, we refilled the water jugs and placed them out at the trees in Apricot Alley and Raspberry Rock. I assigned Jesse to continue working on the trail at the horseradish berm, followed by maintaining chainsaws afterward. I also tasked Tracy and Melissa with debarking the poles I had harvested this past Saturday.

While they were working on that, I set up a sprinkler at the garlic patch on a two-hour timer. I also picked up the “candy” cans by the willow bank and staged them at the candy warehouse.

One small side task—found the rearview mirror bracket for Toots had been mounted upside down. In order to set the mirror correctly, I had to remove and reinstall it properly first. Once corrected, I'm allowing the glue to cure before proceeding.

All in all, a solid day of steady progress and good teamwork.