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

Yesterday 05/12/2026 ... turned into another solid and productive day with the team. During the morning meeting, I picked Tracy, Lorenzo, and Jessie to join me, and we headed straight over to the Abbey to get rolling.

I had Tracy and Jessie continue watering the trees and berms while Lorenzo and I kept processing the junkpoles I felled earlier for pickets. We cut them to length and fastened them onto the tipi gate. I still need to add a few more pickets around the gate handle area to close up some unnecessary gaps, but it’s basically finished for now and coming together nicely.

Back at basecamp, I set Tracy and Lorenzo up to debark the remaining material I felled this past Saturday. They did a delightful job and nearly processed everything. I’m really looking forward to getting started on the live roundwood natural fire racks soon.

While they were working on that, I had Jessie sharpen another chainsaw and then continue work on the horseradish trails. She’s doing such a splendid job with those trails and they’re shaping up well.

Meanwhile, I spent part of the afternoon processing gravel at the rock face next to the wooden delivery sign and managed to net 4 buckets of gravel. Afterwards, I spread three buckets of “candy” that Samantha brought over this past weekend around the baby trees along Apricot Alley.

By then, Tracy and Lorenzo had wrapped up debarking, so I tasked them with securing the lines for the yoga yurt roof window cover. One of the tie-down lines snapped during the process and it turned into a complete comedy for a while there, but we eventually got everything back on track.

Wrapped up the evening with Taco Tuesday meal and called it a day.

I love how you’re mixing the gritty stuff with those small calm moments, it really shows how much the place is rubbing off on you. If you ever feel stuck with a task, jot down what clicked for you that day. I started doing that during hands-on projects and it made the next round so much smoother, kind of like leaving breadcrumbs for my future self.

B.E.L. Post # 164

Today was another solid day out on the land with my crew: Melissa, Jesse and Shawn. After the morning meeting, we headed over to Apricot Alley and irrigated all the trees out there. We placed as many drip jugs as we could, then watered the remaining trees by hand that didn’t yet have one. We also managed to irrigate nearly every tree on Lightning Hill, leaving only two unfinished by the end of the push.

After that, I had Shawn and Melissa working on chainsaw maintenance and debarking the three remaining logs I harvested this past Saturday. While they handled that, Jesse was on trail duty, and I spent some time placing hugel steps along the berm.

Following lunch, we headed to the Abbey. I tasked the crew with continuing work on the junkpole fencing while I wrapped up some touch-up work on the tipi gate. Later in the day, I felled a tree that measured about 8.5 feet in diameter and cut two 12-foot logs from it. The plan is to use them as the main vertical posts for the Abbey’s entrance gate.

Overall, it felt like one of those days where a lot of small and large pieces moved forward at the same time. Good progress, good people, and a satisfying kind of tired by the end of it.

Erin Rivera wrote:I love how you’re mixing the gritty stuff with those small calm moments, it really shows how much the place is rubbing off on you. If you ever feel stuck with a task, jot down what clicked for you that day. I started doing that during hands-on projects and it made the next round so much smoother, kind of like leaving breadcrumbs for my future self.

I really like that idea. “Leaving breadcrumbs for my future self” is such a good way to put it. I’ve noticed even the smallest things out here can end up teaching a bigger lesson later on, especially with all the hands-on work.

And honestly, those small calm moments have been grounding me just as much as the gritty stuff lately. I think that balance is part of what makes this place special. Thanks for the advice, Erin — I’m definitely going to start writing more of those little realizations down.

Permaculture is this.

A broken kitchen garbage can pedal here at Wheaton Labs repaired with a piece of wood and a little ingenuity instead of being thrown away.

And I know that probably sounds silly. It’s such a small thing. Most people would walk past it without even noticing.

But honestly, standing there looking at it, something finally clicked for me.

For the past roughly seven months since arriving here, I’ve listened to Paul talk about resourcefulness, reducing waste, repairing things, using what you have, and changing the culture little by little. And somehow all of that came together for me in one quiet moment beside a garbage can.

Because the repair itself is tiny.

It probably saved almost no money.
It’s not flashy.
Nobody is going to make headlines over it.

But ideas spread like seeds.

A small thing can plant a thought in somebody’s mind that stays there forever.

Instead of:
“Throw it away.”

The thought becomes:
“Maybe this can still be useful.”
“Maybe I can fix this.”
“Maybe we don’t need to replace everything.”

And I think enough small moments like that can genuinely change billions of lives over time.

Not all at once.
Not through force.
Just quietly.

One repaired object.
One garden bed.
One reused material.
One person thinking differently than they did before.

And honestly, I’ve started noticing that same spirit in the people here too.

Recently Bounce gifted us a hard drive along with other delightful goodies. And while a hard drive might just seem like another object to most people, to me it feels like possibility.

That drive is going to store footage from my time here at Wheaton Labs, future projects I want to document, ideas I’m still growing into, and pieces of a life I’m actively trying to build with more intention and purpose.

To me, that generosity matters.

Because permaculture isn’t only about soil, gardens, or repairing broken things.

It’s also about people investing in each other.
Sharing tools.
Sharing knowledge.
Sharing encouragement.
Helping someone continue creating instead of stopping.

That’s what permaculture feels like to me now.

Not perfection.
Not fancy aesthetics.

Just people slowly relearning how to see value in things again.

Yesterday (05/14/2026) I led my team, which consisted of Lorenzo, Melissa, and Tracy, over to the Abbey during the morning boot shift. While Melissa focused on trail work along the berms, I spent part of the morning showing Tracy and Lorenzo how to properly fell trees using a tree jack. After walking them through the process, I had them start felling trees on their own.

Most of the trees they harvested will make excellent horizontal supports for future junkpole panels. While they were working on those, I focused on harvesting some larger trees in the 8"–10" diameter range, bucked into 12' lengths to eventually be used as vertical posts. I currently have 6 posts on standby, but my goal is to have at least 10 ready before we begin work on the Abbey entrance project.

Back at Basecamp, I had Lorenzo and Tracy do some gravel harvesting for a while, and together they harvested 6 buckets worth before joining Melissa and me over at the Optimus Prime berm. Melissa continued working on the trails while I focused on putting in hugel steps.

Overall, it was another productive day with good teamwork and solid progress all around.

B.E.L. Post # 165

Today was another good productive day.

This morning I led Shawn and Jesse through irrigating Apricot Alley, then Lightening Hill, and finally Raspberry Rock. While we were up at Raspberry Rock, we also got quite a bit of pruning done before heading back down.

Afterwards, I had Jesse continue trail work on the horseradish berm while Shawn worked on trail work over at the Optimus Prime berm. While they were focused on that, I went back to adding more hugel steps from where I had left off the previous day.

After lunch, Lorenzo joined onto my team and we all headed up to the Abbey. I had Shawn and Jesse work on installing another horizontal support piece onto a junkpole panel while Lorenzo and I felled two live trees for more vertical supports. That brought the total up to 11 posts, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

Later on, I turned things into a bit of a teaching moment. I had Lorenzo teach Shawn and Jesse what he had learned from me about felling trees while I stood back and observed. Lorenzo did an excellent job.

After that, we all worked together felling 4"-5" trees for more horizontal support pieces, and by the end of the day we had more than enough ready to go.

Overall, it felt like one of those really solid days where a lot got accomplished and everyone kept building more confidence and experience along the way.

B.E.L. Post # 166

Today was one of those relaxing but productive days that felt good from start to finish.

I started the morning to the usual soundtrack of hungry cats and quickly quieted their demands before grabbing some breakfast. Afterward, I fueled up the work vehicle and headed straight to the lab, where I harvested 23 additional junkpoles for the upcoming front Abbey gate build. It's satisfying seeing the material pile continue to grow and knowing it’ll soon become part of something lasting.

Back at basecamp, I shifted gears and added a few more steps onto a berm to make reaching the top a bit easier and safer.

I wrapped up the day at a slower pace with some reading, journaling, and a little well-earned relaxing. Sometimes the quieter days are just as rewarding as the heavy-hitting ones.