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

B.E.L .  Post # 182

After the morning meeting, Melissa, Jesse, and I headed over to the Abbey to continue working on the junkpole fencing. We've been making steady progress on it, and it's always satisfying to see the fence line slowly fill in as more poles find their permanent home.

After lunch, Jesse headed off to continue trail work around the horseradish berm while Melissa and I switched gears and tackled a variety of projects. We spent some time doing chop-and-drop around the landscape, helping build soil and return organic matter back to the system.

We also added two hugel steps, which should help make the area a bit easier to navigate while putting some woody material to good use. Afterward, we stopped by the shop to sharpen a few tools. A sharp tool makes all the difference, and taking time for maintenance now saves effort later.

To wrap up the day, we processed a pile of aluminum cans for recycling. Not the most glamorous task, but it's always nice to clean up materials and make sure resources are being put to good use rather than going to waste.

It was one of those days with a little bit of everything—fencing, trail work, chop-and-drop, hugelkultur improvements, tool maintenance, and recycling. Lots of small projects moving forward and another productive day at the Abbey.

B.E.L. Post # 183

After the morning meeting, Melissa, Jesse, Stephen, and I headed to the shop to gather tools for the morning's projects before making our way to the Abbey.

Once there, Stephen helped me with the junkpole fence panels before joining the others to work in the gardens. With his assistance, I was able to make good progress and finished framing all of the panels today. Tomorrow, I'll begin slipping the junkpoles into the frames and start bringing the panels to life.

After lunch, Melissa and I spent some time doing chop-and-drop around the property and added a few more hugel steps to improve access and stability on the slope. We wrapped up the day by heading back to the Lab, where we split and gathered firewood to help keep the wood supply stocked.

Overall, it was a productive day with visible progress on several projects, and I'm looking forward to seeing the junkpole panels come together tomorrow.

I'm confuzed- Was the Abbey not fully fenced off before? It looks like y'all have been putting up completely new fence sections, not repairing old ones...

B.E.L. Post # 184

After this morning's meeting, Melissa and I headed over to the Abbey to continue working on the junkpole fencing project. I had Melissa filling in the junkpole panels while I spent the morning harvesting more junkpoles to keep the project moving forward. It's satisfying seeing the panels come together and watching the fence take shape one section at a time.

After lunch, we switched gears and did some chop-and-drop around the area, adding more nutrients and organic matter back into the landscape. We also spent some time sharpening chainsaws to keep our tools in good working order.

To finish out the day, we headed over to the lab to gather firewood and brought it back to Basecamp to refill several of the firewood racks. Overall, it was a productive day with a good mix of fencing, land stewardship, tool maintenance, and preparing for future needs.

I worked "nutrients" naturally into the chop-and-drop section since that's one of the benefits of the practice.

Coydon Wallham wrote:I'm confuzed- Was the Abbey not fully fenced off before? It looks like y'all have been putting up completely new fence sections, not repairing old ones...

No worries, I can see how it might look that way from the photos.

The Abbey was already fully fenced in. What I've been working on is replacing part of the old fencing at the front entrance in preparation for a wooden gate that will be built. Originally, there was metal fencing that extended roughly 30 feet to the right and about 20 feet to the left when looking from outside the Abbey.

As I was rebuilding that section from the ground up, I noticed another fence section nearby had a vertical post that was leaning noticeably outward and was quite wobbly. To investigate and repair it properly, I had to remove about two fence panels to gain access. Once I got to the post, I found that it was rotten at the bottom, which is what you're seeing in my more recent photos and posts.

So the project started as replacing the entrance fencing, but it expanded a bit once we uncovered some underlying issues that needed attention.

I hadn't realized the metal ran that far across the entrance. I remember the clumsy wire gate and was excited to read you were replacing it with a proper wooden one, though...

B.E.L. Post # 185

Today started with a nice cool morning, and it was a pleasure to get out for my morning walk before the day got rolling.

Afterward, I headed over to the Lab and filled up Roy (one of our work trucks) with firewood and stocked the firewood rack at the Solarium. Once that was taken care of, I went back up to the Lab and bucked three 16-inch diameter logs into 2-foot lengths, along with one log cut to 4 feet in length.

The logs were quite heavy and a fair distance from the Abbey, where the tractor is currently staged. Since moving them by hand wasn't practical, I parked Roy nearby, dropped the tailgate, hopped on the tractor, and drove out to the logs. After loading the logs into the tractor bucket, I carefully positioned the bucket near the tailgate and loaded the logs directly into the bed of the truck.

Once Roy was loaded up, I drove back to Basecamp and staged the logs in front of the Library for a project we'll be working on Monday. The only log I wasn't able to move today was the 4-foot section, as the truck bed was already full and there wasn't enough room to fit it safely. That's okay though—I’ll be back tomorrow to finish the job.

I was happy to get some more tractor seat time in while also helping move materials where they were needed. After getting the logs staged, I spent the remainder of the day writing and doing some self-reflection.

It was a productive day with a good balance of physical work, equipment operation, and quiet time to think and recharge.

Coydon Wallham wrote:I hadn't realized the metal ran that far across the entrance. I remember the clumsy wire gate and was excited to read you were replacing it with a proper wooden one, though...

That's understandable. The wire gate definitely had a bit of character to it, even if it was somewhat awkward to use. I'm looking forward to seeing a wooden gate go in as well—I think it'll fit the Abbey much better and give the entrance a more finished look.

In the meantime, we've been focused on getting the surrounding fencing back into good shape so that everything is solid and ready for the next phase of the project.