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

B.E.L. Post # 186

This morning I woke up to a light rainy morning and headed straight into the cleaning blitz. It was actually pretty pleasant as usual—especially with Melissa’s silly antics keeping things light.

After that I moved into the solarium to get it tour-ready and presentable. While I was there, I also went through the free shelf and filled up two boxes of items to be taken offsite. Stephen will be dropping them off at Goodwill / thrift shop at his convenience.

Once that was wrapped up I took a short nap, then headed out to the lab. I loaded the last log onto the bed of the Maverick and staged it back at basecamp with the others.

By that time I met the two new people on site, which was a nice way to round things out. I finished the day off with some journaling and reading before winding down.

B.E.L. Post # 187

Today started with a trip out to the Abbey with Jesse, Melissa, and myself.

Once we arrived, I had Melissa doing soil probes and irrigating where needed while Jesse and I continued work on the junkpole fencing project. Jesse focused on filling in the fence panels while I harvested and staged additional junkpoles for the build. It's been satisfying watching the fence gradually take shape as we repurpose available materials into a functional and attractive structure.

After lunch, I shifted the crew around a bit. Jesse moved over to trail building while Addy, Leo, Melissa, and I headed to the shop for some chainsaw maintenance. We spent some time cleaning, inspecting, and servicing the saws to keep them in good working order for future projects.

Once the maintenance was complete, we headed back out for some chop-and-drop work, processing woody material and returning biomass to the landscape. After that, I had Leo join Jesse on the trail project while Melissa and I began work on the hugel steps. We started placing and positioning logs to create durable steps along the hugel berm trail, helping improve access while making use of natural materials already on site.

Overall, it was a productive day with a good balance of infrastructure work, tool maintenance, biomass management, and trail improvements. Always nice to end the day seeing multiple projects moving forward at once.

B.E L. Post # 188

After the morning meeting, Jesse, Leo, Addy, and I headed out to take care of irrigation at Apricot Alley and Raspberry Rock. We got everything topped up and running well so the zones are set up for the next stretch of warm weather.

Once that was dialed in, I had Jesse wrap up her final section of trail building at the horseradish berm. She brought that section to completion, which really ties the flow of that path together nicely.

At the same time, Addy and Leo were working on planting sunchokes around the turtle lot, spacing them out to help establish a productive and resilient edge planting there.

While they were on that, I shifted over to seed work and got melon and tomato seeds planted along the berm across from the library door. That area should do well as a warm microclimate, so I’m hoping for a strong early start there.

After that, I pulled Leo over to help me stage and carry one of the hugel step logs—a 2-foot log about 16 inches in diameter—that I had positioned earlier. We moved it into place as one of three planned hugel steps wrapping around the grape plant on the hugel inside the garden paddock. This is part of setting up better access and structure around that grape system while adding long-term organic matter and water retention into the berm.

After lunch, Melissa, Jesse, Leo, and I headed to the Abbey. I had Jesse continue filling in the junkpole panels with the junkpoles, while Leo focused on trail building. Melissa did soil probe tests and the irrigation, and I spent some time harvesting more junkpoles. Each piece of the day felt like a puzzle fitting together, and I can really see how all these small steps are shaping something lasting. Feeling grateful for the progress today!

B.E.L. Post # 189

Today started with Stephen, Jesse, Leo, and I heading over to the Abbey. Stephen spent the morning assessing and working on the Abbey's wing walls while I coordinated work on several ongoing projects.

I had Jesse continue work on one of the newly rebuilt junkpole fence panels, making steady progress on filling it in. Meanwhile, Leo joined me in harvesting additional junkpoles to support future fencing projects around the Abbey.

After lunch, Jesse shifted over to continue trail work along the horseradish berm. Leo and I spent the first hour doing chop-and-smother work within the garden paddock to help suppress unwanted vegetation and improve the area for future use.

After that, we switched tasks. I had Leo work on widening sections of trail while I focused on preparing for the installation of the second hugel step using a 16-inch diameter, 3-foot-long log. This involved positioning, planning, and site preparation to ensure the step would fit well within the trail system and provide durable access along the berm.

Once we had made good progress on those projects, we wrapped up the afternoon by gathering firewood for the racks behind the library, helping to keep the wood supply stocked and organized for future use.

B.E.L. Post # 190

Today started after the morning meeting with Jesse continuing work on the horseradish berm trails while I focused on improvements within the garden paddock. I spent the morning doing some chop-and-drop, fully prepping the second hugel step hole, widening sections of trail throughout the garden paddock, and processing more scrap metal fencing into metal twist ties for future projects.

After lunch, Jesse, Melissa, Leo, and I headed out to do some chop-and-drop along the pathway connecting the Library to the Fischer Price House wooden porch. Once that was completed, we made our way to the Abbey.

At the Abbey, I had Jesse continue working on the junkpole panel near the front entrance while I demonstrated and directed Melissa and Leo through the repair of another junkpole panel that had failed between Cooper Cabin and the Ant Village gate. It was a good opportunity for some hands-on learning while making progress on maintaining the fencing infrastructure around the property.

Another productive day of trail work, garden improvements, chop-and-drop, and junkpole fence repairs!

B.E.L. Post # 191

This morning Leo headed out with Stephen to the Abbey while Melissa and I stayed back at basecamp focusing on chop-and-drop work and continued trail building within the garden paddock.

In the afternoon boot shift, I led Leo and Melissa on finishing work on the junkpole panels. They made strong progress and were very close to completing the section we were working on.

While they were on panels, I also spent time bucking up a large fallen tree. I loaded several buck logs onto the back of Roy and hauled them back to basecamp. Once returned, I staged the logs neatly by the shop door for future use.

Overall a productive day with steady progress on multiple fronts—vegetation management, infrastructure, and materials prep all moving forward.

B.E.L. Post # 192

Today started off at Basecamp with some chop-and-drop work within the garden paddock. I spent the morning cutting and laying down biomass to help build soil and suppress unwanted vegetation.

After that, I headed over to the Lab where I harvested several junkpoles and cleaned up the area by cutting the remaining stumps from recently harvested poles. The stumps and usable material were then staged at the Love Shack for Jesse to eventually process.

Later in the day, I continued processing and sorting scrap metal fencing, helping reclaim materials and organize resources for future projects.

To wrap up the day, I spent some time journaling and reflecting on the day's work before relaxing with my dog. A simple but productive day filled with land stewardship, resource recovery, and a little downtime at the end.

B.E.L. Post # 193

This morning right after I woke up, I went out and did some chop and drop over at Samantha’s berm. I stayed on that until the cleaning blitz started, which was a nice reset for the day as usual.

After the blitz, I went back to more chop and drop work in the same area.

Later on, I processed more scrap metal fencing and hauled out about four pails of gravel to stage for future use.

After that, I headed over to the Abbey and took a look at 12 junkpole panels that have been leaning since last winter’s windstorm. I noticed the posts on those panels don’t have gravel socks, and I suspect some of them may be starting to rot at the base.

After talking with Paul yesterday, I’m going to prioritize rebuilding those panels while deer pressure is still low.

I finished up the day by cutting back more stumps from earlier tree felling work to help clean up the area and make everything look a bit more tidy and open.