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

B.E.L. Post # 236

Jesse, Leo, and I started our day at Basecamp, where we set up the irrigation sprinklers, did some soil probing, and watered Lightning Hill with watering cans. From there we moved over to the Horseradish Berm for some trail maintenance.

Leo and I also continued working on the junkpole panel at the house paddock, and we were able to completely finish the framing on it. We also made sure there was gas in the work rig before getting into some chop and drop.

In the afternoon, Leo and Jesse joined Stephen out at the Lemon Tree site to get some more time operating the excavator. The terrain out there is fairly flat, and they were working on digging soil from a designated area and loading it into the dump trailer, with Stephen supervising and giving them guidance as needed. The soil is going to be hauled back and staged at Basecamp for an upcoming project.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew was with me at the Abbey. I went over the proper procedures for operating a chainsaw and had them work on clearing an area with some tree stumps. After that, we set up drip jugs around some caged baby trees, then they helped me with framing another junkpole panel before we finished up with some chop and drop.

Later on, we switched things around. Jesse and Leo came back to the Abbey while Andrew and I joined Stephen out at the Lemon Tree site.

I was really excited to get another turn on the excavator. Today I got 17 minutes of supervised seat time, bringing my total between yesterday and today to 32 minutes.

One of the things I noticed today was how much smoother the controls were starting to feel compared to yesterday. I'm beginning to develop some muscle memory with the controls, and the movements are starting to feel a little more natural instead of having to think about every movement individually. Stephen was there supervising and helping guide me as needed while I worked on digging the soil and loading the dump trailer.

I'm still very much a beginner on the excavator, but it's pretty cool to already feel a difference after only two days. I'm definitely looking forward to getting more time in the seat and continuing to build that skill.

Esteban Ademovski wrote:I was really excited to get another turn on the excavator. Today I got 17 minutes of supervised seat time, bringing my total between yesterday and today to 32 minutes.

I think you're doing a superb job so far with Rex, Esteban...! You ought to have plenty of hours racked-up this coming week and then more time going into the winter.

Esteban Ademovski wrote:The soil is going to be hauled back and staged at Basecamp for an upcoming project.

Any idea how long soil like this can be staged and retain biological activity before it reverts to dirt?

B.E.L. Post # 237

I woke up nice and refreshed to such a gorgeous, cool morning. It was pleasant and delightful enough that I was able to take my little doggo for quite a long walk before the heat really settled in and made being outside for that length of time nearly impossible.

I spent the majority of my day reading, journaling, and working on a few personal projects of my own. It was a quieter and more productive kind of day.

Late afternoon into early evening, I noticed that the wooden red cabin sign had fallen off from above the front door of the cabin. After taking a closer look, I found that of the two star-drive screws that had originally been holding the sign, one was completely missing and the other had backed out, leaving about 3/16" of the screw protruding from the backside.

So I headed over to the shop and gathered what I needed:

* 3 × 3" T-25 star-drive screws
* Impact driver with T-25 torque bit and bit extender
* Mini level
* Tape measure

I decided to make the job a little easier by drilling some pilot holes into the sign first. I then started the three additional screws just enough to give them a bite and make positioning the sign easier.

I also decided that rather than replacing the original two fasteners, I wanted to secure the sign with four fasteners total.  The sign is a fairly hefty piece of wood, measuring approximately 18.5" L × 6" W × 1" H, so I figured the additional fasteners would provide a more secure attachment and, hopefully, eliminate the possibility of it falling off again — especially the possibility of someone walking underneath it and getting an unexpected little "love tap." 😄

I pulled up a stool, grabbed the sign, centered it above the door frame, and checked it with the mini level before fastening it securely to the red cabin.

Once that was taken care of, I spent some time over at the classroom with the new boot, Dan, learning a little bit about replacing battery cells in battery packs.

So it turned out to be a pretty nice day overall — some quiet personal time, a small but worthwhile repair, and an opportunity to learn something new.

Stephen B. Thomas wrote:

Esteban Ademovski wrote:I was really excited to get another turn on the excavator. Today I got 17 minutes of supervised seat time, bringing my total between yesterday and today to 32 minutes.

I think you're doing a superb job so far with Rex, Esteban...! You ought to have plenty of hours racked-up this coming week and then more time going into the winter.

Thanks, Stephen! I really appreciate that. I’m looking forward to getting plenty more time on Rex and continuing to build my skills. I can already tell that the controls are starting to feel more natural with each session, and I’m noticing my muscle memory getting better. I’m excited to keep putting in the seat time, learning from the experience, and seeing how far I can take it.

Coydon Wallham wrote:

Esteban Ademovski wrote:The soil is going to be hauled back and staged at Basecamp for an upcoming project.

Any idea how long soil like this can be staged and retain biological activity before it reverts to dirt?

From what I understand, it probably depends on moisture, temperature, compaction, and how much organic matter is mixed in. Since we'll be putting this soil back to use pretty soon for the new hugelberms by the Love Shack and Hanger Tree, and the other bobs and Ins coming up, I’d imagine it should retain a good amount of its biological activity during that short staging period. I’d be interested to hear what you’ve seen with soil like this, though.

Esteban Ademovski wrote:From what I understand, it probably depends on moisture, temperature, compaction, and how much organic matter is mixed in. Since we'll be putting this soil back to use pretty soon for the new hugelberms by the Love Shack and Hanger Tree, and the other bobs and Ins coming up, I’d imagine it should retain a good amount of its biological activity during that short staging period. I’d be interested to hear what you’ve seen with soil like this, though.

No clue here. I've been slowly building a hugel as I pull material from other projects, and I am noticing stuff that I don't get mulch over and keep watered soon enough looks to be deteriorating. I guess just encouraging weeds to go wild on it until I'm done building a section should keep it in good shape?

Coydon Wallham wrote:I guess just encouraging weeds to go wild on it until I'm done building a section should keep it in good shape?

I remember Paul mentioning that when the hugels in the backyard paddock were first established, like 12 years ago, they planted grass seed on it just to have something growing. Personally, had I the funds for it I'd opt for desirable cover crops instead of "weeds" or grass. If I were short on time or coin, I'd just let anything grow, then pluck out what I don't want when it's time to sow in a specific area. It's my personal opinion that it's better to have something growing than nothing at all.

Sometimes you'll luck-out and end up with desirable plants showing up in an otherwise neglected area. We've seen that on a handful of our newer hugel berms that we grew stuff on for a single season (the GAMCOD berms come to mind, here).