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

B.E.L. Post # 255

This morning, Leo, Jesse, and Sam geared up and headed over to the Abbey for fencing-related tasks, while Stephen and I stayed behind at Base Camp to work on the classroom rocket mass heater chimney.

The chimney had been knocked aside during a heavy windstorm a couple of months ago when the steel wire running by the classroom hit it and dislodged it, leaving it lodged on the roof. Stephen and I were able to get it repaired and secured before lunch.

After lunch, Dan and I refilled the two water turtle tanks. We also tested a fire in the classroom to check the chimney connection at the roof. There was no smoke seeping out, but we continued wrapping the seam with some pipe material to help seal it up.

After that, we repaired an uncovered portion of the berm shed where erosion had exposed the lining. We dumped six black buckets of soil over the exposed area and then covered it with some woody bits.

Later on, Sam came over and we did some more chop and drop along with a few other little tasks to finish out the day.

Another productive day at Base Camp! 🌱🛠️

B.E.L. Post # 256

This morning I started by moving out of the Red Cabin and getting it tour-ready for the new Sepper.

Once that was completed, I started working on irrigation at Apricot Alley. I made it all the way to the berm extender in front of the Red Cabin.

After lunch, Sam and I started filling up the turtle water tanks.

Then we headed over to the Abbey, where we split and stacked firewood and worked on the fencing.

Another productive day at Wheaton Labs, with a good variety of work.

B.E.L. Post # 257

I started my morning by sleeping in a little bit. Apparently, Chapito decided I had gotten enough beauty sleep, because he eventually started smacking me in the head with his paw until I got the message. 😂 I guess when you have a dog, the alarm clock is optional—but the snooze button definitely isn’t.

After giving my little alarm clock his much-needed morning walk, I got started with some chainsaw maintenance and a little chop-and-drop. From there, I moved into some earthworks prep.

I brought out a few tractor buckets worth of soil to replenish a pile that I had used up for one of my own little side projects. It was a nice way to get some tractor time in while also putting the soil back to good use. One of these days I might actually stop finding excuses to get on that tractor... but today wasn't that day. 😂

For the rest of the day, I spent my time having fun with the other boots. There's something pretty great about being able to work hard, learn new things, joke around, and just enjoy the day with good people.

All in all, a pretty good day—and apparently Chapito agrees, since he got exactly what he wanted this morning. 😆

Another day in the books at Wheaton Labs. 🌱

B.E.L. Post # 258

I started my morning feeling quite refreshed, which was a nice change of pace. I took a long walk around the lab and spent some time enjoying the scenery before getting the day properly started.

After that, I joined everyone else for the cleaning blitz, which was quite delightful as always. There’s something about getting a bunch of boots together, putting in some work, and seeing everything come together that makes even cleaning feel pretty enjoyable.

Once that was finished, I continued working on a personal project of mine. I’m keeping the details under wraps for now, but it’s something I’m putting together with future boots in mind. Hopefully, when the time comes, it’ll be something that makes their experience here just a little bit better. There’s a certain satisfaction in building something today that someone else will get to enjoy later.

I spent the remainder of the day simply enjoying the company of my fellow boots. We took a hike around the lab, enjoyed the scenery, talked, laughed, and generally made the most of a beautiful day here.

And, of course, I got to spend some quality time with my little Chapito, who seems to believe that wherever I go, he is legally required to come along. 😂

Today wasn’t necessarily about knocking out a huge list of accomplishments. It was more about enjoying the place, the people, the dog, and the opportunity to be here.

Sometimes those are the days you remember the most.

Yesterday 2026/09/14

We all started our morning by heading out to the Abbey to continue our fencing adventures. At this point, I think the fence is slowly becoming a member of the boot family. 😂

I was able to wrap up the portion I had been working on, while Jesse continued filling in her section and Dan and Sam worked on framing some of the other sections. It was nice seeing everyone steadily putting the pieces together and watching the fence slowly turn from a collection of sticks into something that actually resembles a fence.

After lunch, I hopped on the tractor and hauled 10 buckets of soil over to the new road Paul had cleared out with the excavator. I staged everything along the road so Stephen could continue filling and working it in the following day. Nothing quite like spending part of the afternoon moving dirt around one bucket at a time and pretending you're getting paid by the bucket. 😂🚜

After giving the tractor a rest, I got into some chop-and-drop, took care of a little chainsaw maintenance, and then spent some time working on my personal project. I'm still plugging away at that one, with the hope that it'll eventually be something future boots can enjoy and hopefully appreciate rather than wonder, “What the heck was this guy doing?” 😂

And somewhere in the middle of all that, I had the pleasure of meeting Fred again. It's always nice running into a familiar face around the Lab.

All in all, another good day at Wheaton—some fencing, some dirt moving, some chainsaw tinkering, a little personal-project time, and enough tractor seat time to keep me happy. Not a bad way to spend a day. 🌱🚜🪓

B.E.L. Post # 259

We started our morning over at the Abbey and continued working on the fencing that leads toward the Cooper Cabin gate. Slowly but surely, that stretch of fence is starting to look like an actual fence instead of a collection of posts, junkpoles, and questionable life decisions. 😂

After lunch, I climbed back onto the tractor and spent some time staging soil material that Stephen will be using for the road. There’s something oddly satisfying about moving dirt around with a tractor—even when you know you're probably just going to move some of it again later. 😆

After that, I got some chop-and-drop done and spent some time irrigating the baby trees, making sure the little guys don't get forgotten out here.

I wrapped up the day by spending the last hour working on my personal project. It's been fun watching that little project slowly take shape, especially knowing it'll eventually be something future boots can enjoy too.

Not a bad way to spend another day at Wheaton Labs. A little fencing, a little tractor time, some trees, some dirt, and a personal project to finish things off. Pretty much exactly the kind of day I came here for. 🌲🚜

B.E.L. Post # 260

This morning we headed off to the Abbey, where Jesse, Dan, Sam, and I continued working on the fencing. Once we finished our sections, we closed off the remaining gaps with metal fencing that had been brought over from the pond. Thanks, Stephen! While we were working, Stephen also took care of the dehydrator back at Base Camp and irrigated the Abbey.

After lunch, I went back to my personal project—a little garden bed I've been building on a rocky ledge at the Lab.

I've been working on this project for about a week and a half now, slowly building it up and figuring out how I wanted everything to come together. The garden area is approximately 5 feet wide by 10 feet long, and when I started, it only had about 2 inches of soil.

I began by building a small berm along the outer edge. I layered mulch, logs, and soil, watering each layer before adding the next. I've now built it up through five layers.

The ground level inside the area was still about 6–8 inches below the path that comes from the Turtle Lot, runs alongside the horseradish berm, and continues toward the hydrant. So I repeated the same basic process to bring the garden bed up closer to the level of the path—mulch, woody bits, kitchen compost, and soil.

I also wanted to divide the bed into individual sections, so I headed over to the shop, cut some pieces of wood, and made dividers. I added supports on both ends to stabilize them and drilled holes through the supports so I can use small bamboo stakes to keep everything securely in place.

Then came another layer of pine cones followed by soil.

Including the baby berm, I now have seven sections in the garden bed. My idea is to eventually let each boot plant seeds in their own compartment. I think it'll be a fun little team-building project—everyone gets their own space to work with while still being part of the same garden. Go boot team 2026!!

In the center, I also made a square compartment. I put pine cones in the bottom, followed by about half a pail of compost and then soil. Around Johnny Appleseed Day in November, I'm planning to put a peach pit in there and see what happens. 🌱🍑

Along one side of the garden bed, I placed a 7-foot-6-inch-long log with an 8-inch diameter to serve as a border on one side. I bored four holes through it and drove 14-inch pieces of rebar through the log and into the rocky bed to stake it securely.

One thing I really like about using the wood dividers and the log as borders is that, eventually, they'll rot down and return their nutrients to the soil. So even the materials holding the garden together will eventually become part of the garden itself.

And I'm not building this project just for future boots. I'm also doing it as my own way of giving something back to Wheaton Labs. I've gotten a lot out of being here, and it's nice to leave something behind that future boots can enjoy, build on, and hopefully add their own ideas to.

Across from the garden bed, I'd eventually like to put in a little sitting bench. It'll give people a place to sit, look over the garden, and take in the beautiful scenery to the north.

To the right of the garden bed is another rocky section of the ledge, sitting roughly 10 feet above the new road Paul recently created with the excavator. I want to build up and reinforce that area, and eventually put in a stone birdbath there.

I'll be talking with Paul, Fred, or Stephen about the best way to chisel out a depression in the stone for the birdbath when I get to that stage.   I think that'll be another great little touch, and once everything comes together, it'll help tie the whole area together.

After working on my garden project, I did some chop-and-drop and some chainsaw maintenance before wrapping up the day.

B.E.L. Post # 261

We started our morning over at the Abbey and continued working on the fencing, while Stephen was busy irrigating the berms and the baby trees.

After lunch, I went back to working on my little garden project. Today I added some yellow clover, sunflowers, and walking onions to my section of the bed. It’s slowly turning into a little community garden of its own, because Jesse decided to claim a section for herself and will be planting in it shortly. 😁

I also spent some time doing chop-and-drop, then started another little project within the project — laying out and building the foundation for a stone bird bath.

The garden bed is definitely starting to come together. What started as a bunch of rocks, logs, mulch, and woody bits is slowly becoming an actual growing space.