Esteban Ademovski

B.E.L. Post # 279

Started my morning with a long walk in the beautiful, delightful weather. It's hard to complain about starting the day that way!

Sometime after, Jesse and I headed over to Cooper Cabin to irrigate the two baby trees there. Once we finished up, we made our way to the Abbey and did some cleanup around the entrance, picking up leftover woody bits and tidying things up and left two trickle jugs there as well.

After we arrived back at Base Camp, I grabbed the little black garden wagon, which was loaded with bark left over from the wood processing Leo's team had been working on a few days earlier. I hauled it up to the bermshed and spread the bark out on top of the wing wall by the classroom.

After that, I spent some time reading and enjoying the company of my fellow boots. Sometimes it's nice to slow down a bit, enjoy the beautiful weather, and appreciate the people you get to share this experience with.

B.E.L. Post # 278

I started out the morning doing some chop and drop near the bermshed. I used the mulch to cover the area where the wing wall meets the bermshed roof.

Afterwards, I assisted Dan for a little while with sifting through the ash, removing the charcoal pieces and making sure any foreign debris was removed. The ash will be mixed with red crushed pepper, and the bucket will be given to Jesse, who is working on the trails, to help keep the cats from doing any funny business.

Next, I did some chainsaw maintenance on chainsaw #606 before hopping on the tractor. I hauled six bucket loads of material up to the area near the Love Shack.

After that, I switched tasks and irrigated my little garden bed. It's nice seeing the walking onions I planted from seed starting to sprout!

I wrapped up the first half of my day with a good lunch. After lunch, I continued training Stevie on the tractor. After an hour of observing, coaching and spotting her grab bucket loads of material and haul them up to the Love Shack's east berm, I switched tasks again.

I brought about 50 pieces of split firewood into the classroom to stock up .. from the stack that Leo and the rest of the crew had split the wood yesterday, and it came from a dead-standing tree.

Then Jesse, Dan, and I headed over to the lab. Dan continued working on putting up curtains for the battery box, while Jesse irrigated the trees at the Cooper Cabin site. Meanwhile, I tidied up the Abbey entrance, hauling the kindling that was lying around into the Abbey and moving the remainder to the back of Roy to be dispersed elsewhere.

I continued tidying up the front entrance of the Abbey, and I've still got a little more to do before the Sepper's arrival.

Another productive day at Wheaton Labs!

B.E.L. Post # 277

I started my morning by re-handling a carpenter's hatchet because the head kept moving around on the handle. I clamped it in the vise and used my pull saw to cut the handle off right below the head. Then, using the pliers on my multitool, I tapped out the remaining piece of hickory.

The new handle was slightly too big where it fit into the head, so I rasped it down until it fit properly. I tapped it back into place, found a piece of metal to use as a wedge, and used the bench grinder to sharpen one end before tapping it in to secure the head.

After that, I split some firewood and did some chop-and-drop.

After lunch, I spent some time working on my boot bench rest area, my little personal project. I sowed some ground cover, including yellow clover, and walking onions, then added mulch from the chop-and-drop and irrigated the little garden area.

I also spent some time building trails before briefly joining Leo's team to help with bucking, splitting, and stacking firewood.

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:Thank you, Esteban, for the explanation and the photos.

It's absolutely my pleasure! And I want to thank you and everyone else who's been following my thread. I truly appreciate the support and kind words from everyone along the way. 😊

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:

Esteban Ademovski wrote:...
Thank you, Inge! 😊❤️ It’s hard to believe a whole year has already gone by. Wheaton Labs has been quite the journey, with plenty of learning, growing, and blessings along the way. One year down, and I'm continuing to work toward my bigger dream of eventually returning to Europe and taking over my late father's apple orchards along Lake Prespa in Macedonia. 🍎🇲🇰 It would mean a lot to carry on that piece of my family's history. For now, I'm grateful for everything I'm learning here and looking forward to seeing where the journey takes me. 😊

Interesting, I didn't know about the apple orchard in Macedonia. All you learn at Wheaton Labs could be helpful in your dream coming true ...

Yeah, there’s actually quite a story behind that dream. 😊 I’m first-generation American and still hold dual citizenship. Both sides of my family are from Macedonia—my mother’s side immigrated to the U.S. back in the ’60s, and my father came over in the early ’80s after serving in the Yugoslav Navy. So Macedonia has always been an important part of my family’s history.

On my father’s side, my grandfather left roughly 40 hectares (100 acres) to each of his three sons—my dad and my two uncles—and apples have always been one of the main crops. They also grow tobacco, make raki, and have a long history of commercial fishing. The land is around Lake Prespa, which is shared by North Macedonia, Greece, and Albania. 🇲🇰🇬🇷🇦🇱

So eventually going back and taking care of that land means more to me than simply having an orchard. It would be a way of carrying forward a piece of my family’s history. 🍎

And honestly, my time here at Wheaton Labs has been such a delightful and rewarding experience. I’ve learned so much by actually getting my hands in the dirt—working with trees, land, water, equipment, and all the little things that go into making a place work. It’s given me a great foundation to continue growing from, and I feel like Wheaton Labs is one of many wonderful places along my journey.

A lot of what I’m learning here could eventually be useful when I make my way back home. For now, I’m just grateful to be here, keep learning, and see where the road takes me. I really do recommend that people come out here, get their hands in the dirt, and experience it for themselves. There’s something special about learning by doing. 🌱

I actually have a few pictures from an apple harvest a couple of years ago, including one with my uncle. 😊 I thought I’d share them with you so you can get a little glimpse of the orchards I’m talking about. 🍎🇲🇰

Here are some delightful pics of the past two days ...

M Pearson wrote:Congrats on 1 year! That's amazing.

Thank you soo much I highly appreciate it ☺️

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:

Esteban Ademovski wrote:...

And today felt a little extra special because it marks one year here at Wheaton Labs.

...

CONGRATULATIONS Esteban!

Thank you, Inge! 😊❤️ It’s hard to believe a whole year has already gone by. Wheaton Labs has been quite the journey, with plenty of learning, growing, and blessings along the way. One year down, and I'm continuing to work toward my bigger dream of eventually returning to Europe and taking over my late father's apple orchards along Lake Prespa in Macedonia. 🍎🇲🇰 It would mean a lot to carry on that piece of my family's history. For now, I'm grateful for everything I'm learning here and looking forward to seeing where the journey takes me. 😊

Yesterday 2026/10/05

Dan and I started our day at the Abbey building a battery box for the solar system. We framed out the box on the left side of the Abbey sink. Once the framing was complete, we placed the slates on top for the countertop and nailed them into place. Then we installed the bottom shelving to support the four batteries. With that work finished, we wrapped up our morning shift.

In the afternoon, I paired up with Eric, and we headed over to the Red Cabin to consolidate the seasoned firewood. We moved the wood into the partition closest to the cabin, leaving one partition completely empty. Each partition can hold about two face cords of firewood. The plan was to return and fill the empty section with wood from the dead standing tree we processed this past Friday.

After consolidating the firewood, we headed to the shop, where I trained Eric on chainsaw maintenance. We started with general maintenance, clearing out all the woody gunk and sharpening the chains. I demonstrated the process on half of one chainsaw before having Eric take over while I observed. Next, I had him maintain another chainsaw entirely on his own, followed by the plug-in Oregon chainsaw.

I also showed him how we track chainsaw use on the board. We mark off each day a saw is used so we know when it has reached four days of work and is due for maintenance again.

Once we finished in the shop, we gathered up our timber tools, the plug-in Oregon chainsaw, and the Sanzu battery. We loaded everything into the back of Roy's bed and headed out to the fallen tree.

We spent the rest of the afternoon bucking, splitting, and stacking approximately 20 feet of the tree. We stacked the firewood at the Love Shack rack, bringing our day to a close.

Yesterday 2026/10/04

I woke up to a crisp, cool Sunday morning and started the day by taking my little doggo out for about a half-hour walk before joining everyone for the cleaning blitz.

After the cleaning blitz, I focused on getting the Solarium tour-ready for the arrival of the new boots. Once everything was looking good, I lit up the RMH in there and filled up the firewood rack so it would be nice and cozy for them.

I also made some time for journaling and reading, and spent a good part of the day hanging out with Dan and Jesse. Nothing too crazy or complicated today, just one of those simple, beautiful days that feels good to slow down and appreciate.

And today felt a little extra special because it marks one year here at Wheaton Labs.

Looking back over this past year, there have been so many experiences, lessons, challenges, laughs, hard-working days, and little moments that I’ll carry with me. It’s been a beautiful and delightful year filled with growth, learning, and plenty of unexpected adventures.

One year down… and I’m genuinely grateful for all of it. ❤️