703, 2013
Farm internships are on!
Applications are now open for our life-changing internship programs in Costa Rica.
503, 2013
2802, 2013
Iguana
This beautiful iguana came to visit me the other day while I was working on the chicken coop…
2402, 2013
Wattle and daub is a composite building material…
Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw.
2302, 2013
Thunder
Thunder – our farm’s gorgeous stallion.
2002, 2013
Chito
Chito – the farm’s dog.
2002, 2013
Hand made ceder wood table
Hand made ceder wood table for our new little “office”.
2002, 2013
Caitlin and Alex
Beautiful Caitlin and Alex (staying at RDS for a few weeks).
1902, 2013
Chicken coop
Here’s the story of our beautiful and really unique chicken coop!
I wanted to make an experiment in true natural building – using only materials, means, and methods readily available within a very short distance of the building site. Like 100 or 200 meters! So no nails, no cement, no wood or stones brought in from somewhere far, no metal. Nothing but what we could draw from the incredible nature around us and a bit of creativity.
1902, 2013
Horse-powered sustainable forestry
We do our own forestry here. And for me it’s incredibly hard to make the decision to cut down a tree. But that’s how it has be. It can’t be too easy – like placing an order to the sawmill or buying wood from some other source. It’s gotta “cost you.” Just like killing an animal – if you’re going to eat it, you need to be prepared to kill it. I mean to do it yourself. That’s how we can take our decisions more seriously and weigh our options with better awareness.
As much as possible I of course prefer using trees that are already fallen. So when I discover a fallen tree that’s been curing on the forest floor and is in good condition I become exhilarated. Last week we discovered a big pilon tree fallen in the jungle, deep in the forest on our land. Pilon is a very beautiful reddish wood that’s very hard and dense. Great for building. So we decided to cut it in pieces on the spot and use a horse and a mule to carry them to the building site where we’re building our communal kitchen/eating area.