606, 2013
May’s edition of our monthly newsletter
May’s edition of our monthly e-newsletter
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2105, 2013
Curriculum for this fall’s Natural Building and Integrative Farming internship
Curriculum for this fall’s Natural Building and Integrative Farming internship
This fall join our professional internship program and live a truly unique experience of intense learning and growth. This multifaceted program was intentionally created to provide participants with a detailed, whole-system skill-building curriculum in Costa Rica’s most stunning private wildlife refuge.
We teach using a whole system approach so interns learn more than just how to farm naturally or how to build a wooden house. They approach these questions from many different angles and live them daily at RDS. Interns’ abilities and understanding progress throughout the program so that they can carry them on no matter what they choose to do afterwards.
1405, 2013
A life changing 3-month farm internship in Costa Rica
Discover the magic of integrative farming and natural building in Costa Rica! Sign up for our upcoming life-changing fall program at Raices del Sol’s stunning private wildlife refuge for an intense learning experience filled with discovery and adventure. Read on to learn more about the program →
805, 2013
Wooden shingle roof on our recently built tool shed
We recently finished building our tool shed! As far as I know we’ve built the first roof in modern day Costa Rica that’s entirely made of wood and uses a traditional natural building method with ceder shingles. Here’s what it looks like today:
Not a drop of cement, no metal rods, no plastic… Just local ceder wood (mainly salvaged), 5 small guachipelin posts for the bases, and fairly simple tools. Good geometry, some simple math, and a whole lot of craftsmanship in between. Here’s how it came about:
904, 2013
Building a traditional wooden roof with shingles
Building the first roof in Costa RIca made of natural wood shingles! The wood is salvaged Cedar.
1703, 2013
Working on “The Nest”
Working on “The Nest”.
1503, 2013
Double wooden swing
There are many projects going on in parallel at the RDS farm. In particular natural building projects. But we make sure to take the time for side projects as well! The building of our double wooden swing was a very quick and rewarding project.
We used Ceder wood which is a native tropical wood and does very well outdoors, especially if well maintained. One thing that’s very important for maintaining wood is to allow it to breathe naturally. Wood expands when it gets wet and shrinks when it dries. This flow of moisture is normal and Ceder wood can last a very long time outdoors while “breathing”. But if you use conventional commercial products to seal the wood what happens is that the added rigid layer eventually cracks and lets in some moisture – which is then trapped inside the wood, speeding up the degradation and rotting process. Conventional sealers are also toxic. Using natural products like pure oil (tong or linseed are common examples) can help protect the wood from sun and rain exposure. The flexible oil will “breathe” with the wood.
After a few design sketches, we put the swing together, chose a nice branch on which to hang it and set everything up tightly. We used a post of Melina wood to reinforce the branch and burnt the part that goes in the ground to increase its longevity. Here’s what it all looked like:
Setting up the post and compacting the soil.
Getting the swing ready.
The final details.
1503, 2013
Burning the tip of a wood post
Burning the bottom part of a wood post will increase its life span when put in the ground. You want to hold the post over the fire so that the outer layer of the wood burns slightly and evenly (until it’s black).
1003, 2013
Drying wood in the woods
The best way to cure wood is to do it in the woods.
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.