Creating environmentally designed habitats for sustainable living in Costa Rica and beyond…
The third, and possibly the best batch, in tropical home brewing adventures, almost met its end in the moldy rainy season condition of June. The rainy season brings clouds of mold that drift invisibly through the air landing on everything. When I checked the carboy on the last day of the 15-day fermentation, I …
One of Nicaragua’s most valuable resources turns out to be wind. Super strong (often hurricane force) and consistent winds blow across lake Nicaragua. These amazing winds are basically Trade Winds that are funneled and amplified as the high pressure on the east coast (Caribbean) rushes through the gap in the Central American Cordillera to the …
Kim was in Oregon for an early spring trip and on a hike along the Columbia River found a grove of young cottonwood trees in full bud. Cottonwood is in the same family as willow, the tree from which aspirin comes, and also has pain relieving and antibiotic qualities. This is really good stuff for …
Continue reading "Make Your Own Cottonwood Balm For Muscle Pain and Wound Healing"
Our friend Ben is really excited about earthships. He wants to build one here in Northern Nicaragua. I didn't know much about them, but undertook a program of self-study reading through all three volumes of Michael Reynolds' Earthship books. The basic idea is finding the cheapest, most sustainable method for building. Reynolds tackles this problem …
We started planting the garden in late October, 2011- lots of chillies (habanero, jalapeno, arbol, New Mex, serrano and others), various greens, tomatoes, Thai basil, lemongrass, dill, tea tree, sunflowers and a bunch of randoms like purslane and indigo. Some things never sprouted at all, some sprouted and died soon after, and some flourished. Holly's …
We moved into our new cabana about a month prior and had yet to take full advantage of the loft because we didn’t have any stairs. We had considered several funky stair designs with notched logs and spiral things, but in the end just wanted to have nice wooden stairs finished in a reasonable amount …
As a 31st birthday present to myself I decided to build a garden. I've been reading through The Permaculture Garden by Graham Bell and thought the design for a German Mound looked interesting. I cleared out the first layer of top soil and collected a bunch of sticks and other "woody material". I chose a …
On our standard tri-yearly drive between Oregon and LA we finally stopped in the deliciously named Hopland to check out the Real Goods Solar Living Institute. The Tiny House was obviously appealing – a micro home on a trailer built with recycled materials including a recycled solar panel desk. We liked the size, the feel …
Eco:Design:Life 