The Beginnings of a Tropical Permadise

On Dec. 11th I will be taking off for Costa Rica! Home to one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. With beautiful beaches on either side of the country, split by the rugged span of densely, forested mountains and volcanoes that is the Andean-Sierra Madre chain. For those who like facts and numbers, the countriest heighest peak is the summit of Cerro Chirripo at 12,000' plus!! For this reason, there is a large shift in weather patterns as you make your way throughout the country.

This opportunity was presented by my good friend Greg who had just recently finished up building projects with the Natural Living School (http://naturallivingschool.com/) in Nevada City, CA. There they learned the art of natural building, simple living and gained the experience/wisdom that comes, when we slow down and catch up with natural rhythms.

Our purpose, which is only the small portion I see from this point, is to break ground and bread for the start of a new Ecovillage!! There is a three year plan underway which includes the building of sleeping platforms, a community kitchen, soil building, raised beds and permaculture gardens/food forestry.

This presents a unique opportunity to study permaculture in a tropical setting. This gets me all lit up like a christmas tree!! : ) From what i've read about tropical soils is that they're generally leached of mobile nutrients due to heat and high rainfall. This makes mulching one of our biggest priorities. Building soil through composting will give back organic material that supplies our nutrients to grow an insane bounty of fruits, nuts, veges, herbs and happy people. This variety may include anything from bananas, avocados, coconuts, mangoes, citrus, cacao, carob, pineapple, papaya and well.. i'll just stop there and pick up when this is actually happening. I hope to add more content as the projects rolls on and real experience is gained.