Tips for Working with Tropical Soils

Tips for Working with Tropical Soils

Soil, the ever fascinating topic to any garden guru or green thumb. Here at the Ranch it's all about topsoil, which is basically non-existent. The little soil that is present has a high clay content making it particularly susceptible to compaction. It is also highly acidic. The combination of the two means that without any additives it would be challenging to grow anything at all. So we've devised a number of methods to build up the topsoil, break up the clay and raise the pH throughout our orchard and garden spaces. These methods can be used anywhere in the world to improve your soil.

How We Bee

How We Bee

We took a handsaw and a chisel to the football field the other day. Not the most common tools, but exactly what we needed for the beekeeping job. Nestled up in the bamboo of the field shed,a low hum of busy bodies was stirring our curiosity: little bees. They have been living in that hive for quite some time, but on that day, the bees were on their way to a new home. I looked onward smugly as Esteban sawed out a piece of the public structure, because nobody in the back country of Costa Rica is going to stop you for something like that. Does it make us vandals? We jokingly called Esteban Winnie, for the Pooh Bear style honey thievery that we were getting into.

Re-plastering: What will be unveiled?

Re-plastering: What will be unveiled?

On the building list one of our goals is to correctly re-plaster old structures to enhance their look and highlight our unique architecture. Over the last couple years we have slowly been giving our old structures new face lifts. Using lime plaster techniques that we have been learning, practicing and perfecting we have transformed various run down plasters into beautiful canvases of art.

Business Guilds and Micro-Enterprise Niches

Business Guilds and Micro-Enterprise Niches

No one who works at the Ranch expects this to be a lucrative career--that's not why we get up in the morning. But we do recognize the need to earn a living that provides basic resources. . As a small business that routinely puts people and planet above profits, providing for all our team members financially has been a challenge. So we've looked toward permaculture design to inspire us, turn problems into opportunities, , and use nature as our model to find creative financial solutions.

Newsletter: Second Trimester 2015

Newsletter: Second Trimester 2015

By moving to a trimester format for our newsletter, we're able to take advantage of a faster Internet connection while visiting family and friends in the States to get 2 of our 3 newsletters prepared and sent to everyone.   We expect this to reduce a bit of stress while saving time and increasing the quality of this publication.  The entire core team currently finds themselves away from the Ranch working in temperate climates and reconnecting with family and friends.  SCOTT and NIC will be the first to return to Mastatal in early November to run a large group focused on skills building with a new project called Winterline .  This will be our first time working with this organization and we're hoping to develop a long-term relationship as our objectives align quite well