To be able to initiate changes that may someday become radically transformative it needs places starting with small, reformist changes. Rancho Mastatal has proven itself over more than 20 years to be one of those places.
Foundations for Success: 10 Considerations to Create a Healthy Project
After more than 20 years, we have been able to identify some trends that have led to our survival as a business and a community. The following advice is appropriate, and perhaps some of it even necessary, if you expect to live successfully in a communal work and living environment doing land-based work.
Speaking from the Heart
What does it mean to "Speak from the Heart"?
It sounds very easy, but it's not so easy to do.
The main difficulty in interpersonal communication is due to our natural physiological tendency to look first outward and not inward.
Almost 80% of the sensory information that comes to our brain comes from the eyes. It's not a mystery why we tend to blame the other for our own misery.
Homemade Ketchup Recipe
Why Rootedness Matters
Post-Rancho Thoughts
Unexpected Aspects of Permacultural Communal Living
The Ecstasy of Cheese: A Meditation on Our Conceptions of Value
Wealth Exists Not in Having Great Possessions, But in Having Few Wants
There’s no escaping from the fact that we are in the midst of a social, economic, physical and mental health crisis. We have been waking up to this fact at an increasing pace and the majority of people can see that a change is essential if we don’t want to enter another mass extinction of our own doing.
An Interwoven Life
What is Syntropic Farming?
Phytochemicals: The Key to a Longer and Healthier Life
If You Practice Yoga, Practice Permaculture
Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ) and Its Application
How to Make Your Own Homemade Soap
The Problem with Permaculture – Understanding Elements and Functions
How often have you heard someone say “oh yeah we have a permaculture farm or garden because we have a [insert permaculture cliché element]”. They believe their project is permaculture based because it has some of the elements that are usually used as examples, such as composting or they have chickens, maybe a herb spiral or a rainwater catchment system?
Why the World Would be a Better Place if Everyone Took a Permaculture Design Certification
Why You Should Take a Permaculture Design Certification at Rancho Mastatal, Costa Rica
There are not many places in the world that offer such a diverse number of examples of applied permaculture principles and ethics in practice as you will find at Rancho Mastatal. Bordering one of Costa Rica’s national parks, La Cangreja, we are surrounded by nature, biodiversity and abundance, providing the perfect learning environment for permaculture.
Book Recommendations and Reviews #3
Due to the unique circumstances of the past two plus years, I never seemed to find the time to write what I hoped would be a yearly blog on the books that I read. The two times that I’ve done this in the past we were stateside visiting family, with a bit more time to dedicate to catching up on what seems to be an ever growing list of “books to read”.
Permacultura, ¿Porqué aprender en el Rancho Mastatal?
Imagina que tienes un lienzo en blanco para trazar y te dicen que lo que dibujes se va convertir en tu vida. Quizás, no tienes las herramientas, el conocimiento necesario para poder imaginarte en ese mundo ideal y te surgen preguntas: ¿cómo podré lograrlo?, ¿qué es lo realmente indispensable y necesario?, ¿esto me entusiasma o me agobia?, ¿por dónde empiezo?