Flores Permaculture

Our compost bins are made from recycled pallets, available for free near any warehouse district. Our woofers lent a hand to carry the materials and build the bins under Konswan's excellent direction. We use the pallets to create a cubic meter area that is breathable but maintains the shape of the bin, important to achieve a HOT compost. After reading Joseph Jenkins fantastic and informative book,  The Humanure Handbook , we decided to give it a try. In previous years we spent days hauling cow and horse manure onto our site, in order to compost it for our gardens.  Sadly we deposited our own manure into a waste pit.  Luckily we saw the light and created a sustainable system that keeps our gardens happy and our bathroom smelling fresh.

We have been steadily improving the living quarters for our volunteer guests from the  WWOOF Program .  Now we have completed the floor for the lower quarters that are destined to become a kitchen and sitting area. A big thank you to Jose from the Public Works department for donating the wood for this phase of our project.  We have Acacia wood joists with Elm planks on top. The wood is rough cut, but smooth enough to walk on bare foot with great comfort and ideal for napping on or meditating. We built another wall of Cryptomeria Japonica to stop the dominant wind direction. We are now preparing to build the back wall also. The sleeping quarters are upstairs and can fit 4 people. The roof is nearly complete, but still leaks in one spot during a very heavy rain. The long side window faces East so that the sunrise if visible from the Atlantic Ocean in the mornings.