Gardening
Making EM (effective microorganisms) for natural fertilizer
Composting – leftovers from dinner, weeds, fallen leaves, even human shit…it all goes back to the land.
Hoeing and planting garden beds, weeding, weeding, weeding, mulching, transplanting and harvesting
Seed saving (and how GMO/hybrid seed companies are patenting seeds to control food production)
Earthen Building
Making mud bricks and cobb
Pouring and staking out a concrete foundation and earthen floor
Building up walls and arches (mud bricks + mortar = kickass buildings)
Roofing – Main frame, rafters and installing roof panels
Plastering from base to final coat – we are now troweling masters
Electricity (TD loves splicing wires together. Except for that time he got electrocuted by 240 V and fell 8 feet. That sucked.)
Water, plumbing and sanitation
Earthen paint (colored clay, fine sand and tapioca glue) and application techniques
Building an earthen oven and earthbag bench
Miscellaneous
Making soap, shampoo and lip balm (for lip balm, just use half beeswax/half coconut oil. Ridiculously easy.)
Building solar water heaters
Cooking – baking bread, making jam, cheese, tofu, yogurt and Thai dishes
Brewing roselle, tamarind, rice wine and mead (woo – let’s get DRUNK)
Thai massage (not that kind, you dirty bastard)
With out a doubt we’ll be putting these skills to use, but some things we’ve learned have really shifted our world view and lot of our priorities.
By sharing responsibilities with the people around you, life can be a lot easier and more harmonious.
If there is something that would make life better (electricity in your bathroom), or you just want (a pretty paint scheme on your walls), do it yourself and don’t worry if you get it wrong the first time.
Living a simply, without a lot of stuff, can result in a more happy and fulfilling life.
We want to express our deepest gratitude to Peggy, Jo, the Pun Pun community and all our fellow interns. It’s been an incredible ride….
We (Cyn, Tim, Maxwell and I) just read this aloud at the ski house. Many comments are flying around, but here are mine: I’m stoked you guys learned this stuff; a ton of it will be useful later in life. And of course there’s the intangible, which is priceless. I’m happy to say that working on my own house has taught me how to do crazy things I never thought I’d learn (I am the Queen of Caulk for example; Morgan rocks it with the electricity) but the most important thing was learning you CAN do stuff yourself. Self-reliance is pretty awesome. It’s a totally different context of course, but remember that you can apply a lot of these principles anywhere in the world, including the Land of Milk and Honey. Also, I’ll be needing a few of your skills back in the old country. From the list above: Thai massage, solar water heaters, composting, protesting Monsanto, electricity (we need a new circuit for the dishwasher for example), cooking (well, I’ve got that down), weeding/mulching and making soap (Cyn says we just need to go to Makers Faire). OH and hoeing, LOTS of hoeing. Hoeing, hoeing, hoeing. xoxoxo
Amazing Guys ! So happy for you !! Can´t wait for learn some of those skills too !! Great job !!
FANTASTIC GUYS!!!!
you did a great job……..lots of love from your house in sicily!!
xx Mr G