This is part of our Applied Permaculture Series with well-known teachers and experts from throughout the region.

Join the amazing Rancho Mastatal staff and visiting professionals and instructors for an in-depth, in-tense, phenomenal 1-month experience to learn hard skills on how to live more sustainability. On site students can learn from and get inspired by a multitude of naturally built structures and sustainable sys-tems that have been developed and installed at the Ranch and in the small rural community of Mastatal during the last 11 years. The course will cover a wide-array of topics and will inspire students to change the way they live and see the world. It will be broken down into three modules: Permaculture and Agroforestry, Natural Building, and Homesteading Skills. Each of these modules will focus on a set of core subjects, which will be expanded to cover a variety of potential discussions, techniques, and prac-tices depending on the specific interests of the participants.  Not all of these topics will be covered in depth given our time constraints.  Days will be set aside for individually focused project work, extra-curricular activities, and rest.  The course will be approximately 60% percent hands on work and 40% classroom work and will cover a number of skills and techniques including:

Permaculture and Agroforestry

Core Subjects:

• Permaculture Ethics and Principles
• Tropical Farming Cornerstones: Erosion Control, Bio Mass Creation, Microorganism Cultivation, and Bio Char Production
• Tool Use and Sharpening

• Zone 1 Garden Design: Species Selection, Perennial Vegetables, Aquaponics Systems
• Orchard Establishment and Design: Contour Planting, Alley Farming, Species Selection
• General Tree Care, Pruning, and Planting
• Nursery Work and Propagation Techniques: Grafting, Air Layering
• Animal Husbandry: Goat Care, Design Considerations
• Site Mapping: Triangulation, Drafting

• Tool Use and Sharpening
  
• Making Cob and Wattle and Daub
• Lime Plasters and Earthen Finishes

• Earthen Building: Cob Construction and Floors, Wattle and Daub, Rocket Stoves, Cob Ovens
• Bamboo Construction
• Timber Frame Construction
• Natural Plasters and Lime Wash
• Compost Toilet Design

• Whole Foods Cooking
• Live Culture Fermentation: Vinegars, Wine, Kraut, Kimchi, Pickles, Sodas, Kefir
• Alternative Cooking Stoves and Ovens: Methane Biodigestors, Solar Ovens, Rockets Stoves, Used Veggie Oil Stoves

• Soap Making
• Cheese Making
• Sourdough Bread Baking
• General Food Processing

• Indigenous Skills: Basket Weaving, Medicinal Plants, etc. Taught by Gerardo Perez of the Huetar Indigenous Tribe
• Chocolate Making: Taught by Jorge Salazar of La Iguana Chocolate

• Tour of La Iguana Chocolate
• Weekend Homestay with a Local Family
• Waterfall/River Trips
• Night Hike
• Birdwatching
• Weekend Beach Trip (Cost not included in Tuition)
• Visit to the Zapaton Indigenous Reserve
• Exploring La Cangreja National Park
  

Applied Permaculture:
Applied permaculture is an evolving series of short courses hosted at top quality learning institutions like Rancho Mastatal. Enrollment is open to all.  The concept is to stimulate and develop climate and system specific skills sets for individuals and groups. Learn by doing and share your new skills with your local community.

About the Instructors:
Timothy O'Hara
Tim is one of the founders and directors of Rancho Mastatal and has lived and worked in the small rural community of Mastatal for over a decade. Tim is a former outdoor educator with a degree in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University. He served as an Agribusiness Volunteer in Uruguay with the United States Peace Corps in the early-to-mid 1990s, working to promote sustainable agriculture, and has worked in the corporate world in various capacities and as an outdoor adventure travel guide in Mexico, Canada and the United States. Tim is a trained Wilderness First Responser. He founded Rancho Mastatal with his partner Robin in 2001 and is the father of a lovely daughter Sole. Tim speaks fluent Spanish and has traveled extensively throughout Latin America. His interests include soccer, Ultimate Frisbee, woodworking, kayaking, skiing, lacrosse, reading, education, local economies, sustainable living and community.

Robin Nunes
Robin is one of the founders of Rancho Mastatal. Robin is an ecology professional, culinary expert, season earth worker, and skilled silversmith with a degree in Social Ecology from the University of Colorado. She has worked as an Environmental Specialist for the United States Peace Corps in Uruguay where she taught geography and designed environmental education programs. She has also worked as a kindergarten teacher and for years ran her own handcrafted jewelry business. She founded the Ranch with her partner Tim in 2001. Robin speaks fluent Spanish and some Portuguese. She is also trained in Wilderness First Response. Robin's interests include spending time outdoors, sustainable design, building with mud, throwing the disc, making incredible silver jewelry, cooking, reading, and living sustainably. Robin and Tim brought their daughter Soledad into the world on June 2, 2008.

Laura Killingbeck
Laura is wildly passionate about food, nutrition, and whole systems health. She has a BA in Sociology and Philosophy from the University of Rhode Island and is a current Wilderness First Responder. She worked previously as a superhero mascot, a sawyer, and a sustainability consultant.  Laura spent several years traveling through Latin America by thumb, boat, bike, and bus before landing at the Ranch with her partner Scott in 2009. She spends her days concocting live culture ferments, curing vanilla, planting rhizome guilds, and living in community.

Scott Gallant
Scott is an aspiring food system designer from Harrison, Ohio. He graduated from Wabash College in 2008 with a degree in Economics. Since graduating, he and his partner Laura have traveled and volunteered extensively in Latin America. Prior to arriving at Rancho Mastatal to study natural building, they hitchhiked from the U.S.-Mexico border to Panama, studied Spanish in Guatemala, and led hikes in Nicaragua. Over the past several years he has become passionate about tropical agriculture while working with an amazing group to build the Ranch's food production systems. In the past he has worked as a sustainability consultant and led backcountry trail crews in Colorado. When not talking about plants he enjoys playing Ukulele, basketball, cycling over mountains, camping, and living with as minimal impact on this planet as possible.

Gerardo Perez
Gerardo was born and raised on the Zapaton Indigenous Reserve and is as knowledgeable about our forests as anyone in the region.  He's a community leader, father and wife and commonly teaches basketweaving, medicinal plant and indigenous skills classes at the Ranch.  He's a wealth of information and is leading the efforts in his community to rescue his people's heritage.  Elders of the Huetar tribe are working hard to assure that their young adults take pride in their indigenous roots and Gerardo's small museum in Zapaton is one of his small efforts to teach visitors about his people's dignified past.  We're proud to have Gerardo on our team and plan on incorporating him and his wisdom into more class offerings in the future. 

Jorge Salazar
Jorge was born and raised in Mastatal.  He founded La Iguana Chocolate and currently manages a successful chocolate business from his family farm just outside of Mastatal.  He's an amazing person, farmer and translator and is truly the type of person that gives us hope for our planet and community. 

Join renowned Permaculture instructor Chris Shanks for this annual life-changing 2-week experience. The course covers the core Permaculture Design curriculum including applications of Permaculture in diverse settings and techniques for meeting human needs that harmonize with ecological patterns. Lectures and hands-on work will explore bioregional designs, natural building, renewable energy choices in North America and the Tropics, agroforestry, composting toilets, methane biodigesters, watershed management, community development, tropical and temperate garden and orchard design, energy and nutrient cycling, and the integration of animals into cultivated ecosystems. Local experts on organic production and goat management will make guest appearances. The course will conclude with students doing their own Permaculture site design. Permaculture design benefits community leaders and professionals in the fields of architecture, planning, ecology and education.