Hola from Mexico!

[j.w]

That's only about half an hour away from me. Small world!

Drop in on him some time. I know he would love to chat and he's a really nice person. I've known him for years and he's the new Fire Chief of Paamul so pretty easy to find. He does lots of scuba diving there also. Just ask for Phillip and tell him jw sent you

 

[taherrmann4]

WOW is all I can say .my elephant ears last year got 6 ft tall and hoping they did not freeze with the polar vortex .I love elephant ears and canna's

sissy you keep your elephant ears in the ground year round? Do you mulch over them to help insulate?

 

[taherrmann4]

Thanks everyone for your nice welcome and comments. Gordy, the deck railings and all of the wood and stone work for my house was crafted here on site by the Mayan palaperos and albaniles. My builder is a permacuturist so we used all of the trees we removed in clearing the lot on my home construction. Those railings are a jungle hardwood called tzalam. We used the massive Y shaped trunk as the center front support under my living room. Here are some photos of the house and gardens.











Here is the little washtub pond that got me started:




The washtub pond is on the left and the new larger pond is on the right of that center planted bed:



Here you can see the big Y shaped tzalam trunk in the center front of my house with the pond out in front. I look down into the pond from my living room:




My nearest neighbors have a 30 meter internet tower on the roof of their house. They put in a repeater and bounce their signal over to a small receiver I have on my roof. I get a strong signal and good speeds without having to have a huge, ugly tower in my yard.

Great piece of land you have there. Do all the rocks come from your property or do you have to have the hauled in?

 

[sissy]

yep I pick up extra mulch to pile around them to insulate the ground .I am just hoping it was enough after this polar vortex happened this winter .I also lay old rug pieces over the top of the crowns .The bulbs cannot be planted very deep in the ground if you plant them to deep they do not grow as good as the bulb needs some oxygen .That is why I lay pieces of carpet over the top and then put mulch over it in the winter .

 

[Mmathis]

That's just all too awesome! Your house reminds me of the Swiss Family Robinson attraction at Disney World! Well, and your gardens do, too! I think I'm starting to feel "Disney deprived......"

 

[LaSelva]

Great piece of land you have there. Do all the rocks come from your property or do you have to have the hauled in?

The rocks are free for the taking from the sides of the road around here. I've hauled in over 30 tons of rocks in the back of my tiny little Ford Ecosport mini-SUV. I'm going to need new shocks soon. We have very little soil here but the entire area is limestone rock. I use the rock to make raised planting beds that I fill with logs, sticks, leaves, kitchen compost, cardboard boxes, really any cellulose material that will decompose into soil, then I cover the top foot or so with a layer of rich, black topsoil that I purchase from local nurseries before planting. It really is gorgeous stone with lots of holes and interesting surface features. Lots of caves here too. This cave is next to my ponds. It's about 6 feet across and 20 feet deep. There is a narrow passageway that branches off at the bottom of it but I'm not brave (or crazy!) enough to go exploring down there:

 

[LaSelva]

That's just all too awesome! Your house reminds me of the Swiss Family Robinson attraction at Disney World! Well, and your gardens do, too! I think I'm starting to feel "Disney deprived......"

Hah! You're not the first to make the Swiss Family Robinson comparison Mmathis. This place really is like a big tree house. But it's a lot nicer than any treehouse I ever had as a kid! Here are a few pics of the interior:

 

[sissy]

that hole may be one scarey place to get lost in .

 

[j.w]

What a great place to live forever! It's a true paradise

 

[LaSelva]

that hole may be one scarey place to get lost in .

Yep, I went down in it with a rope securing me to a tree on the surface to clean out some trash after construction was complete and it's got some beautiful stalactites down at the bottom, but where it goes off sideways is very low and pitch black dark. Crawling on my belly into a black abyss in the jungle is not on my bucket list.

 

[taherrmann4]

I guess it would make a good storm shelter if you get tornados down there.

 

[Priscilla]

Hah! You're not the first to make the Swiss Family Robinson comparison Mmathis. This place really is like a big tree house.

Okay, its official - you are living my dream!!!!!!! Can you share some more information on your community? I have been looking at a tree house community in Costa Rica. Do you ever worry about crime?

Sorry to bombard you with questions, BUT YOU ARE LIVING MY DREAM!

Hope you don't mind.

 

[addy1]

Beautiful

 

[LaSelva]

Okay, its official - you are living my dream!!!!!!! Can you share some more information on your community? I have been looking at a tree house community in Costa Rica. Do you ever worry about crime?

Sorry to bombard you with questions, BUT YOU ARE LIVING MY DREAM!

Hope you don't mind.

I don't mind at all Priscilla. I joined this forum to share and learn so I'm happy to answer questions. The community where I live is called Los Arboles Tulum. It's about 7 miles from the beaches and ruins of Tulum out in the jungle. There are a few lots left in here and there are similar developments around the region. Los Arboles in particular has the most stringent regulations on jungle preservation and sustainable development so that's why I chose this place. Crime is not really a concern. No more than it ever was anywhere else I've lived. http://www.losarbolestulum.com

 

[sissy]

storm shelter from tornado ,I don't think so if it fills up with water