by Diane Laughter | Dec 17, 2017 | Landscape Design, Nicaragua, Permaculture, Uncategorized, Water management
What is a swale? A swale is a trench dug along the land’s contour, meaning all points along the bottom of the swale are at the same elevation. Swales at different levels can be connected by adding overflows, the water filling the higher ones first and then moving...
by Brett Rousseau | Nov 9, 2017 | Landscape Design, Permaculture, Water management
Here it is folks, the ViVerde checklist for when you are ready to turn your urban yard into a permaculture or sustainable garden paradise. It won’t be easy to follow these steps patiently when you are so excited to get planting, but good planning is everything...
by Brett Rousseau | Apr 6, 2017 | Landscape Design, Permaculture
During this stay at ViVerde, I tackled the landscaping of the prominent hillside stretching down from our “Centro”. It is not only our main view from our open air dining area , but it also gets the most sun on the property. Because of its proximity to the...
by Brett Rousseau | Feb 19, 2016 | Landscape Design, Permaculture
In the past year and a half we have planted over 150 fruit trees and shrubs, including 40 different species: banana, avocado, lime, coconut, pomegranate, and other exotics like cacao (chocolate pod), ojoche nut, jackfruit, nispero, surinam cherry, star apple, and many...
by Diane Laughter | Sep 15, 2015 | Animals, Art, Construction, Landscape Design, Permaculture
Okay, it has been a while since you heard from us, way too long. If you know us, though, you know we have been busy, so busy. Since the beginning of this year, Gerard and I both filed for and received our Nicaraguan residency, registered our business, ViVerde SA...
by Diane Laughter | Oct 7, 2014 | Animals, Landscape Design
We moved to our 15 acre farm at the end of August. The month before the move, we were busy procuring what we needed to set up our own housekeeping (the Granada rental was completely furnished). We had fun working with a local metal shop to design and make grillwork...
