update from the beginning

i got an email today from the Parypa family, who i met on the way to the vipassana course where i began this trip! here is what the mother, hannah, wrote:

Update on here: we have added sheep for milk (currently milking 2 ewes and have 5 lambs out of them) and built a number of raised beds in the garden. A woman who works with a local program encouraging/training troubled youth to become involved in agriculture recently stopped by and asked if they could do a field trip to our house to show the kids that if an average family like us without a lot of property can do it, so can they! That's encouraging on both sides.

Our curious upside down structure was not exactly a huge success last year; it was a fun experiment but it may come down this season. Or we may try half as many plants and a heavy layer of mulch over the soil surface instead of planting with beans. We'll see...