Hello all! For those keeping track on the building of the organic farm here in beautiful Central Florida (Avon Park), here are the house details:

1) The foundation is up
2) The walls are up
3) The fresh-water well is in
4) Temporary Power is in (of course)
5) The roof is going in!
6) The interior framing should be done by the end of November
7) The rest of the drywall and iterior electrical should be done in December
8) The flooring, fixtures and appliances should start going in January

-Check out my profile on eat.rawfood.com for pictures and a running blog. I'll be putting up a website soon with all the information and activities on the farm, a great forum, and a chatroom with nightly topics for all those that want an ongoing conversation!

-We are a little ahead of schedule - which is good! But I'll post updates!

-Some of the great activites for the farm will be:

1) Weekend health retreats (for the cost of donation only)
2) Yoga
3) Sungazing
4) Health study and discussion
5) Running, Weights, Exercise & Tumbling

-I'll hope you'll keep me in mind - and allow me to be facilitate being your host if you choose to come down sunny Florida way! LOL.

-David Mason

david mason"

<<Running, Weights, Exercise & Tumbling>>


"tumbling" ?
like gymnastics?

trampoline tumbling?

wow... sounds like is gonna be amaaaazing!!
r u still growing all those fab veggies and sunflowers??

Ha! ha! Haven't got a chance to do the gardening thing LaV....been busy with a career! Trying to make a difference...finance the house....etc. But with 3 acres to work with....plenty of room to grow........camp out......do all the fun healthy stuff! Yeah...I want to do lots fun exercise!

-David Mason

Sounds awesome! I will definitely look you up if I'm ever in Florida!
Best wishes.

Hi Dave. What's the projected finish date?

What types of fruit and nut trees do you plan to plant?

I recall you once toying with the idea of surrounding the whole perimeter with fig trees. How about that?

Hey Narz buddy! ETA is now a little ahead of schedule. Plan is March 1st, 2007. Cool huh? First step is to landscpae the front area. We'll start by planting rare citrus along the front perimeter (red navel oranges, honey tangerines, etc.) Then we'll plant fast-growers near the house for protection: Fig, Banana, Papaya, Mulberry, etc. Each tree will be carefully planted with a companion, and both will be very watered and looked after with it's own watering mechanism (a 5 gallon gravity bottle with timer). This way they'll get plenty of sun-charged water! LOL. After those get planted, We'll clear the running path along the perimeter....and be busy hauling around the extra rocks, cactus and debris. That should carry me through till summer! I'll take at least a few days off of work when the house is completed to open and close every window.....check everything out.....put up shelves.....install ceiling fans, etc. Ha! Should be fun!

-David Mason

Sounds like fun. Are the ceiling fans gonna be solar? What about the rest of the place? Are you building with passive solar heating in mind?

Thanks for the update.

Initally, most everything will be normal....but super-efficient appliances. The house will certainly be a little more unique...since everything will be according to my specs. Fully tiled....plenty of open floor space and area rugs.....plenty of shelving....very little furniture...ceiling fans in every room. The initial solar array will simply be a backup for the pump and in case the power goes out....it can provide power to watch tv or run smaller fans. The first upgrade, though, will be to buy additional panels and batteries, and link it into the house power at the flip of a switch.

-David Mason

i like the fig trees ideaz
really nice

David, your farm sounds amazing! I wish I could do something like that. Best of luck to you and please keep us posted!

My dad is in North Florida. He is a fig freak, I think he has over 40 varieties, probably everything known that can grow there. He is also heavily into muscadines and citrus. He has to baby the citrus, though.

He also has pears, apples, persimmons, and loquats.

I can't grow any of that stuff in my yard. It is too shady. I will have to move if I want to eat a lot off my land.