ABOUT US
Jason & Caitlin
We are a couple of nontraditional educators, farmers, wilderness guides and natural builders, born and raised in the Northeast US in occupied Wabanaki territory, among the lakes and forests that stretch between the White Mountains and Atlantic coast.
We each first came to the Himalayas as students in the mid 2000’s, and since then have felt our lives moved and shaped by what we’ve experienced here.
We feel great love and commitment for the people and land of both these places. We’re doing our best to find a way forward in difficult times, trying to bring some benefit and do as little harm as we can.
Tar Yul, Ladakh
ཏར་ཡུལ།
Tar is a small village in the western part of Ladakh, tended by a community of twelve households for many generations. To our eyes, it’s an impeccable, ancient permaculture of barley, wheat, field peas, vegetables, alfalfa, apricots, willow and poplar, sheep, goats, cattle and humans, sustained by a precious abundance of glacial melt flowing down from a vast watershed above. At this time it is a two hour journey by bus from Leh, followed by a 1 1/2 hour walk up a canyon to reach the village, though construction of a road for vehicles has just begun.
We came to Ladakh together in January of 2015, and since then have felt amazed and grateful beyond words for the welcome we’ve received here. The Tarpa have been the kindest and most patient teachers, helping us learn language, song, and every aspect of the work that sustains the life of the village. Tarpa tsangme skutin mi zhet!
ཏར་པ་ཚང་མའི་སྐུ་དྲིན་མི་བརྗེད།
OUR STRAWBALE HOME IN MAINE
Over the course of a dedicated year of hard work, with the help of many kind friends and neighbors, we built a 15′ x 20′ home of pine, cedar, straw bales, clay plaster from the land where we live, recycled glass, and precious iron and steel.
The next summer we offered a natural building workshop, and collaboratively created a small guest cabin of the same materials.
We love working with our bodies, with friends, with plants and earth; we love that most of our waste materials became kindling and garden mulch. We hope that our home may offer good shelter to many beings over the years, and that in our lives we may have the chance to help others create beautiful homes they love to live in.
