E Lane

To clarify, I invested and became a shareholder about 10 years ago when I visited the farm in its early permaculture days.  There were projections of shareholders receiving dividends, which was not my motivation but a bonus I thought.   There does not appear to be a forum for Verdenergia shareholders to transparently communicate about their shares, or about transferring/selling their shares if life circumstances change, and there is no way for shareholders (many of whom do not live in Costa Rica) to communicate amongst ourselves laterally.  The Verdenergia leadership continue to sell shares to new people, and to talk about how the value of the shares has tripled in 10 years, but if I had known that there would be no accounting provided and no way to market my share to someone else (I'd need some basis to substantiate its cost, and I am just trying to get something close to what I paid) I would definitely NOT have invested.   I would love to hear from others on this...

HARVESTING INSECTS FOR DOG FOOD---This is anecdotal, and I have not tried to calculate nutritional value, but it's worth considering.   And a big freezer is helpful.   Setting up old white sheets and tarps at night in spring an summer with a standard light bulb lighting it up.   Wait bout 10 minutes for the night insects to cover the sheet, fold up the sheet and pop into freezer (I put the folded sheet into an old dog 50# food bag, as there were insects on both sides of sheet and I didn't want to spill them).  In this way I have collected up to 10 pounds of insects in one night.  Obviously, this would not work year-round in the Columbia Gorge, so gotta store them (I use old bread bags and compress them after they have been collected from the frozen sheet,  then return them to freezer).   I have some soy sauce in a spray bottle, and the pyrenees and labradoodle both love frozen insects with a soy sauce spray.   I have also sketched out a light trap with a funnel and collection pit/cage.  Hope someone will run with this and teach me something...   Squirrels and scrawny rabbits are a lot of labor to process and cook (or not) for doggie...

Hoping to illustrate and have illustrated here how this intentional community in Costa Rica works regarding shareholders.

Hello, just wondering about others' experiences with Verdenergia.