Pasta Madre, step by step

Making of Pasta Madre, with a bit of Nordic flavour

I finally got sick enough of the miserable bread situation of this country to start making my own. You can ask any Finn how bread should be like - most definitely not the white fluffy toasterslices, the only thing the poor Dutchies have available. So, off to natuurwinkel for some rye flour and to Casa to learn about Pasta Madre it was.

Recipe is a new content type on the site, to facilitate sharing food - more on that (plus making it all look pretty) a bit later... read further to find out how to make Pasta Madre!

Pasta Madre, step by step

Balcony Redesign and Happy Worms

Finally we started our own composting! I remember people trying it out before but the idea of composting was never tackled very soundly. This past week though, Rachel has been using her hands to repot plants and herbs and with redesigning the balcony, as well as creating a workable compost-system. Do you see the little table at the back of the photo, made from scrap-wood? Voilà. Under it you find a plastic container where now the compost goes.

Build Your Own Farm - Free the Hardware!

It is pretty unusual for me to link to a TED-video talk, but this one is so close to the heart and the casa-philosophy that I can't let it go. In this video Marcin from openfarmtech.org explains in four minutes why open hardware is so important, and amazingly groundbraking.

Every Guest a Host: Inside a Nomad-Base

Taking my break last winter I had quite some free time to float around and recap. So I also used my time to write for shareable.net the article Every Guest a Host on what this casa is all about: What is it that makes me wanna do this, why do people like it so much, and what are the little things that make it a challenge to live here?

But more important, how do I find the right words to actually describe something that is so fluid, so creative and so dynamic? Is it possible? Well, let's say I got pretty far with this article and that for a large part it sums up at least how it feels.

casa robino - current looks

casa robino - current looks

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Sewing Machine New World Discovery

Once there was a young lady called Laura who had the brilliant idea to get a sewing machine, and when she moved on to other places, she left it here at casa. It wasn't being used much, mostly because people didn't know it was here. But then yesterday when Emma was using some needles and wires with her hand and when I mentioned sewing machine, her eyes grew wide and sparkled all over.

Now we got some more pillows fixed, and some clothes. And we will give the machine a nice spot for everyone to see it and use.

Map of the World

Map of the World

Pins on the world map indicating where people originally are from. It keeps on growing, but some spots have no space left.

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The biggest catch of trash-food that I experienced so far in this country: 8 meters of table fully filled with veggies, fruit and bread was the result of a dumpster dive tour that I organised in Den Haag last Wednesday in cooperation with Stroom, a Den Haag based art-institute with a focus on the urban environment.

Preparing the Bikes for More Sunny Times

Spring is here, bringing life back into blossom. And so it got time to bring the bikes out again and fix a couple more of them. In winter Zsuzsanna already took care of all of them with some help of Nimi (see bottom-photo), but the snow and cold brought new damage to most of them.

That's why today Ellen, Brian (patching an inner-tube for the first time in his life) and I took care of that and fixed Katherine, Black&Orange (which is now called Tripy), Mama, MyBike and Jaap's Bike. Bikes that remain are Hugo (we need to paint sunflowers on them, and give the chain an oil-bath) Pyjamas (replacing the butter) and Long-Distance (fixing a front-wheel and the lock). And when that's done, we are back to ten bikes, including Pirate and Dumpster Monster. Yah!

Inspirations and Connections

Beautiful Casa,

Wow, what a week of connections it has been. My house mate Ginny and I set off on a little hitchhiking journey down to Asheville North Carolina, where her sweetheart lives doing primitive living workshops etc...

I have been learning how to make bows and arrows (from bamboo, feathers and rocks), how to live in huts built from sticks and leaves, how to eat only wild food, how to tan hides (from roadkill) and make them into bags/clothes/tools... and lots of other interesting things..