Sandbagging Costa Rica Style

With the seams of our home (hopefully!) no longer leaking were ready to progress to the next steps in burying the Coconut.

After a lifetime in the states watching various sandbagging efforts via the news – admittedly never having been part of one myself – I just kind-of took for granted that sandbags were pre-assembled things delivered by the sandbag fairy on the back of a flatbed truck.    I was misinformed.

Enter sandbagging Tico style. The sandbags covering the house are homemade 8-foot long sleeves filled with dirt.  How do you effectively pack an 8-foot long sleeve with dirt, you may wonder.  Take a 5-gallon plastic bucket, remove the top and cut out the bottom to create a cylinder, feed the sleeve through the hole and pack with dirt 5 gallons at a time, slide over, pack in 5 more gallons of dirt, repeat (repeat, repeat, repeat…).  When it’s time to seal the bag just fashion a shank from the discarded plastic, add a hole, thread it, and begin sewing.  Martha Stewart, eat your heart out.

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