BFREE would like to announce the creation of our first chocolate bar. We have harvested our cacao beans and fermented and dried them before, but this week marks the first attempt to make these beans into chocolate.

We roasted the beans, causing the kitchen to smell delicious, and then spent an hour taking the shells off the warm beans. Maya taught us how to winnow the beans to get rid of extra shells.

Although we did not have a matate and mano, the proper tools to crush the beans, we experimented with a Cuisinart and a blender and mashing the beans by hand to try to release the oils in the bean. We put the resulting mixture in the freezer and the next day, ate the first pieces of BFREE chocolate.

Over the past few months, we have engineered and installed three composting toilets: one near the kitchen, one near the bunkhouse and one near the three new cabanas. This cool system separates the urine from the feces, allowing feces to dry and decompose, ultimately becoming fertilizer. Jacob Marlin and Dan Dourson collaborated to make the design and they are very excited that the project is nearing completion.

The state of the art design will allow BFREE to be more eco-friendly and sustainable. River rocks were collected with the help of Keene High School to use as building materials for the walls. Eventually, these bathroom facilities will have associated educational materials highlighting the conservation design and the importance of saving fresh water.

We are always looking for new ways to improve our buildings and hope to use this design throughout the BFREE property. As Jacob says, “give a shit for conservation!”