The farm is really looking good and Elias and Eber, his assistant, are working hard to produce the best organic fruit and vegetables possible given the challenge of a harsh summer climate.

I just spent several hours touring the farm again with Will, Lynette,
Dylan and Elias.

For all those who are interested our farm is aptly named “Mi Tierra” ( translation: My Land or My Earth--- used for both)
and our motto is: “Remembering the past…….. Cultivating the future”.

The farm honors its Costa Rican heritage by producing mainstay crops
like yucca, cuadrados and quelite ( once utilized throughout CR as a tasty, nutritious green but now subservient to less nutritious, New Zealand spinach!) It is also pioneering new agricultural techniques and cultivating new and exciting nutritional
varieties like the Moringa tree that has tasty shoots and flowers that, when steamed,
taste a little like asparagus and delivers a nutritional whollop!

The more time I spend at the farm the more I realize the thought and
time invested in its infrastructure. For instance, using the
horizontal contour lines of the slopes to plant a variety of different
fruit trees. Mango being the closest to the low-lying areas because it
has greater water requirement than citrus type varieties. Vetiver, a
grass with an incredible root system, is interspersed among these
contours to help retain water and organic material. What is truly
impressive is the simplicity of the system. One irrigation line for
each horizontal contour planting. It works!

What’s on the menu? Zucchini in a week or so, yucca is looking good
and the watermelon is growing fast. I sampled the zucchini in a stir
fry last night and it was “delicioso”.

Stay tuned…”Eating well is Living Well”.


John