Home on the Farm

Happy Holidays to you, dearest friends and family! We wish you love, health and joy.

I write to you from Costa Rica. We did not return in time for the 30th anniversary celebration of the University for Peace (UPaz). However we did visit UPaz to hear the students sing Christmas carols – very uplifting. Also, dignitaries from South Korea came to raise their flag on the campus, the result of a recently initiated relationship. This had such symbolic significance, considering what is happening right now:  the North/South Korea border and, in fact, most of Asia, very tense and close to being a tinder box. I felt the moment keenly, watching the South Korean flag (depicting the yin-yang circle) hoisted, joining the other world flags in a gesture of peace.

Now, if only dignitaries from North Korea and China would join those from South Korea at UPaz, raise their flags, shake hands all around, be photographed next to each other by the press, and then go off for a few beers together (or, at least, to a diplomatic cocktail party)…

Gerry calls that a naïve dream. But for that there is a University for Peace - teaching and promoting conflict resolution. So, you never know…

It’s so very good to be back on the farm, and in the forest:  a beautiful tropical forest called Zona Protectora El Rodeo, located at 1000 meters in the Costa Rican Central Valley plateau. It is a healthful, beautiful place for so many species; they not only survive but thrive. In fact, I feel very grateful to be one of the species sharing this little corner of the world; a corner of great biodiversity. At the Finca, all is done simply, following the natural rhythms of the lunar, solar and forest cycles.

But New Orleans is also home - a totally different world from Reserva El Tigre, home of Negrito the calf et al. And I love New Orleans so much more now that we can open the windows (renovated and repainted) and get some fresh air. However, after several weeks away from the Finca, I start to pine for the forest, for the horses, Lola la Vaca, Fea la Gata and the other cats, and, of course, for the multitude of dogs: "Come Flopsy, come Eddie, Tigger and Dilly!  Come Lulu, come Zincy, Chispa and Sol".  Which is is my favorite?  We love them all!  So, what a joy it was to return to Costa Rica in December to all the animals – our guys said that we brought the sunshine back with us!

It was a horrible rainy season for Costa Rica this year – none were spared, though many suffered more than others. The road to the Finca collapsed several times in several places. Sometimes, our guys could get it back open, with help from our neighbors’ workers. But, when there was a major landslide on the paved road to Ciudad Colon and part of it collapsed, that job required a couple of back-hoes and lots of hands.

We were in New Orleans at the time, but Armando later told us how all the local guys came out at the crack-of-dawn on a Sunday to help get the road open in time for school on Monday. We all know that the Municipality would get the job done too - eventually - but in their own sweet time, and only during government working hours...

I asked Armando how he knew to show up at 5 a.m. on that Sunday and he said, “Luisa called us.”

Of course, Luisa. Most positive, motivating, group experiences actually start with someone setting an example and organizing everything; they rarely happen spontaneously. And, apart from effectively handling our own distressing, but relatively minor, community emergency, Luisa also coordinated local donations for victims of a nearby major landslide and flood, as an active member of the El Rodeo Emergency Committee; following up with financial accounting e-mails and spreadsheets to boot!

Luisa, “Thank you for keeping the wheels spinning, and for making good things happen”.
And, with all my heart, a very big thank you to all our neighbors and friends in El Rodeo for doing so much to make El Rodeo an even more lovely place to live.  There are so many examples.  Here's a big one:  Guillermo and Patricia are donating materials to build a bigger recycling collection center in the village, expanding on the one that they started in front of their store.  Success builds on success.  More and more people recycle, reuse, and even pitch in to keep public areas clean.

Now that the sun is shining, the weather is just splendid for walking and riding. Jose brought the animals through the dreadful rainy season looking better than ever. Here you can see all four horses, rounded up for the picture, in the corral.  However, very soon after, they stampeded back out to pasture.  Lola la Vaca is expecting again – due around March. Little Gerry has been successfully weaned and Lola now pastures with her calves. And we have taken a break from making yoghurt – although, I did keep two jars from our last batch bottled in September (update - just opened one and it’s still delicious! I shall keep the other sealed until Lola is ready to share a little milk with us again).




We took the kids out for the annual photo session with their adopted trees, and all had a swell time – although, in some cases, the kids grew faster than the trees! Take a look at Geovanna here with her tiny Nazareno (Peltogyne purpurea). This is a slow-growing tree in the best of conditions but, when planted out here in the charral, it is tough going for all new trees. Still, all the stresses it is enduring will make it grow stronger in the end. Already, the tiny little trunk is tough and strong. Someday, it might even tower over Geovanna - all in the fullness of time.

Here’s a shot of the kids with a Sura (Terminalia oblonga) planted the same time as the Nazareno - it’s a much faster growing tree.

Karla's tree, a Calliandra bijuga is located at the top of the charral, so it receives a lot of sun and wind, and has very sharp drainage. It’s doing okay, however- another survivor from a not easy life!
All of us learn lessons from the forest.

Ardisia revoluta - Tucuico

Now that it has stopped raining, so much has begun to flower. Take a look at this gorgeous Ardisia revoluta (Tucuico). This is a lovely, evergreen, small, highly ornamental tree – very popular with birds when fruiting.

Various Ingas are also in flower – incredibly fragrant. Other Fabaceae, especially forest Bauhinia species, are giving an incredible show.

Lonchocarpus (Chaperno) trees are also in bloom; Armando volunteered on Saturday for the local river clean-up and reported seeing the beautiful violet blooms - he said the trees gave volunteers a nice view as they hauled plastic from the river for recycling.  I looked out the window this morning and saw the beautiful violet canopy just down the mountain.  Which Lonchocarpus?  I'm not sure at this distance.  They are all beautiful.

Take a look at the lovely, yellow flowers of this Senna papillosa (Fabaceae-Caes). All Fabaceae flowers are gorgeous, and I especially love this one because the tree is small and you can see the lovely blossoms up close.

Shot of Zinc (the Second) in a field full of orange daisies. Lots of plants are in flower right now and the show is just getting started. You can see blue blossoms from the mint and Morning Glory families, lots of red and yellow Acanthaceae and Malvaceae – including the delightfully sweet 'Amapola' (Malvaviscus arboreus) - adding color to the understory, and the meadows are now waking up with nodding, delightful daisies. There are so many unlikely colors – magenta daisies – coral milkweeds!

Picramnia sp.

Take a look at the bright yellow fruit of this Picramnia species. Both antidesma and latifolia species grow at El Tigre, with red and orange fruits respectively.  Not sure about what to call this one with yellow fruits - the leaves look like antidesma.  You can see how the yellow fruit goes from yellow straight to black as it matures; it does not change from yellow to orange or to red first.

Witheringia solanaea

Here’s a shot of Witheringia solanaeae. Poveda brought pharmacognosy students from the Universidad Nacional to collect specimens of this. Apparently, they are interested in the intestinal properties of the berries.




Apart from Lonchocarpus trees, there is not much color yet up in the forest canopy, due to the heavy rainy season that just saturated the forest and delayed both leaf-drop and flowers.

We remember last year this time in December, how the entire forest canopy came aglow from the vivid orange Yuco trees all over the mountainside - Bernoullia flammea trees do look like they’re all aflame when in bloom. They’re late getting started this year, however, due to the long, heavy, rainy season. Guachepelin blossoms are just getting started now.

The huge Higueron down the road is in fruit at the moment and is attracting animals of all sorts both day and night. Today, we saw a large troupe of white-faced monkeys, a couple of pizotes and many species of birds, all feasting and paying us no heed. When food is plentiful, we see monkeys and pizotes together feeding on the same huge tree. But we also know that, when food is not so plentiful, monkeys might feed on the pizotes!

We’re glad to see the forest fauna eating the forest flora – rather than chomping down on all the oranges and bananas in the orchards. Apparently, during the rainy season, we were sharing with the occupants of the entire forest, not just with the neighborhood! Armando takes excellent care of the fruit trees with frequent compost feedings – many thanks to the horses', chickens' and Lola la Vaca’s droppings, all mixed together with kitchen remnants. This goes to the compost heap to feed the lambrices, which produce black gold, incredibly rich soil. Oh, how grateful the plants are to get such nourishment, and the trees give back to us wonderful citrus – and more!

So much to eat from a forest garden!  Armando popped over today with a large basket of oranges, some lettuces, radishes, assorted herbs and various lemons; Hugo brought fresh eggs; and Jose gave us some tender green beans and told us that he bought a 'chancho' for christmas - he promised us chicharrones.  La Abuela, Rosa, is busy in her kitchen making tamales for everybody. Yaneth made us a lovely ‘picadillo’ with Chicasquil growing in the Finca. Armando has two varieties of Chicasquil growing – Cnidoscolus acontifolium and C. chayamansa! The former requires longer cooking but both taste delicious and are full of nutrition.

Chicasquil at El Tigre

Note for anybody with interest in medicinal plants in Costa Rica: the Herbalgram from the American Botanical Council published an interesting article on plants growing at Finca Luna Nueva, a property established in 1994 by Paul Schulick, located near Arenal. Naturally, after reading the article, which profiled a few of the species grown there, including Chicasquil, I was keen to read the book! So, I was delighted to find out that it is freely available for download. Semillas Sagradas, co-authored by Rafael Ocampo and Michael J. Balick, PhD, published in 2009, profiles 30 plant species growing at Finca Luna Nueva. I found the information very interesting and relevant – particularly an article on Psychtria ipecacuanha, as I did not know about lower dose uses.
 Go to http://fincalunanuevalodge.com/
 and look for the Semillas Sagradas link.