Dry Season Flowers

Gurania makoyana

Take a look at the fascinating bloom of Gurania makoyana (f. Cucurbitaceae). Barry – is that the right name? This plant grows well down at the edge of the forest at Tigre hill and the bloom lasts for weeks. Lots of wild flowers and vines are in bloom at the moment – Ageratums, Iresines, Lobelias and species in the mint, daisy, verbena and Morning Glory families by the score! 

Here’s a picture I took today down in the lower pasture of Tabebuia rosea (Roble de la Sabana). You can see the pink and yellow blooms of Tabebuia species all over the Central Valley right now. They are deciduous - dropping all their leaves prior to flowering - so the canopy becomes a totally eye-popping show. The Cortez Amarillo (Tabebuia ochracea) is also in full bloom right now in the coffee fields nearby but, here at El Tigre, the tree has still not dropped the leaves, so we don’t expect flowering until later in the month.

Another yellow bloom in the Trumpet Vine family sparkling up the roadsides is Tecoma stans (Vainillo) a small tree that tolerates extreme drought and rocky inclines; dozens of Vainillo trees perch jauntily all over the cliff-sides along the highway between Ciudad Colon and San Jose. Note the leaves and flowers together. Willow Zuchowsky writes in “A Guide to Tropical Plants in Costa Rica”, that Tecoma stans can easily be reproduced by cuttings, and that is very true!  Other roadside  trees in bloom: Poro (orange flowers) and Jacaranda (violet flowers).

Nancy, look at the color popping over the Hibiscus shrubbery! Assorted Bougainvillea cultivars (shades of bright pinks) co-mingling with blue Petrea, purple Morning Glories, yellow Allamanda and, for the reddest red (la mas roja - zui duo hong se de) of any flower I have ever seen, Passiflora vitifolia! Such a blast of intense color might assault the sensibilities of, say, those English gardeners who might gasp in shock at a multi-colored Azalea shrubbery in full, kaleidoscopic bloom. It’s all just too bright – too much for the eye!

Or is it? We are having solar flares today – the sun feels too intense to go outside. Thus, I’m typing this while gazing out the window at the transformation of the shrubbery just below. From the smooth, clipped-hedge green, shaped charmingly by Armando these past 5 years, we now see encroaching eye-popping magenta and pink bracts, mixing with red and blue flowering vines crawling here and there. Will Armando manage to tame the tangled monster into something pleasing to the eye without losing the view?  Easy Peasey!  And, yes, it goes without saying that we have added edible vines to the tangle – chayote and granadillas.

Here’s a shot of Danny helping his dad out in the garden. Danny just turned 10 years old and, typical of that age, he’s curious about absolutely everything – gardening, animals, electronics.  If it exists, he’s interested in it! Experiments abound all over the place! Learning comes from failure as well as success; perhaps the best lessons come out of something that didn’t work as expected - understanding why.

Here’s Danny again, helping process the frijol harvested a few weeks back. The guys harvested an awesome crop of beans this year and we feasted on frijol molido for Danny’s birthday! We just began an experiment using spring water to feed a garden in a clearing in the secondary forest, to see what thrives and what doesn’t. However, the dogs wrecked our first attempt, and so we are now fencing in a second attempt…

Poor Flopsy has suffered these past weeks with yet another bout of ‘kennel cough’; it always seems to affect him but not the others. However, as it wouldn’t get better, Yaneth took him to the vet today and came home with meds, including prednisone - poor little Flopsy. Our old dog, Tigre, was in the middle of a course of antibiotics when he went missing, never to be seen again!

Zinc is still a pup, as the destroyed rugs and shoes lying all around constantly remind us. Training puppies teaches all of us patience; a good lesson for kids to learn (and GRAK…). And we’re always learning new things here. I was tempted the other day to get into apiculture (bee-keeping) until Armando - well experienced in the art - told me the story about someone in Puriscal who wanted to get rid of all of it – sell it all cheap – name your price – because the Africanized bees killed his horse and some chickens! We currently benefit from the bee hives located just below on a neighbor’s forested property. There are no animals or people living near the hives and the bees travel up the mountain for the pollen in our gardens and orchards here. We enjoy the honey; they enjoy our pollen – a mutually beneficial situation…

Take a look at Gerry with the most perfect lemon (for his G & T, of course!) Armando has brought home to us yet. If we can’t grow something here, then we buy it from the neighbors. We always buy locally if we can; it keeps the economy rolling along and keeps our own garden experiments to a manageable number. Focus is essential for success. This is a lesson I never seem to learn, however! Hugo just walked over with a bag of coffee, grown at a local farm and roasted in San Jose. Wonderful local coffee! But no, we shall not grow coffee here…


Next time you drive by a rubbish heap, stop your car and take a careful look at it. You might find a treasure there, thus reducing the pile. Last Sunday, University of Peace students and El Rodeo neighbors did an awesome job hauling a lot of ‘stuff’ out of the river - old chairs, tires, broken toys, all manner of debris - and it is now all piled up along the side of the road awaiting collection by the Municipality. But, yikes, the Municipal Truck is broken! However, let’s not complain; let’s take the opportunity to go over there and rubbish hunt. It’s a kind of in-your-face lesson on the Law of Unintended Consequences... Luckily, villagers now have many more recycling options, rather than just hurling stuff out into the creek. I am really very proud and grateful to the UPaz students for taking on this project, along with neighbors of El Rodeo.

February 13, 2011- El Rodeo Creek Clean-Up Day

Take a look at El Rodeo’s new recycling collection area, located next to the village square. Recycling has really taken hold lately in the neighborhood. Patricia and Memo began the center at Memo’s Market, and it was an immediate hit. Many people began to bring their recyclables and, as success built on success, they expanded and moved the collection center to a convenient spot in the village. We have all learned how much less landfill trash we produce when we reuse and recycle.

Now, if only the weekend warriors who flock to the El Rodeo forest would use the recycling bins, rather than tossing their snack trash out on the roadsides! Children have begun educating their parents and the culture (or lack thereof) of throwing trash about willy-nilly has actually become less widespread – but not enough. The time has come to clean up all the trash from the past. Volunteer groups all over the country have begun to organize major clean-up days of their local trash heaps – located along roadways and near rivers.

And the neighbors in El Rodeo have joined with students from U.Peace for a major clean-up day too! Please join us at 7:30AM, Feb. 13th, at the Elementary School in El Rodeo, near the University for Peace, to haul trash out of the creek that flows through the village. Students, neighbors, friends and fans of the forest at El Rodeo – join us and become part of the solution to the garbage problem plaguing our creeks and roadways.

Here’s a picture of Sunday volunteers from El Rodeo cleaning up the roadside trash. Trash attracts more trash unfortunately; but the converse is also true. Over time, volunteers who clean up the El Rodeo roadways have noticed less trash than before, and we want the trend to continue. More people now have a better understanding of their individual impact on the environment – negative or positive – and they want to be part of the solution.

On behalf of the El Rodeo Emergency Committee, I wish to thank all of the drivers who made a voluntary contribution last Sunday morning, entering or leaving El Rodeo, to our river clean-up cause. We collected just over 100,000 colones, generously donated by drivers going by that day, which will be used to provide supplies for the big clean-up event on the 13th. Yes! Volunteers will receive refreshments and lots of gratitude, and we will all have a lot of fun cleaning up the river.

Here’s a picture of our friends, Nancy and Don Adams from New Orleans, visiting Monteverde with us a few weeks ago. It takes a tourist to make a local a tourist, and there’s much to see in this beautiful country. They spent a few days in the Osa Peninsula - a must-experience forest - and then we all went together to Monteverde, which is a cloud forest known for epiphyte-laden trees and a special kind of energy. We have traveled extensively around Costa Rican forests and they are all amazing. But there’s something truly unique about the fresh beauty of Monteverde – you feel like you’re in the lungs of the earth. I had something akin to a spiritual experience years ago while hiking in the rain at the Santa Elena reserve there.

Here’s a picture of Gerry on the hanging bridges at Selvatura near Santa Elena. It was a truly remarkable experience. We also spent time with Willow Zuchowski, viewing some of the delightful ProNativa gardens she has planted around Monteverde. Next time you are in Monteverde check out the gardens at the Estacion Biologica and the butterfly garden at Stella’s café. Willow planted both gardens with beautiful Costa Rican plants. Several years ago, Willow spearheaded the idea of planting native plants rather than exotics. Why would anyone plant an exotic plant, when there are so many native species that will flourish in their own habitat for much less effort? You would be amazed at how some people refer to Costa Rican plants; they call them ‘monte’ - weeds - and they pull out the lovely native plants and put in exotics that, of course, require more care and water. And some of them then become invasive, wreaking havoc on local ecosystems. ProNativa suggests that we plant what flourishes naturally in our environment - go with the flow with respect to nature - and the result is beautiful. Native plants attract native fauna – birds and other animals.

We’ve had a rough time at the Finca these past few days. First, we lost our prize criollo hen to that murderous pup, Zinc, who only just wanted to play… We are now building a secure garden for the chickens, so they can safely feast on kitchen scraps and nature’s insect bounty. But we’re not just confining them because of Zinc. He now knows, like all the other dogs, that chickens are part of the stable yard. But we have lost too many free-ranging chickens to forest predators – hawks, coyotes, snakes, pizotes. It’s not easy keeping free-range, criollo chickens in a forest. But we have a plan…

We also lost our favorite old dog, Tigre, to the forest. We don’t know how or why. We’ve searched high and low but he has disappeared without a trace. We can only think that, since Yaneth was dosing him twice daily to treat an ailment diagnosed by the vet- Erlichia canis, well, maybe Tigre had just had enough of the pills and took off for a spell. That was Sunday.

Then, on Monday, Lola la Vaca’s oldest calf went missing – a big, shiny, black bull named Negrito. He is a sweet calf and very handsome – not destined for the freezer but to father many more beautiful cows! We all love Negrito and are worried sick – we suspect that he broke through the fencing and followed a couple of cows back over to the neighbor’s pasture. We have ample pasture for our four horses and three cows, but not for visiting cattle – they bring fleas and ticks with them as well, which we have pretty much eradicated in our animals, unfortunately starting the whole cycle all over again…

Jose, Danny and I went by horseback yesterday all over the neighboring pastureland and trails looking for Negrito and Tigre. Sadly, there was no sign of either. However, we haven’t given up hope.

Today Saturday – wonderful news! Jose and Jorge went out by horseback again yesterday afternoon and found Negrito down at Limon Pasture – gallivanting with the ladies – just like he did this time last year! It wasn’t easy for the guys to bring him back. He was not quite finished having his fun. But in the end they returned him back to the cow byre where he is resting comfortably.

Snake experts from the University of Costa Rica gave a talk the other day in the Quittirisi Reserve on the topic of venomous snakes. We are grateful to Luisa and Bob for transporting all the guys to the meeting at the Reserve. Armando has dealt with snakes his whole life but he picked up new information at this talk. What could he pass on to us? Basically: first-aid for any snake-bite in Costa Rica is this – calm and transport the patient to the Cruz Roja as fast as possible and they will handle it from there…

ThePlantList.org



Onoseris sylvatica f. Daisy

 ThePlantList.org


This is not just any plant list. This is Kew Gardens, the Missouri Botanical Garden, New York Botanical Garden and more, all jointly deciding what to name every plant in the world! They’ve agreed on the names of 300,000 species so far and are still working hard. So, the first thing I investigate is what they’ve decided to call the ‘Daisy Family’. Answer:

“Compositae!” I wailed out loud.

Gerald heard me from the office and, wisecracking, pedantic Brit that he is, called out:

“Compositae - the Daisy Family. Every schoolboy knows that!”

Of course, Gerald is English. And, as a Yank, I know full well that we are two nations divided by a common language - and that includes the botanical world too!

As the old (new) song goes:

You say Compositae, I say Asteraceae!

You say Guttiferae, I say Clusiaceae!

Compositae – Asteraceae; Guttiferae – Clusiaceae,

Let’s call the whole thing off!

You say Labiatae, I say Lamiaceae!

You say Malvaceae, I say Tiliaceae!

Labiatae – Lamiaceae; Malvaceae – Tiliaceae,

Let’s call the whole thing off!

But, Oooooooh, if we call the whole thing off, then we must part,

And, Oooooooh, if we have to part, then that would break my heart.

So you say Palmae, and I say Arecaceae

And you say Leguminosae, and I say Fabaceae,

‘Cause they’re all just asters, mints, frijoles, daisies,

So let’s call the calling off off, let’s call the whole thing off!

Nevertheless, all joking aside, the vast majority of accepted names have all been agreed upon long, long ago – at least to the Family. And everybody knows that, if you can’t find Asteraceae, you immediately search for Compositae. There are a few more like that – and we can see in ThePlantList that the lads from Kew Gardens got the accepted name.

So we’ll call it the Daisy Family. Y punto.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas - hope this finds you healthy and happy at home with your family.  With the horrible weather everywhere, a lot of people are spending more time at home than expected.  Flights were delayed and cancelled at Heathrow last week, and the blizzard this week has closed down airports around NYC all day yesterday and today.

The Christmas holiday is even a bit chilly here in Costa Rica.  Natasha bundles up in my sweater, as we explore the garden at the Del Mar restaurant in downtown San Jose.  We celebrated Christmas, as has become a tradition, with the other three Horsemen and their long suffering Merry Makers.

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.

Thanksgiving in New Orleans

Hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. It is such an important time during these terrible economic times; not to mention the Wikileaks diplomatic fallouts, The Third World War War games taking place in South Korea….

On Thanksgiving Day itself, we all watched football. More specifically, we ‘Who Dat’ fans watched a Saintly miracle, while feasting on a wonderful, light and incredibly tasty Thanksgiving dinner with friends, Nancy and Don Adams. Their daughter Vanessa is a vegetarian, which provided a fun project for ‘cuisine artist’ Nancy. She even made a delightful stuffing using fruit and nuts, which was spicy and wonderful!

New friends and old friends, new Saints fans and old, a group with highly diverse lifestyles and politics; we all clustered around Don and Nancy’s little, temporarily rigged-up T.V. with one accord, and watched the Saints beat the Cowboys in Dallas with a miraculous display only the Saints could achieve.
Gerry actually went to the first football game of his entire life (he’s from the land of soccer, cricket and rugby) on Halloween Day, when the Saints beat the Steelers. We were in the Superdome that day, when thousands of costumed ‘Who Dat’ fans ‘Made Some Noise’, the likes of which Gerald couldn’t even fathom. And the fact that we were air and weather-conditioned inside that huge stadium seemed an extravagance that left him quite astonished.

We sat near the 50-yard line, thanks to our new Vieux Carre friends, Linda and Bill Miller, who had a family event that day and, very generously, gave us their season tickets. What a day! I even enjoyed queuing up at the Ladies Room (necessary twice that day, thanks to the exceedingly large Daiquiris). Thousands of the fans dressed in incredible, sometimes hilarious, outfits, trying to make it into the Guiness Book of World Records for the most people in costume at one event (I think we made it) including the Steelers Fans. We were very happy to see them in town.
Since we have adopted New Orleans as our hometown, we are always glad to invite friends and tourists alike to come and enjoy a few days here. There is a chemistry here that is hard to describe - but it is irresistible nonetheless!

Dave the Dude, aka ‘Pestilence’ (of The Four Horsemen), visited us back in October. We spent the first night celebrating and then he spent the next two weeks recuperating. He’d fallen and whacked his elbow – luckily x-rays showed it not broken but badly inflamed. So, the hospital prescribed analgesics, hot & cold packs, rest, etc.
The mischief happened when Gerry and David stopped in at Ryan’s Pub on the way back home from dinner. I was tired and went ahead to go to bed but those two didn’t show up until hours later. Our friends who own Ryan’s, Jessica and Martin, later told me what they drank. Shot after shot of bourbon. However, on the positive side, nursing David back to health gave me the opportunity to pass the time studying Mandarin. Gerry gave me a Rosetta Stone Mandarin course for my birthday. So now I have to walk the walk: learn Mandarin! But it’s not easy. The calligraphy is driving me nuts right now. However, at least, I now understand why Asians are naturals at math and music. Their language and calligraphy explains a lot about their culture.

Why am I studying Mandarin? Because I would love to study Hunyuan Taijiquan with Grand Master Feng in Beijing, student of Fake, and Feng only accepts students who speak Chinese (and are already very competent in the art, of course). Yes, Maria, I know I’m a wee bit obsessed.
I would be so honored to be allowed to study with Master Feng’s students. But first thing is hard work: Mandarin. Ni hao! The anglicized alphabet is easy. However, the calligraphy is a whole other world – reading it and writing it!
An important part of Thanksgiving Day here in New Orleans is the first horse racing day of the season. Vanessa and Daphne, dressed up with charming hats and outfits, went to the big event – apparently it was sold out and totally festive. And it was all organized to be over by early afternoon, so that everybody would have time to feast at home and/or watch the Saints game, which started at 3pm…

We don’t know if Jessica and Martin had one of their horses in the race on opening day, but I have no doubt that they were personally there, and then off to Churchill Downs. Here’s a shot of Martin and Jessica with one of their thoroughbreds. You see how this amazing creature adores Jessie? But don’t you just walk into a racing stable and try this – you’re liable to get your ear bitten off! Thoroughbreds are notoriously moody. I remember horse-world pal, Francis Radics, when she tried to enter Joe Hamilton’s thoroughbred into a dressage competition. How that stallion jumped and bucked! She skillfully managed to stay on him – but got kicked out of the dressage ring nonetheless! He just wanted to run…
It’s not always true that horseracing is just a big business. Jessie and Martin adore their horses. You should see the feed room! Those horses eat better than 99% of the population on earth - and I’m talking the human population! And they also retire their horses when necessary to a beautiful farm.
I was so glad for a chance to meet some of their horses. Did I go for a ride? I wouldn’t dare even ask!
But that day at the stables at the New Orleans race track brought back such pleasant thoughts and feelings from the ‘horse world’. I do miss my horses – but I know for certain that Jose is taking wonderful care of them.

We finally managed to get our windows open in New Orleans! No Ali, she is not his daughter. Denise is Corey’s wife! And this wonderful couple did a great job restoring and painting the windows of our flat in New Orleans. Now I can open the windows and breathe in the fresh (?) air. It has completely changed my life here; natural air flowing all through the flat – it’s not the forest but it makes urban living so much nicer!



Suzy's painting of her Mermaid. Nov.2010

 Ever seen a sulking mermaid? Take a peek at Suzy’s sulking mermaid, which Billy actually had her tone down. According to Billy, mermaids aren’t the sulking type. Well, Suzy’s mermaid was sulking, because a big fish was just about to eat her pal, a little fish, and she could do nothing to stop it!
Yes, we spent some of the holiday with my parents in Florida, and Suzy came to visit from Canada. Just like old times, we sat, ate and painted together; she always had more raw talent than me.
Zai jien.

Costa Rica Update

The weather has been terrible in Costa Rica. We are in New Orleans so got the most specific updates from friends who wrote:

Luisa Hughes from El Rodeo wrote, "Our roads have collapsed several times in Rodeo, schools were out for the entire Central valley for 2 days and today one big hill just collapses in Rodeo so we are stuck one more time. The area by the river in Ciudad Colon just got evacuated last night and Escazu has received the most damage about 30 people dead."

Margaret Flaum wrote: "Quepos is cut off. So is Londres where the farms are. No electric, water or food in stores. Raymond, an old friend and old guy, asked our friends Howard and Carolyn what they used to do when we got a temporal. Howard said we partied until the sun came out. We were much younger. Parrita is being evacuated. Those palm oil plantations are flooded and so is the road. Aserri's mountain has collapsed taking 25 houses but the people got out due to quick thinking by the old guy on the mountain top who heard the midnight rumbling. Still looking for bodies at Pico Blanco. Brian is collecting old clothes at the shop."

Obituary Cocktal for Robert Muller

Friends everywhere, please raise your glass today in honor of our dear departed neighbor and friend in Costa Rica, Dr. Robert Muller. Described by Margaret Mead as the most brilliant man in the United Nations, Robert Muller tried to change the world – bringing world peace, by setting an example – and he did it in both large ways and small ways. Nate Perkins wrote an excellent history and tribute to Robert Muller in the Tico Times this week. As one of the co-founders of the University for Peace, Robert Muller set about the task of planting thousands of trees at the University, as well as allowing natural regeneration of forest on pastureland. How can we, as individuals, make the world a better place? Muller described the ways in the thousands. And he shared those thoughts with countless readers around the world over the years. Very best wishes and love to Barbara and the children at this sad time.


Robert Muller’s spirit remains strong in the forest that he helped to regenerate: Zona Protectora El Rodeo, Costa Rica.

Right now, the forest weather is rather cool and misty. Happily though, the flying insects have been damped down by day after day of rain. This is just great pasture weather for the animals. In fact, the horses enjoy the refreshing grazing weather so much, they haven’t returned to the stables for three days! Finally, this morning, Jose fetched them all back to give them some feed, take a good look at them, remind them of the routine, humans,etc. They’re all doing just great.

Also, Lola la Vaca is expecting again, and thriving with her calves out in pasture during this unseasonably cool, misty weather.

It feels like a Scottish highland summer: damp, with frequent drenching downpours, and the sky only clearing to a sort of misty, milky atmosphere that gets everything wet. We’ve had no sun at all for days. It comes out for a few seconds here or there but the clouds quickly swallow it back into the mist.

Solar Power living sure is a lot more fun when the sun is shining! We’ve had no hot water for over a week – I’m getting used to taking cold showers... What’s more, we had a problem with the system, activating the transformer, which only supplies essentials like the water pump and refrigerators. Nothing else works: no television, no lights, no nothing! What an ordeal! Coincidentally, just last week, we gave everybody at the Finca an exercise of thinking about how they would live out in the forest, without any solar power or generator, for an extended period of time. How would we humans survive without power? Everybody got to talking about using wood for fires, collecting spring water – it really gets you thinking about energy consumption when you can’t consume. Luckily, our solar engineer, Carlos Oreamuno from Consenergy comes to the rescue tomorrow. Until then, everybody is prepared for the long haul – even if it means heating the coffee on a wood burning stove.

Also, thankfully, Gerald is in New Orleans. He got out in the nick of time - just before the rest of us had to deal with a landslide, which marooned all the back road farms until the guys managed to dig us out. Then you add in cold showers and no television; yes, Gerry got out just in time...

You will find GRAK quite often at cocktail time at Ryans or Tujagues in the Vieux Carre. Everyday it’s another story.

Home Invasion Alert! We have a pair of wrens trying to invade the house through a small hole up in the sky-roof ventilation. I think they’re the same wrens who nested on the terrace just outside our bedroom a few months ago. Now, with all this rain, not content with bullying the other birds off the terrace, these Rufous-Naped (I think) Wrens want to move inside the house with us! They seem to like the space inside better than outside and don’t care how much we holler at them. They just scold us right back, with their rapid-fire, "chet, chet, chet", flying around leaving bird droppings all over the floor – until we chase them back out again. And even when they're eventually outside, we can still hear them scolding us. We’ve got to get that hole plugged before all chaos breaks loose around here.

Postscript: The sun came out today! Took the horses out. Everybody is smiling and talking about the sun. What an absolute joy!

Another Landslide

The road caved in up the mountain near the sign that says: "Calle sin salida.  No pase."

The guys have been working all day to clear the mess.  And it's just miserable work in this drenching, unrelenting rain.  Many thanks to the Gloors for the truck and Jorge and Alirio for helping to clear the road.

Oh the joys of tropical living!

Finca Meeting, Mozote and Camouflage Artists

When things seem to flounder a bit in life, call a meeting. Sit down at the table with your spouse, kids, or work companions. Set an agenda, and you won’t believe the things you can accomplish...

Here we are, all the Finca personnel, sitting down with a glass of mozote, a very rural Costa Rican drink, discussing more efficient ways to capture and use rain water, conserve energy, implement integrated pest management during the rainy season, plan for the dry season, review maintenance routines and suggest ways to reduce costs. We all learned from each other. Marcia provided an excellent review on mosquito control that nicely tied right into recycling and overall tidiness. And we drank mozote! It was delicious!

Recently, Luis Poveda reminded us of the importance of mozote!  I regarded the plant (Triumfetta spp., F. Tiliaceae) as a medicinal – used to treat mostly gastrointestinal complaints. However, Poveda recently reminded us that mozote – a mucilaginous plant* – is also highly beneficial for intestinal health. It’s like an emollient for your insides! The locals make a drink from it and enjoy it regularly to maintain intestinal health! So, the next day, Armando cut a couple of mozote stems, brought them back to the kitchen, and taught us girls how to make the mozote drink. The plant grows very well in the meadows at El Tigre. However, once the meadow (charral, or abandoned pastureland) regenerates past the scrubland stage and grows into a forest, the meadow plants, including mozote, get shaded out and die. So, to prevent this from happening, we deliberately maintain some of the meadows, where the mozote plant thrives, along with other edible plants, like chan.

Here’s Marcia pointing out the mozote bark. The procedure for making the mozote drink begins by scrubbing the stem and then cutting and removing the outer bark. Inside, you can feel a mucilaginous layer, which you then peel off, cut into chunks, and place in a jug covered with fresh water.

At that point, you put it in the fridge and leave it soaking for 24 hours. Next day, you can easily notice how the water has thickened. And that is the mozote drink! But, if you want it to taste good (it has no real taste by itself) you can toss in a few herbal nutrients or fruit juices. For example, this time we made a separate herbal infusion (Stevia, to sweeten the water; a variety of mints; and pineapple sage) and, just before serving, mixed the cooled herbal infusion with the mozote liquid. It was delicious! We all drank two glasses of it (except for GRAK, of course) and walked away from our gathering feeling just great.

Regarding mozote, Luis Poveda wrote: "Muy estimada Victoria, recuerde que el mozote se puede mezclar con limón ácido y grape fruit, sabe delicioso también con naranjilla, carambola, casy otros frutos, es excelente para problemas de colitis, gastritis, estrenimiento y refrescante."

Gracias Maestro!

Take a look at this amazing camouflage artist. This insect looks just like a leaf! I took a picture of him here being held by Yaneth, and then another of him hiding in the hibiscus foliage. Can you see it?

*Mucilages are hydrocolloidal polysaccharides. I found the following description in ‘Herbal Medicine’, by Rudolf Fritz Weiss, MD: “Mucilaginous plants owe their name to the fact that they contain slimy substances. The slime or mucilage envelops and protects badly inflamed mucous membranes, including those of the stomach. At the same time they have a bland effect, binding gastric acid and irritant decomposition products.”

Squeezing out Torsalos: a Tropical Pastime…

Here’s the first of a few pictures showing Armando squeezing a torsalo out of Eddie the Beagle. I have written about Botfly larvae before and, no doubt, will do so again. Torsalos are part of tropical life, especially if you own dogs or cows. They are not something to fear – you just have to learn the life-cycle and deal with it. If you don’t want to deal with torsalos while visiting Costa Rica, don’t let the mosquitoes bite you! The vector for Botfly larvae is the mosquito!

You can Google lots of information on Botflies but, in a nutshell, the cycle starts when a mosquito that is carrying Botfly eggs lands on a dog, bites and feeds - and at the same time deposits Botfly eggs onto the skin. If the conditions are correct (hide thickness, etc.) larvae hatch under the skin and begin feeding on the host – in this case, our Beagle, Eddie; the larvae then grow under the skin and, after a period of time, drop out onto the soil, shortly thereafter turning into Botflies, thus completing the cycle. I have read that some entomologists have allowed Botfly larvae to develop undisturbed under their skin, but I don’t know of anybody who has done it. Everybody we know in Costa Rica feels exactly the same as we do about torsalos: kill them! Squeeze them out! Break the cycle! But make sure you know what you are doing!

If you don’t know how to squeeze the larvae out completely intact and alive, then don’t even try! You could make a mess of it, causing a major inflammatory reaction and infection. I suspect that messed up torsalo extractions account for a big percentage of visits to the vet. Every rural village, however, has an expert in extracting torsalos! In our case, it’s Armando. It just takes him a few seconds to massage the larva into position and then he just pops it out! If you don’t know somebody who can do that, then take your dog to the vet! And remember, there could be multiple larvae!

In our experience, we have rarely seen torsalos in cats or horses. Some dogs get pestered more than others. Why? Because some dogs let the mosquitoes bite them! Watch your dog when a mosquito buzzes near him. Most dogs will whirl around and snatch the mosquito, snapping their jaws shut; snatching it right out of the air and eating it! But mosquitoes do not let sleeping dogs lay and, unfortunately, Eddie falls into a deep slumber after a big meal - this is the second torsalo Armando has squeezed out of him this week! And he does not like the procedure one bit. The other dogs are so patient, understanding that we’re trying to help them; they sit quietly and bear the discomfort as Armando squeezes away - but not Eddie! When we have to squeeze a torsalo out of Eddie, it’s a major production. We need at least two people to hold him still and keep him from biting at Armando! As soon as Armando starts extracting the torsalo, Eddie starts to struggle and agitate, howling the whole time at the top of his lungs - and he’s strong! In fact, he twisted and agitated so much, that I had to put down the camera and help Yaneth with him, so that Armando could finish the job!

At last, done! Here’s a shot of Armando holding up the intact, living torsalo he squeezed out of Eddie. Most dogs actually eat them! As always, Eddie instantly felt relief. I massaged the area a bit with a dab of herbal cream with camphor, and Eddie trotted off to join the other dogs for breakfast. Some sources recommend suffocating the larvae, by putting Vaseline or some such goop on the skin over the air-hole to facilitate extraction, but I think that works better on humans than dogs because they just lick everything off.
For Lola la Vaca and her calves, we use the ‘big gun’: injectable Ivermectin, which kills both internal and external parasites, including torsalos. We also regularly bathe all the animals – forest living requires a multi-pronged approach in dealing with ‘plagas’ for both flora and fauna. In general, the lazy organic gardener’s approach – and perhaps the most effective in the long run – is the food-chain. If you see lots of grasshoppers chomping down this season, just watch the birds fly in!

Gerry’s just back from New Orleans. Go Saints! It looks like they’re still doing their Second-Half Magic! As always, we unloaded the suitcases full of goodies from the States not easily got here in Costa Rica. Years ago, we hauled back stuff like horseradish, but now Costa Rica sells all sorts of interesting edibles. However, even now, there are still things we have trouble finding, which must be hauled back from trips abroad. This trip, when Gerry had purchased everything on our mechanic’s list needed for our Jeep Grand Cherokee, his luggage was notably over the weight limit, even after splitting the stuff into two bags! I could forget my electronics wish list and everything else…

He didn’t notice what I had done to the hedgerow until the following morning. And, like everybody else who comes from the north, upon viewing the scene depicted in this picture, he believed that I’d gone completely bonkers – massacring our gorgeous, flowering hedgerow. Why not leave the hedge to grow and age, like the magnificent hedgerows all over the English countryside? Because we live in the tropical world – in a forest, with only a small clearing carved to allow in sufficient sunlight for solar living. You have to prune shading plants away from your solar panels! This is a major cause of power drop when consumption remains the same, especially during the rainy (growing) season.

There have been so many rainy, cloudy days this season, that the few sunny hours we do get become highly coveted. We need to maximize as much sun as possible for the fruits and vegetables planted in our small clearing. However, in the meantime, the shrubbery has grown and sprawled, shading and keeping areas damp. It’s the September ‘Menguante’ – time for a major pruning! The hedgerow is actually known here in Costa Rica as a ‘living fence’, comprised of plants that accept and even thrive from a right proper pruning! Our hedgerows are made up mostly of Megaskepasma erthrochlamys, Gliricidia sepium and Dracaena species (locally called Itabo and Cana india), along with a scattering of Bursera simaruba. All of these plants and trees not only thrive with pruning, but you can plant the pruned stakes right back into the hedgerow, making the ‘living fence’ even thicker and less penetrable than before. Thus, we keep the dogs in! And we let the sun shine in!

Kids to the Waterfall, Big Spiders, Grapes, etc.

Happy Mother's day to all you moms out there. Here's a shot of Yaneth - Celebrating Mother's Day weekend by hiking to the waterfalls with Armando and El Tigre Kids. I took this shot after they all got back - not a hair out of place.


Armando was supposed to guide Luis Poveda and some University students down to the old forest, but stuff always happens… So, instead, Armando guided all the kids down to the waterfalls. Yaneth went too – it was her first time trekking to the magical place – what a way to spend Mother’s Day weekend! I couldn’t go because my clavicle still isn’t strong enough; you have to rock climb down there, so you need strength and agility. Armando has learned over the years how to guide people safely – and kids are naturally agile!


Karla took all the waterfall pictures this year; she’s a natural artist. It’s such fun looking at pictures of something as beautiful as the waterfalls – a place I know very well and love – seen from a different perspective, through the lens of someone else, in this case, Karla. Great pictures, Karla! You captured the day from beginning to end; I really felt that I was with you all! I’ve selected a few of the 165 pictures taken yesterday and posted them here, just for the memories…



Take a look at this furry fellow! Magnificent, isn’t he? Actually, it could be a female – they are normally larger and friskier than male arachnids. But one thing’s for sure: this is the biggest tarantula I’ve ever seen! Not that I see them often... They generally burrow below ground or hide in trees during the day and emerge at night to hunt. But this particular spider came up on our terrace the other night, probably to escape the rain. However, he almost didn’t survive the following morning. One minute he’s slumbering peacefully along with Fea, inside her cat-nap box, and next thing you know - here comes housekeeping! Marcia took one look at it and chased it out of Fea’s box, brandishing a can of Baygon (we use Baygon only sparingly - for emergencies only - defined by the observer). The spider scuttled off fast, climbed up the wall and around the house, Marcia right after him with the spray. But he got away and Marcia returned to her tasks - out of sight, out of mind.

Later, when I returned from my walk, Marcia told me about this huge spider she’d chased off and, of course, I just had to find it and see for myself!
So, after a bit of searching, Marcia discovered him hiding under the gas tanks. He was still alive, but he was moving somewhat languidly, definitely no longer up to speed. Most insects would have been killed instantly with just a whiff of Baygon, but this was a big tarantula. Armando looked at it gravely and announced that some of these species are venomous! Apparently, tarantula bites hurt more than the venom, but their urine is caustic! Still, we all agreed that this was a magnificent specimen. We left him alone until the next day, when we found him still alive. Yaneth, who has a way with spiders, just picked him right up, placed him in the sink and rinsed him off for a few photos. He still appeared languid, however. Would he survive? There was only one way to find out. Yaneth put him back in the garden on the ground and after a few hours, he began to move away. The next day he was gone – back to the forest. I suspect that we won’t see this furry fellow again, no matter how cozy he found Fea’s cat-nap box.



Fea is known for keeping strange bedfellows! Here’s a shot of her, our 23 year old Persian feline. We rescued her years ago in Pennsylvania and brought her with us to Costa Rica. We figure she’s on her eighth life at this point – stung, bitten, poisoned, fallen, and nearly died over and over again, but she survived it all. Now the old girl totters around the grounds like the Queen Kitty – all the other household animals, and humans, regard her with reverence. There is something special about the old girl. Needless to say, Fea is groomed and pampered daily, but she much prefers going right back outside where the world is so much more interesting than inside the house. It’s quite normal to find her napping in the midst of insects, all giving way, leaving her in peace. Nothing bothers her anymore. But she is the exception. Forest life is not easy on animals, especially during the rainy season.


Take a look at our new pup, Zinc, shown here romping with Danny. Zinc the Pup replaces our beloved Zaguate, Zinc the First, lost to the forest a few months back. Like the late Samantha and then Spotty, Zinc had a fatal hunting instinct, though he survived a lot longer than we expected. The forest took his sister Maggie some years before. And finally the forest took Zinc. Luckily, the other dogs are more territorial, having a stronger instinct to please and stay near the house. Thus, they survive; only suffering from the normal ailments that every other dog owner deals with. Sol got a sore that wouldn’t heal, so we took her to the vet, who removed a tumor, and she is now on the mend. All the other animals are currently doing well. However, with this relentless rainy season, we are constantly battling parasites and biting insects – rotating repellents and other remedies. The chickens really help! They scavenge for grubs all through the stable area, and follow Lola la vaca and her calves all over the place. And then, when the animals head out to pasture, other birds take over as insect-eating escorts.


Here’s a shot of Luis Poveda collecting native, forest grapes (Vitis tilifolia) ripened on the vine. There is a very short window of opportunity to collect them before the birds get them. He filled two bags and took them to the University to conduct an analysis of their nutrient value. Poveda is attempting to quantify the nutrient and medicinal properties of plants, in order to use the information to convince Costa Ricans to rediscover the value of the flora growing where they live. Why purchase imported spinach, when you can grow and eat the wonderfully tasty, nutritious, and native, Chicasquil or Zorrillo?


Here’s a shot of Chicasquil (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius) - an easy to grow shrub that does well in the smallest of gardens. Everybody should grow one or two! There is so much to eat in the forest – you just need to know what and how. We even collected a bunch of Eugenia cartagensis berries and produced a very nice liqueur! GRAK suddenly became interested in botany at that point…

Another time, Poveda showed up with a post-grad chemistry student, William Zamora, from the University of Costa Rica, and they collected Zanthroxylum monophyllum for analysis at the lab. William is also interested in Croton draco (Targua) sap, renowned for treating gastritis, amongst other ailments. We plan to collect the sap during the waxing moon (local tradition) and take it to him at the U. I’m keen to check out how they set up large-scale distillation equipment. We’ve got hundreds of citronella and lemon plants growing at El Tigre, which require distillation to collect their essential oils – key ingredients for concocting insect repellents.


Here’s a shot of Targua in bloom, with a curious transparent butterfly; just one of many butterfly species taking part in the pollinating frenzy of a blooming Targua! This is high season for butterfly watching – it’s just a magical scene all through the gardens. The flowering Targua attracts a huge number of pollinators – it is literally covered with fluttering colorful butterflies and insects. The tree seems to come alive with moving, buzzing life.


Take a look at the fruiting Sipuruna guianensis. If you rub the fruit, it smells just like a lemony citrus! But it’s not in the citrus family – it’s a Monimiaceae. We have many Sipuruna trees fruiting right now in the forest understory. I sure wish I could figure out how to extract the fragrance…


Here’s a shot of Armando planting Dalbergia retusa (Cocobolo) in charral near the house. Rain, rain, rain – everyday it’s the same. No canicula for Costa Rica this year. Gerald is just miserable with the dreary weather and biting insects; they are just terrible this year, the worst ever! On the bright side, we have a longer planting season. Armando collected a bunch of Cocobolo seeds last season and germinated them in the green house. We planned to keep them for another season but the roots quickly filled up the bag – time to put them in the ground. We would normally never plant so late in the season, but it’s been so wet this year. The trick with trees in the legume family is to hide them from the foraging horses. Armando found spots within the charral as, in our experience, hardwoods do best planted in charrals with companion plants, rather than all alone out in pasture. Don’t remove pioneers, like Cecropia or Tuete, to make room for ‘high value’ trees. Every tree has value! The Cecropia, during its short life, will protect and enable slower growing trees to survive! Tuete (Vernonia triflosculosa) - an effective coagulant - is a very useful companion plant because it attracts and tolerates insect attacks, allowing tender seedlings to prosper. There are so many more examples of companion plants – always think biodiversity…