Check out this lovely bouquet of edible flowers amongst some zesty salad greens! These edible flowers are delicious in many recipes! Especially in salads.

I'll tell you, one of my favorite greens are dandelion greens! I don't know what it is about them but the flavor drives me crazy! Put me out to pasture! I am ready! I could graze on those leaves all day! Dandelions are an incredible intruder and can take over your yard quickly. So why not eat them? (See below for more info and dandelion history.)

Color is going to have to take precedence in my edible garden! In the last post I mentioned my plan to sneak in the veggies between decorative plants..... well now I am leaning toward lots of edible plants! I guess it will be necessary to plant some ornamental plants that I can't eat or I will be back to square one, with an empty garden!

Photo Courtesy of  San Antonio Garden Express News
GARDENING, Etc. Sunday, July 4, 2004

The Dandelion is pretty much edible through and through.... roots, stem, leaves and flower. I'd stay away from the puff ball... as a matter of fact, I would probably eat the weed before it had a chance to go to seed! Best to eat the flowers when they are young. They are not bitter that way. The leaves as I mentioned, are a definite must in my salad! The stem is used in some cooking recipes and the root has medicinal value.

The forefathers who came to America, came equipped with their dandelions! In fact, the Europeans continued to use flowers while colonizing the new world.

Flowers have been popular edibles throughout history and have recently made a come back in the last 15 years. Martha Stewart made flowers a part of a posh addition to serving salads which really gave flowers a boost beyond decorative purposes.

I plan on trimming my leafy edibles when I want a salad, and keeping the actual plant in tact until the season is over. That goes for lettuce, spinach and dandelion greens to name a few.

 Photos courtesy of: aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/.../EdibleFl.html

Look at all that edible color! Great looking in the garden too! There's a wealth of information about what flowers are edible, what parts you should eat and what parts to avoid.  Many of my flowers that will be planted this year, will be edibles! I'll admire their beauty and then I"ll eat them with honor! 

Remember, squash flowers are beauties and are edible too! Get a jump start on your zucchini's and eat some of those flowers before they turn into babies! Baby squash practically grow to a humongous size within a day or two so large, that a group of jolly green giants could eat those giant sized squash to satisfy their ravenous hunger and big bellies! That's how large zucchini's get with in a matter of a few days! (If you can imagine that!)

A great way to thin your zucchini before it even grows... eat the flowers! Of course, you will want to let some flowers alone to produce the squash.

Most herb flowers are edible, but again it is best to check out charts on all flowers from accredited Universities and their agricultural divisions for reliable info. on edible flowers. Then, check out some of the various recipes you can use your edible garden flowers for! 

Just a quick note about pansies (shown on the left), they look great on cakes and can be a part of every bite!

In the next post, I'll talk about herbs and how decorative, colorful, edible and medicinal they are! I'm hankering to get my garden started! Alas, this year I"ll be a late bloomer! The house is still in a disarray due to the remodel. Once it's finished, it's on to the green remodel in the garden!

All of this gardening experience, classes and research are leading me to my ultimate destination and my green dreams in Costa Rica on the coffee farm. You can check out previous posts for photos and info. on our coffee farm!

                   I'll leave you with this appropriate video to this post of a first timer in a vegetarian restaurant!

First Time In A Vegatarian Restaurant - Funny videos are here

        

Presently, we are remodeling our house in Boulder and will re-do the garden in front and in the back. I'll provide some before and after photos once that happens. This year, I am going to continue with container gardening but I am also going to grow some of my veggies between ornamental  plants in the garden.

The photo to the right shows purple kale mixed between flowers and some other decorative plants. Planting some of my vegetables between flowers  and some other decorative plants should achieve a colorful effect.

               
The idea is to inspire my neighbors and encourage them to do some veggie planting between their ornamental plants and to container garden and I MUST grow my own veggies no matter where I am! I could be in an apartment with no patio or balcony and I'd figure out how to have a decorative kitchen garden!


My Colorado garden won't be quite this green, but I'll give it a go with many colorful flowers and perhaps some Swiss chard like this photo on the left shows.

I'll be planting my garden late so I'll really have to consider where my leafy veggies can be planted, calculating where the sun will move in the season and planting veggies where they can get shade from their older more established neighbor yard plants. Herbs will be a big focus and medicinal flowers this year too. I'll plant onions and garlic for good green measure.

I'll use some of the bio-intensive methods I have learned from previous gardening classes, where I will save space on gardening and water too!

Check out the photo above. The foreground shows Echinacea flower.  I eat Echinacea every day in concentrate. I take breaks from it though, just to give my body a break from the routine. I have not been sick with a cold in quite a few years, so perhaps the Echinacea assists with keeping my immune system strong.



Squash is a great decorative veggie that I plan to integrate into our ornamental plants. Herbs such as crawling thyme are good for border plants. Pole beans are very decorative on a trellis too. There are several ways to get creative in the garden by sneaking veggies in between your ornamental plants! This little girl is checking out the squash plants in an ornamental garden!







My veggie plants won't know the difference of whether I plant them in rows or between ornamental plants or in pots. So I'll draw a layout of where I want my veggies to blend in and consider how they will look when providing color and interest, while keeping in mind what each veggie plant needs to grow healthy and abundant.

These will be my three simple steps to plan my decorative veggie garden this year:
 1. First, I'll draw a plan by assessing the layout of my front and backyard. I'll take a look at full grown ornamental plants and veggie plants when making my decisions.
2. Then, I'll consider the visual impact the veggies will have. Of course I'll consider the harvest too.
3. Finally, I'll consider structures such as walkways and fences when making my veggie garden decorative.

This year I'll grow lots of leafy vegetables along with runners such as strawberries and crawling herbs. I'll possibly grow some peas for vine crawlers and plenty of decorative and edible flowers too! This year is the year for the Boulder garden in the United States. Each year my gardening techniques and methods improve. I'll need these skills when I finally head for my green dream on our coffee farm in Costa Rica. "Finca Lilo de Biolley" .....  I'm always daygreening about having a greentastic time there! To translate all that green talk I just said; " I'm always daydreaming about having a fantastic time there!".

Check out this green extravaganza above! Onions, lettuce, mustard greens, flowers and more! Nicely woven in together to add a very decorative effect!


Alas, my gardening will be a late start for me this year.  I am busy with work and travel along with remodeling our home. I'll need to consider the fact that I am going to be planting late in the season this year when making my layout for a decorative veggie garden. In the meantime, I'll be researching late garden bloomers and late garden growers!

In the next two posts I"ll talk a bit more about edible flowers and herbs. In the meantime "pura vida" to all and, keep growing!

        

Our final update from our whirlwind 8 day trip led us down to our river on our farm in Biolley. It was rushing along just as we found it during the rainy season but not quite as high and fierce. Still, the "Rio Platanillal" had a good swift current rushing by.
 

                             Our favorite fall on the finca (farm) from "del Rio Platanillal"

It doesn't appear in this photo that the water is wild here but it is. Especially in the middle of the rainy season. The hole below the main one (hole 2  below the big hole, barely noticeable in photo below) is much calmer right now because the rainy season is just starting up again. This main hole in the photo below ( hole 1) is approximately 40 feet wide! Swimming hole 2 is not accessible yet. As we mentioned in the last entry, the "fer de lance" ("tercio pelo" in Spanish) serpent is around the river . It's a deadly bite if you do not have enough anti serum. We are going to clear direct paths to the river and keep as much sunlight as possible on the paths so that the snakes don't come around as often. I believe that if the path is well travelled, the snakes will stay away.

The rules and responsibilities will always be to have enough anti serum just in case, and that anyone who ventures to the river does not go alone. My husband Bruce and I made lots of noise and walked on logs and rocks rather than over them so that the snakes could tell when we were coming. We only saw one  snake hole and we are not sure if it was a snake hole really. Ricardo our worker and farm manager tells us they are around, so we will always take caution. When we first trounced around on the property in our last two previous visits, we had no idea there were fer de lances around and we just walked along merrily through the jungle to the river.

                                                                        Swimming holes 1 and 2

Domingo the former owner at that time, while showing us the property,  walked around with us down to the river and even went under the brush!!!! He was clearing some of the thicket under this massive amount of brush and trees but didn't mention the snakes. Ricardo our farm manager, laughed when he heard that. He deduced that Domingo wanted to sell his property! We don't regret it however not for one bit! We thank Domingo for selling it to us! Besides, no one in Biolley (our pueblo) has heard of anyone getting bit by the fer de lance. There are coral snakes too, but the cowboys around here are pretty fast with a machete and can kill them quickly. A neighbor farmer friend did just that one day on his property and brought the dead coral snake on his machete to show us.

                     The astrophysicist out standing in his field

My husband is a "daytime" astronomer. He studies the sun..... of course there's more to it than that, but he is ready to go part time very soon  and for the other part time job, he'll become a farmer with his green farmer girl Jubie! There is one thing I must tell you about my wonderful husband...... ask Dr. Science he knows everything! Of course he is not one to ever let on to that! After all, no one knows everything! Except for your green girl Jubie! Now there's a different story! You have know idea of how all knowing she is! Dr. Science however, is as humble as can be and just loves his new green surroundings.

 I love my hubby and am eternally grateful for all the joy and happiness he brings me. He is truly the kindest person I have ever met! We are both working hard to finally settle down in Biolley on our farm. Of course we have to deal with our concrete jungle in the states for now, until the day will finally arrive to settle in on greener pastures.

                                     Lucky! The green jungle dog!!!! He eats bananas and LOVES them!

Lucky (Pronounced "looky" by his master) is Rigo's dog. Rigo is our other full time  worker. Lucky escorted and showed us around the finca when we first arrived.  Lucky spent time with me, showed me around the coffee and then spent time with Dr. Science in the far below fields. (photo below)

Lucky and Dr. Science way down there! The place is just too big for my britches!

You can see in the above photo that the land divides in the middle down on the field, that is one of our natural springs . We have another one on the other side of the property. That's good for us to have two significant springs. We will build wells for an alternative water source and we are thinking of making part of this field area in the photo above, our fruit orchard.

                                 Back at the duplex.  Dr. Science is  waiting for the electricity guy to come!

We can't honestly go on painting a pretty green picture without telling you about some of the set backs! When we first arrived to the duplex the electricity lines were in but the electricity had not been turned on yet... we spent the first 6 days in the dark at night. But we had candles and it was very romantic! We loved it! Of course it was nice when we had electricity too. Funny how you take those things for granted.

We also had to deal with re-digging the front of the duplex for better drainage. We found a guy who is going to make a grate for us to go in front and to the sides of duplex at a down hill slope. Canals will be under the grate to carry the water away. It rains incredibly hard in Biolley! Probably some of the hardest and most rainfall around the country. Still, it is amazing how many of the days in the rainy season are days when the rains don't come in until about 12PM or 1PM. There is still quite a bit of sun to work with here for future solar power projects such as for drying our coffee beans.

We found out right away that we had to do something quick about the drainage system. The day we arrived,  the water had entered one side of the duplex and was flooding all the rooms! The other side did not get too much water inside and we immediately dug a temporary trench to hold back any rain from flooding the place in the meantime.

                       A real dark sky with heavy, heavy clouds full of moisture just waiting to dump!

The photo above gives you an idea of how dense the clouds get over the Talamanca mountain range. Speaking of water, we had to deal with cold water for our showers until we could get the shower fixture fixed. But that was okay. The "cold" water was not so cold. It was bearable actually! I can't believe I'm saying that! Everyone that knows me knows I am a constant sniveler about the cold! I was meant to live in the south and in the southern zone of Costa Rica. Actually, we have spring like weather pretty much all year round on the finca.

The nights were cool and pleasant for sleeping this time around,  with a gentle breeze each evening. I think on a few occasions at night I got a little chilly but all we had to do was close the window slats and we were fine. I do know that during the "winter months" in July, August, September and October you can experience some chilliness but if you put on pants and a sweater you are fine again. Usually, that would be in the later afternoon and evening. The mornings and mid or early afternoon are warm enough to wear shorts and tee-shirts.

This photo shows a combination of things... the electricity guy, the dug up drainage system, Lucky cooling off on the freshly dug cool earth and the rain coming in!

                                                     A cluttered counter in the kitchen with a green view outside!

With all that hustle bustle going on outside the best thing for us to do was to make lunch! Fresh veggies and fruits from nearby farms was on the menu that day. Ricardo is going to build cabinets for both sides of the duplex. He has quite a bit of experience and is an all around handyman!

Dr. Science wants out! Lunch is finished and  the work is done. Let's go out and explore the place some more!

Down on the field again looking back at our hardwood trees shading the 9 acres of coffee.

We plan to grow more hardwood for our long term investment but have a good start on some good wood above. We have so many wonderful plans for the farm and we are just beginning! We are grateful for what we have and cherish every inch of our beloved finca! Hardwood and fruit trees grow really fast! Many fruit trees grow big and are producing fruit within a matter of 3 years or so. Many hardwood trees take longer, but as long as we keep reforesting and making sure there are plenty of indigenous trees around we will be holding up to our end of the bargain to nature by having at least 25% natural growth and  much more as time goes on. Off to the far right  in the photo above, is where our house will be.

                                                           Your green farmer girl Jubie filming the finca!

Our "pasta" or "grama" (grass) is much greener than the guy across from us. He has too many cows chewing up the place. I want to visit with him the next time we are here. I've heard through the grapevine that he would like to sell his seven hectares to us. We most likely won't buy it but I want to meet up with him anyhow. I also have one more neighbor friend to meet and have heard he is the nicest guy around. That is don Lorenzo and he has a great waterfall just down the river from us! I've heard that his is a massive waterfall. We look forward to meeting him and many more people around the area on our next visit. So far everyone we have met has been very kind and polite.  We have met many more people on our trip this time around but as usual we had to drop in and leave quickly. I insist that Dr. Science and I take at least 2 weeks (I'll try to convince him for 3 weeks at a later date or a happy median therein) next time around.


Standing where the B & B cabins will be. Got my mini-skirt and go-go boots on! If this becomes a google image I best clarify that I'm just kidding!

Those are rubber boots people! And... that is not a mini skirt! It is a skort! Jeez.... the big 50 is just around the corner! No more minis and go-go boots for this green farmer girl!  In the photo above, there  is quite a bit of "monte" brush just below where I am standing. The trees will be trimmed back down by the river and we will put the goats to work on the brush so that our B & B guests have a wonderful view of the river and the waterfall. The sound of the river is very apparent where I am standing!

Stopped by for a quick chat with the kids at the nearby school. It was great to be in the classroom again!

After exploring the finca some more, we dropped off some school supplies and gave a donation to the school in Biolley. Of course Dr. Science and I will dedicate our energies and support the school as soon as we reside in Biolley. The teacher is very serious and dedicated to the school and to teaching the kids. She puts her all into the place. She receives as much support as possible from all the parents around the area.

                                            Class photo!  Dr. Science and Jubie at school with the kids!

This is one classroom. I believe there are two and it appears the kids have different "horarios" schedules. We've offered to spend some time with the kids when we reside in Biolley, but we must do this on a volunteer basis after their required normal school hours. The government of Costa Rica mandates that all children go to school and receive their required education set by the government curriculum. So we told the kids we would do some activities after school for conversations in English through theater, gardening and some science experiments. Of course we will invite them to the finca too. We can't wait to learn from them! I used to teach kids in a different land at a different time in my life. So being back in the classroom was a great feeling!


                                                                     Making my way around the classroom!

We will of course stop by to visit with the kids upon our return next year in February. Until then, we have left them "acuerdos", memories from us in the form of school supplies to work with. In this photo above, I am telling the children that each child is special and that the world is full of possibilities with so much to look forward to!

                                            A happy Dr. Science in the light!

Time to settle down for the evening. A happy Dr. Science with electricity this evening! We will furnish our side of the duplex the next time around. We will have a nearby carpenter make most of our furniture for us. We put a new stove in Ricardo's duplex and he tells us to save our money for other things on the finca and that he has everything else he and his family need. They just didn't have a stove to cook with.


         Morning time! Our air mattress served us well. It's early morning and time to head out.

We plan to make the next trip one that is a bit more leisurely but will have furniture added to our side of the duplex during our next stay. We will assess Ricardo's side of the duplex and possibly have some furniture made for him on that side too.

It was time to go back to the central valley and the big city of San Jose, Costa Rica for dentist appointments, meetings and last minute errands before we head back to the states. We've sold one property that was on the Puget sound in Washington last spring and are now going to jump in to our house in Boulder, Colorado to remodel it and sell it too. We have to stay in the states for the next year and a half or two years, but we want to sell our house in Colorado as soon as possible to use the profits from the sale  to continue to improve our green paradise here in Biolley, Costa Rica.

Goodbye finca Lilo de Biolley! Heading off the farm this is a public access road we built.

We improved the public access road into our finca and brought in the electricity lines.This will increase the value of the property  for our neighbors don Roberto to the right and doña Elizabeth  to the left, not to mention the significant increase in value for our finca.

                                      Our last encounter and a bid of farewell from a green friend in Biolley!

We came across this iguana  on the way out on the main dirt road (off road for 8 miles) to the highway. It was a befitting farewell to our green dream! We will work hard and grow our garden in the US to keep up on our gardening learning curve to learn more about soil, crops and harvests. We will provide you with updates of our US life and gardening as well as finca updates from Ricardo in Biolley. We gave Ricardo an old digital camera we had so that he could send us photos of the finca each month. Ricardo's sister in law has a computer with internet. The finca photos will motivate us to work hard toward our green living in Costa Rica.

Updates in May coming soon! Until then best wishes and as always pura vida to all!

        

Buenas dias! This is a continuation of several blog posts regarding our farm updates in Biolley, Costa Rica. We are excited about our new developments and are truly working our way to living out our perfect green dream! So, let's get back to the farm with more updates and photos! Today's post is pretty much coffee talk.

                                            Good morning Biolley! Another great sunrise over the valley beyond!

Over to the east of the Talamanca mountain range lies the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. Our sunrises over the farm and the sunlight over the fields are truly spectacular! We stepped outside to catch this photo around 5:30AM. This is pretty much the hour the sun rises each morning year round. The sunlight on all that green is truly spectacular!

Heading back to the duplex. The agenda for today is to check out and discuss the coffee plants.

We have discussed the conditions of the plants and the very necessary thinning of the trees above the coffee plants that Ricardo and Rigo had to cut back due to the dryness of the coffee plants. Ricardo explained that there is only one time a year that the thinning of the shade trees takes place  and the coffee plants that are dry need to be cut back to the stump. This usually takes place in January when the moon is full. Ricardo was able to cut back a good portion of the coffee plants that needed it, but he was not able to get all of them this time around. This is due to the fact that the last farmer did not take good care of the coffee plants and many needed to be cut back along with thinning of the shade trees.

These coffee "calles" (rows) have been cut back to the stump leaving three branches on each plant. This is for healthy growth and a good harvest yield.

The leaves are growing back, however Ricardo and Rigo will cut them back one more time before they let them grow again. This has to take place so that the coffee plants grow back hearty and thick. The shade trees for this particular portion of the coffee field have been thinned as well.The hundreds of banana trees  are left alone to provide some shade and natural compost while the other trees and coffee plants grow back during the rainy season. The "leña" (tree trunks and branches) are left on the ground to provide natural compost.

When the Panamanian Indians come during coffee harvest time this year in October, they will use some of  this wood to cook with. Rigo has his own small coffee farm and he has a place where the Indians stay during coffee harvest time. There some Panamanian Indians who come to harvest coffee on Rigo's property, doña Elizabeth's property and ours. There are 5 Indians and their families who come to hand pick the coffee harvest for our particular farms.

The harvesting months can start in as early as September and finish as late as early December.  The Indians cross through on foot from the Parque de La Amistad Naciónal on the Panamanian side into the Costa Rican side and come down to Biolley and the surrounding areas to harvest the coffee. They say that they are paid much better in Costa Rica than in Panama for their laborious efforts.  We look forward to learning more about them in the near future.


Here is a close up of coffee plants growing back. They will be cut back one more time before they are left to grow again. The plants that were cut back to the stump will take two years to produce an abundant amount of coffee cherries for harvest.

We have discussed with Rigo who knows more about the maintenance of coffee plants than Ricardo, his methods and the Kona method. He is pretty much using these practices now and he is familiar with the Kona 1-2-3 row method. We will begin to use this method next year except for the plants that needed cutting back this year and the trees that needed thinning this year will not be included in this coordination. I have discussed the 1-2-3 Kona method in previous posts but briefly will explain it again. The coffee "calles" rows, are cut back as such: 1st row completely cut back to a stump. 2nd row growing back after it was cut back the year before will produce some coffee cherries. 3rd row will produce a full harvest of coffee cherries and will be cut back the following year to become the 1st row and so forth. This allows the coffee plant to live a very long life and produce a healthy harvest.

Calles de café (coffee rows) under plenty of shade trees. These are very healthy rows of coffee plants.

You can see some dried out coffee plants in these calles de café (coffee rows)

We will leave these dried out coffee plants alone and see if they produce some leaves and coffee this year. It is too late to cut them back to the stump. According to Rigo and Ricardo, this must be done in January during the full moon and since they did not have time to get to all of these plants that needed it, they will have to wait until next year. Eventually, we will be able to coordinate our 1-2-3 method for all of our plants.

We are going to bring in natural organic fertilizer this year as all of the plants desperately need it! The last farmer has not done this for years. Eventually, with our new founded bio-intensive gardening knowledge from the states, we will figure out how to make a natural fertilizer for the plants. The leaves, trunks and branches of the plant need to be sprayed as well. Ricardo has mentioned there is an organic spray for them. This gives the plants and especially the leaves the necessary minerals they need to avoid disease and to supplement them with the necessary minerals they need to produce healthy leaves and an abundance of coffee cherries.

I will talk more about growing coffee plants in other future posts as I learn more about this. I am also talking to a few people around the Biolley area to try and get a collaborative coffee production going for fair trade, shade grown-bird friendly, organic coffee so that we can all use the pulp from the cherry to fertilize our coffee fields. This is supposed to be great addition to assist in a rich and fertile soil for the coffee.


This part of the open pasture needs grooming and our farmer friend who keep his 20 cows here will do this first thing along with keeping the lower pasture cleared. The hardwood trees in the background are pretty much shading the coffee plants and have some good value. We will plant many more on the property in the future such as Teak and Bamboo. Of course we will also plant more fruit trees and keep as many indigenous trees to the area on the property as possible.

The next trip to Biolley and on the farm will consist of sending soil samples from the farm in the coffee fields and in the open field so that we can have them evaluated for future fertilization and composting on the farm. It is a major production to prepare your soil and takes at least one decade to become somewhat sustainable with the soil. But for us, it is well worth the venture. We want to share this venture with our nearby farmer neighbors and anyone who wants to follow our learning curve here in Biolley and in our last stages of living in the US with our small garden  we will grow there until we can truly retire on our farm in Costa Rica. Of course we hope this is sooner rather than later! The overall goal is to grow the coffee and our own food on the farm that will sustain us for nutrients and calories and provide enough yield for our workers too. We may sell some herbs and spices to local markets that are fresh and that are dried.

Banana Ramas! Hundreds of banana trees are growing and provide a natural canopy for the coffee plants.

Each one of these "ramas" of bananas weigh at least 75 pounds. We are allowing Ricardo to sell some bananas to the local farmers for their livestock. When we have the goats on board we will feed them bananas as well. Bananas are incredibly rich in nutrients! I would also like to try my hand at drying bananas to sell. We are going to make solar driers for the coffee beans so I'm thinking we can use them also to dry herbs and dried bananas to sell too.

Some of the coffee is producing the cherry, some of the cherries are small and some are big and some are still flowering.

I'll leave you with the thought of all this coffee production and welcome any comments or tips on growing it as well as other gardening tips for the future. One of the other ventures we are thinking about is producing honey.... but that is another post for another time. The next farm updates and posts are down to the river and more on the developments that have taken place on the farm, as well as future plans for building and growing food gardens and on and on! In the meantime the spirit of Pura Vida lives on in our hearts and in our minds....siempre!

         

        

We are back from our green adventure on our farm in Costa Rica. It was a whirlwind of an 8 day trip! Lots of driving to purchase farm equipment etc. Plus setting up solid contracts for our farm workers with our new and improved lawyer. The dry season is ending and there is still some remnants of the dry season in the coffee fields but the pasture is as green as ever!

East side of the farm pasture at sunrise over the Talamanca mountain range and the Parque Naciónal de Amistad

We have our two full time workers now, Ricardo and Rigo. We are very fortunate to have these guys on board! They know how to maintain the pasture and the coffee plants! Additionally, they are very good handymen and are in the process of fixing fences, building gates to the entrance of the farm and out onto the field, building a shed with the left over wood from the old shack that existed on the farm when we bought it and building a small shelter for the first two livestock we will have... two mama goats who produce milk! We will continue to provide more updates throughout the 2009 year when Ricardo sends us photos of the farm on a monthly basis.

We saved the wood from the old shack so that it could be used around the farm. Ricardo will build his "bodega" for his tools, a shelter for the goats and two gates for the farm with this wood. Ricardo is very resourceful and he is not only our farm manager, he is a carpenter and understands quite a bit about construction, plumbing, electricity etc. He is young enough for strength and old enough for experience. Rigo and Ricardo are brother in laws to each other and they make a great combination of workers. Combine their talents and you have a dynamic duo!

The tall trees in the distance in the background are our hardwood trees that are shading the coffee rows. This is only one side of the field. The farm is 60 acres with 9 of the acres for coffee and about 9 acres of riverfront property which consists of two waterfalls and three swimming holes.

I have been talking to other farmers in the Biolley area where our farm is located who are interested in selling their farms and will keep you posted on this and other properties in the southern zone of Costa Rica brought to you by our favorite green Realtor, Victor Guerrero throughout our green adventure and in future blog posts.

The southern zone of Costa Rica still has some great land deals and the land is not as expensive as the central valley and the hot, humid coastal areas. The prices are 1990 prices as of now, however more and more "estranjeros" (foreigners) are beginning to buy up properties here and just in the year that we have purchased our property we have seen some prices rise.

There are farmers and other small land and house owners however, that are willing to deal with prospective buyers. We purchased our property for $140,000.00 all 60 acres of it!

That's me your green girl "farmer Jubie" and Ricardo on one of our humongous boulders out in the field! It's a great rock to stand on to survey the farm fields and the lower pasture below.


Of course our farm was not developed when we purchased it. So, for close to a year now we have been developing the property and that has been an extra expense.  We have added electricity lines, a grated gravel road with good drainage and a duplex with two apartment sized 2 bedroom 1 bathroom units. Each with an open area for kitchen, dining and living room and a back patio with wash basin and gate. Ricardo and his family are moving into their side very soon. He is going to build cabinets and shelves for both sides in the kitchens before he moves in. We will stay on the far side of the duplex in one of the apartments when we visit the farm and when we make the final move there to build our home, pool and two cabins for the B & B!

Front of the duplex, gravel road and electric lines are in. We are modifying the drainage system in front of the duplex and adding more awnings to each side of the patio. Ricardo will take care of all of this!


NOW                                                                                                    THEN 

Some comparison photos above of some of the developments for our newer readers to view. Now... during the dry season, coffee and trees cut back, duplex, electric lines and road. Then... rainy season, pathway and old shack.

Looking down at the lower pasture. The lower pasture needs a lot of grooming! Ricardo found a nearby farmer who wants to use our field for his cows. We made the agreement that he could put 20 cows on the property.

There's room for a lot more cows but we don't want our fields chomped up by the cud munchers (cows) only to see the land begin to erode like the guy's farm across the river. Plus the pasture loses it's green if there are too many cows.

The river is just beyond that thicket of  trees and it needs to be cleared up down there too.


There is a huge mango tree down in the lower pasture that is one of my favorite trees on the property. It looks like a green cotton candy stick down there! Can you see it? 

There are lots of snakes around called the "Tercio Pelo" in Spanish  better known as the  "Fer de Lance"! If you are bit by one of them it takes a lot of anti-venom (also known as anti-ophidic serum) to survive a bite. There are coral snakes and others around too, but if you keep your path cleared up and stick to the path only, the snakes won't bother you. They are nocturnal and do not want to be around us just as we do not want to be around them! So clearing the path down to the lower pasture and out to the river is a priority for the farmer who will keep his cows on our property.

The mangoes are ripening! When they ripen they are the big red kind! Delicious!!!!!

Rubber boots are off and it is coffee time! Taking a coffee break between blog posts. I'll post more updates from our trip in the next few blog entries and show more photos of the coffee fields. I'll write more about what we have learned from our workers regarding the coffee production and maintenance of the coffee plants. I'll provide more photos of  farm developments, the river down below and our future prospective plans for more building, food gardens, the livestock animal workers and more. Until then.... pura vida to all and as always.... keep growing green!

        

We are on our way to Costa Rica and  hope to enjoy a bit of time at the end of the dry season. We will have updated farm photos to post upon our return from Costa Rica and I am sure there will be many stories to tell regarding our farm and our neighboring farmers nearby. We plan to learn more about the coffee industry and more about our own soil for growing our food when we live on the farm.

I have prepared this post in advance of Earth Day but am posting early to give my two cents worth. First we'd like to thank the Obamas for planting a vegetable garden on the Whitehouse lawn. And a special thanks to Michelle for getting out there and making young children aware of the importance of eating healthy and giving children insight and inspiration in growing food!

  

Both photos from Reuters and Yahoo

The Obamas are truly inspirational and are paving the way to make our world a better place for our children! Thank you Obamas for your great example to all Americans and to our international friends and neighbors! When you show others, especially children how they can make a difference no matter how great or small they become part of the solution and not the problem to keeping ourselves and our planet alive and healthy!

_www.treehugger.com_earth-day_.htm

Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents,
it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors,
We borrow it from our Children

Ancient Proverb

You can make a difference! Plant a tree, a garden, a community garden, nuture the planet, use tote bags, learn to go green. Go vegetarian or eat less meat. All creatures great and small deserve to live on the planet in peace and harmony! Our planet is a living and breathing entity! We are all on it and in it together!

www.ursinelogic.com/earthday01.htm

Everyday is Earth Day! Keep growing and  celebrate living!

Pura vida!

                                      

        

Do you know the real story of Easter?
Ostara =Easter and the story originates from Germany.

Legend has it that Ostara lived in the forest and was the morning goddess or the goddess of dawn. Ostara is honored at the end of March or beginning of April. Some say it is the beginning of spring. The story goes as such:

Long ago,  spring had not arrived just yet, and so a young girl went into the forest collecting firewood for her family. She came upon a bird that was struggling to keep warm by trying to stay under the leaves on the ground. The bird appeared to be half frozen to death. The girl was very worried about the bird and tried to keep the bird warm inside her coat. This did not seem to help the poor little bird so the girl began to cry at the site of the dying bird.

The goddess Ostara loved children and when she heard the girl cry she appeared at her side right away. Ostara told the little girl not to worry and that she would help. So Ostara turned the bird into a rabbit!

The bird would no longer be able to fly or sing, but it would stay warm for the winter. But because this rabbit had once been a bird it was a very special rabbit indeed. This rabbit could lay eggs! 






And so each year the girl would visit the rabbit and the rabbit would lay eggs for her and they were bright and colorful eggs. The rabbit would lay eggs around Easter time for many years to come. 

This is why we lay eggs out each year at Easter time to celebrate new beginnings!






Here's a real bunny! Large enough to be in a bunny suit!


Many celebrate Easter by planting their garden or starting their seedlings in flats! If you decide you are going to egg hunt remember what these eggs can potentially produce and then just maybe.........

you'll color plastic eggs or paint wooden eggs for the Easter egg hunt! Happy Easter! It's spring! Be sure to get out and celebrate! We will be in Costa Rica for Easter Sunday. More on that later!  Pura vida!

        

The finca in Biolley, Costa Rica is really coming along! The duplex is finished! Our contractor did a great job! She built the duplex earlier than the estimated time and she produced quality work! She is a true professional that is second to none when it comes to dealing with these matters. It is a simple construction and that was the plan.

The old shack has been demolished and we will recycle the wood for plenty of usage on the farm.



The new duplex has replaced the old shack. The duplex is for our full time worker and his family to use one side and we will use the other side when we come to visit.


While there are still some finishing touches and general clean up that needs to take place, we will soon plant a nice decorative garden around the duplex.



We will live on our side of  the duplex while  we have the Casa Grande (big house) built.  That won't happen until 2011 or so. But in the meantime we will have Ricardo our worker plant a nice decorative garden around the duplex and continue to groom our coffee plants and the open pasture.

 

Ricardo's wife Gisele is going to find a "costurera" seamstress who can sew curtains for the duplex. My husband and I will furnish a new stove and small refrigerator for Ricardo and his family to use while on their side of the duplex. Ricardo's family has a few belongings like beds and kitchen table etc. they will bring to the duplex. We are also buying a used SUV and we are thinking about an old Toyota 4runner or a sturdy Trooper for Ricardo to use for farm necessities and when his family needs to go to town to for groceries.  Ricardo and his family are very poor and have very little, they are staying at Ricardo's mother in law's house but it is very small.

 But with our help Ricardo's family will receive a salary, medical insurance a place to live and a vehicle to use for work, errands and emergencies. We will also pay the utility bills for them. Once the farm is really in shape, we will allow Ricardo to house 5 cows for dairy only and he will get 50% of the coffee profits after his salary and all the finca (farm) expenses are paid. So we have given Ricardo the opportunity to make a profit off of our land and that is incentive for him to really keep the place up in tip top shape since it won't just be a job for Ricardo but it will also be a business opportunity for him.


A nice view of the Talamanca mountain range out this window. This is a sneak preview of the duplex. We will return to our farm in Costa Rica in a few weeks. Once we are back in the USA, we will update you with all the exciting development and news in our area!
We've heard through the grapevine that we have a few gringo neighbors not too distant from our farm! Stay tuned and until then.....
Pura Vida and ........... keep growing!

Worth noting: The property at the end of the previous post from our green Costa Rica Realtor has gone down in price once again! This is truly a fire sale! $160,000.00 check it out on the last post near the bottom of the post: How Green it is... my green dreams

You can contact Victor at:
Victor Guerrero
PZ Costa Rica Investors Realty
San Isidro De General, Costa Rica
506-8-360-7839 Mobile
v.guerrero@pzcostaricainvestorsrealty.com
Tell him the green girl at This Girl's Gone Green sent ya!

        

I'm off on a green tangent again! Day-greening (dreaming) about all the green I've seen and waiting for the green to arrive! Sharing a glimpse of my green travels with you. This post entry of the blog is mostly a picture blog to green your mind and continue to inspire you to grow green and buy green in Costa Rica where it is green year round!

Starting off my green dream  in Boulder, Colorado during green season!

                                                      Greening the scenery in Rocky National Park, Colorado.......

Big green on the prairie in Colorado.......




                                                                          Finding green in New Mexico...

                                  Green redwoods in northern California...



                                                      Rolling green in  Palo Alto, California...

Green hall in Washington state.......

                                            Blue green in Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, (California side)...

Green by the sea on Ohau, Hawaii




                                                                     Green by the sea on the big island, Hawaii.....

New green life on the Moana Loa volcano on the big island.......

                                                                     Green by the greenblue sea in Tulum, Mexico..........

Green around the ruins of Chacchoben, Mexico......



                                                                     Greener gardens in Kyoto Japan.......

More green contemplation in Kyoto, Japan......



                                                                     Green in the bamboo sea of China.......

Green lilies in the summer palace in Beijing, China.......

Dreamy green man and woman in Xian, China........

 Several shades of green in the Poas volcano  park in Costa Rica......

                                            Green palms in Costa Rica.......

 Green surrounds green jungle dog, Biolley Costa Rica.....

                                                      And the  green dream always ends on our finca in Costa Rica.......

      Where we are making our green dream a reality! See you soon in Costa Rica! Pura Vida!

        

If you would like to try and make your reality in Costa Rica, read some of our previous blogs on how we are doing it! We have also added properties that you might be interested in from a fantastic Realtor that found this green place for us! Here is a new listing and our green Realtor's information below the listing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            Foreclosure Sale!!!  Serious Inquires Only… Time Sensitive… 

THE PRICE HAS BEEN DROPPED SIGNIFICANTLY, NOW ONLY $160,000. REALLY WORTH LOOKING INTO!

 

Costarican seller is facing foreclosure in the U.S. and needs to sell new 1-year-old home on 2.5 hectares or 6.1 acres NOW!!

Details:

3 bedroom, 1 full bathroom, living room, good size kitchen, laundry room, 1700 sq, ft under roof, 2000 sq,ft, of covered outdoor living area. Large covered Rancho outdoor coking and entertainment area, large secure storage bodega. All built in solid concrete block with poured steel reinforced beams. This house was built super strong almost over kill. The seller/builder has the pictures to prove it.

There is a solid concrete reinforced steel driveway leading from the public road below all the way up to the house. The driveway alone is worth $20,000.

This house sits on a hill overlooking the Valley General in the San Pedro area. There are beautiful views of the Talamanca Mountains looking south down the valley. In addition there is a lovely  view of the Rio San Pedro. Cool breezes hit this house all day long very comfortable location. The property is fully fenced and completely set up for cattle and horses. There is a new coral built out of the highest quality local hardwoods. Also a year around creek to the back of the property and the property owns the creek!

Room to build another home on the property..

Seller is asking $245,000.00 but $215,000.00 could take this deal!! Seller is offering financing with only $75,000.00 down! With 2 years to pay off the balance.

Seller is negotiable!!! And must have this property in contract by the 15 of March.

This house and property cannot be replaced for the price the seller is asking.

Call or email NOW!! Serious Inquires Only!!

Inclusions: 400 meters off the pave road, 20 minutes into San Isidro de General, Public wáter & electricty, Excellent cellular, Room to build second home, $75,000.00 down 2 years to pay off the balance!!

THE PRICE HAS BEEN DROPPED SIGNIFICANTLY, NOW ONLY $160,000. REALLY WORTH LOOKING INTO!

        

We just received a new report from the finca in Biolley, Costa Rica. Our new worker Ricardo and his wife Gisele, are absolutely great! Gisele  is in a woman's group that puts on festival and includes the indigenous people to sell the arts and crafts around the area. The festival and activity proceeds go toward preserving the environment in the Amistad National Park. Ricardo is a hard worker on our farm and he is also very conscientious not to use any chemicals on the farm. We bought the farm last year in July of '08. Don Domingo the former owner, is a nice guy and we stay in contact with him but not only was it time to find new people to work the farm, it was time for Don Domingo to move on. After all, he did tell us that he sold the farm because he was tired of working it.           

                                                       Ricardo and his helper near some healthy coffee plants

The coffee plants looked healthy to us last year, but what do we know? We are novices for certain! Ricardo had to trim the shade trees, cut back many of the coffee plants because they had fungus growing and because coffee plants need a break from producing cherries each year. We have been studying the Kona coffee method and we are interested in the 1-2-3 method. That is, the first row has full grown coffee plants, the second row has almost full grown coffee plants and the third row is completely cut down to a stump so it can rest from producing cherries for a year. There is more to it than that, but once Ricardo has the fields in shape, we will begin this method.

 

The cut back unhealthy coffee plants had fungus on it that apparently can ruin the entire crop. No usage of chemicals on the shade grown coffee is a difficult feat and a lot of hard work in the jungle! Ricardo is the man for the job. As you can see, there is natural humus from leaves for many years in the fields. Ricardo has added all the cuttings to decompose on top of the leaves.  If you look at the stubs in the photos above and below, there is growth of coffee leaves already!

A closer look at some of the trunks with leaves growing already as well as natural humus with plenty of mature material. There is also immature material too, you can see many of the green leaves on the ground are turning brown now. Even though they are turning brown, they were green to start and they will always be considered green immature material. I learned that in our biointensive gardening class, that if you pick the plant when it is green it is always considered immature. A good compost needs mature and immature plant material to decompose properly and make a good compost. There are a lot of dead twigs from older coffee plants and some other mature material lying around to compliment the immature material. The soil here is incredibly fertile because of the natural compost on the ground.  We might have to bring in some manure however, to give the coffee extra added nutrients.

Much of the coffee had to be cut back and you can see the shade from the larger hardwood trees that protect the coffee plantation floor.  No coffee today...... but,  YES we HAVE bananas! Seems to me,  after observing our farm for close to a year now,  we have bananas year round!

Our field is being groomed! Ricardo is really shaping up the farm! We are very grateful to him for all this wonderful work he is doing! It still astounds me at how dry things get during the dry season... if you look back at our previous posts during the rainy season on our  finca (farm) in Costa Rica, the place is super green!

                                                                                                         

Initially,  when I saw the brown around the rocks, I thought the dreaded round up chemicals of death were  being used!!!  But then when I spoke to Ricardo, he told me not to worry... that is just cut back dead weeds... whew.. we want an organic farm for sure! The Amistad National Park in the background looks very dry now too. The dry season is just about over and the rains will start up more frequently in May.          

                                                   
It just amazes me how dry the pasture is. Our lawyer goes out to the farm from the big city of San Isidrio (it's about 2 hours from here) when he can to check up on the work being done and he takes photos each time . But he never goes to the river! So, we are hoping that when our architect goes out to the farm next time she will take more pictures for us around the farm besides the construction progress. It is a big place to romp around in.. for sure, but she says she'll do it so I should have more photos soon to share!

We are happy to know that Ricardo is taking such good care of the finca (farm), even though we thought all the coffee plants were healthy! It's important that things are done right and not in a hurry to make a profit. For us, the coffee must be shade grown, bird friendly, organic coffee that is fair trade by treating our worker(s) fairly. We believe that our relationship with our new worker Ricardo, means just that! When Ricardo needs help this year we will make sure he gets it and we will treat all the people that work on the finca Lilo de Biolley (name of our farm, Biolley is the name of our town-pronounced bee-oh-lay) with the utmost respect and the fairest conditions possible.

We  will be starting our seedlings this year in the United States  to get a move on the gardens here, but first our trip to Costa Rica in April. We'll post next week with updates on the duplex house for Ricardo and his family to move in on one side, and the other side for us to stay in when we visit... my husband and I want to pack it up and go now forever.... but we have obligations to meet before that can happen... so in the meantime in our hearts and our minds we keep the "pura vida" spirit going... we look forward to a new beginning each day toward our dream.