Goldenberries or Tomatillo?
We discovered these “Goldenberries”, which are considered to be a superfood, growing wild on the farm, and have been able to save the seeds so we can grow more. Later, after researching on the internet, I found that actually they’re not goldenberries, but in fact Wild Tomatillos. We planted the seeds and they grew like […]
Mini Peppers
These little peppers are sweet (meaning that they’re not spicy) and are easy to grow. They don’t make much if a meal, but we think that food should be fun and beautiful, not just nutritious. So we’re planting all kinds of varieties of everything when we can find it. Like all the peppers we […]
Bell Peppers
Peppers are native to Central America and so they should grow pretty well here. But with all the centuries of inbreeding them to create a bigger and tastier vegetable, food plants will often lose their natural defenses against pests, disease, etc, becoming more fragile. The large peppers shown here are susceptible to fungus, and […]
Iguanas
Iguanas like the one shown above (technically called “Cnetosaurs”) are common here. I love them because they are small dinosaurs, and who doesn’t love dinosaurs? But I’m not happy about them snacking on our organic veggies and fruits. It’s hard enough getting stuff to grow here without these giant lizards coming along and helping themselves […]
Italian Parsley
This parsley (perejil) has grown well in our worst soil, which we bought a truckload of, and turned out to be nearly solid clay. Few things would grow well in it because of the lack of drainage. Parsley is a superfood, with very high levels of phytochemicals and other nutrients. It has a strong taste […]
Brussel Sprouts
Lots of kids hate brussel sprouts, but we love them here. Shown in the photo are our starters, grown in our home-made soil.
Egyptian Spinach
This spinach is one of the easiest to grow, and we have so far found that no bugs seem to touch it. Apparently this plant is the primary green leaf food in Egypt, and is used in many recipes. It has very unique leaves, with each having long “antennae” at the base. Harvesting enough quantity […]
Malabar Spinach – A Vine You Can Eat
Malabar Spinach grows easily in the tropics of Costa Rica even though its native to Asia. The texture of the leaves is a but mushy, so it should be used in cooking with that in mind. We will be working on some recipes that consider this well. We are using Malabar spinach as a climbing […]
Amazing Fast-Growing Costa Rica Spinach
All of these (bags in the foreground and background) were grown from a few leafless spinach stem scraps, about 3mm wide and 4cm long, leftover from a meal with my friends Jeremy and Andrea, the owners of La Escuela del Sol in Montezuma. I first started the four small stems in four bags, which grew […]
Zucchinis galore!
Our first harvest from our new zucchini seeds, showing a great variety in these heirloom species. We also learned from chef Giuseppe Morisco that we can eat the flowers.
