Tat Soi – an Asian Leafy Green
Tat Soi is a leafy green vegetable from Asia. I had reasoned that vegetables that grow in the humid tropics of Asia would also grow well here in the similar Costa Rica climate, and so far that has been true with a few things. The plant is something like a cross between spinach and […]
Purslane – a Wild Superfood Weed
Purslane, known as verdulaga in spanish, is a weed and a superfood, and we found is growing here in a few spots. Known to have one of the highest levels of Omega-3 fatty acids in the plant kingdom, this superweed is a plant that humans can live on for many months in times of […]
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 […]
Building soil in raised beds
The soil here is great, but very thin, so we’re working on building it up. We’ve plowed it with a tractor and then piled it up in rows and then added a very thick layer of grass, leaves, chicken poop, cow manure, and rice hulls. Now we wait, keeping it hydrated and letting it […]
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.
Test of our Homemade Soil
We found that much of the farm has very little topsoil, and what’s there has its nutrition easily depleted. Drainage and easy root penetration are also probably problems. So, we have been making our own soil from scratch using readily available organic materials such as grass and manure. A potting soil salesman brought over his […]
