Costa Rica, WWOOFing in paradise

We heard some things about Costa Rica from other travellers along the way, some of which were its military free status, renewable enrgy, large areas of protected area, its beauty and abundunt flora and fauna.

It is very clear that if you dont have to spend money on a military, you have so much of the stuff to spend on things like infrastructure, schools and health for the people. It is so different here compared to other Central American countries. People have called it the ¨Sweeden¨ of Central America.

Volcan Arenal, an active volcano in the north west of Costa Rica.

We have stopped our bikes to do our second stint of WWOOFing on this trip. The place we´ve ended up is in the Central Valley, about 30 min drive south west of the capital San Jose.

The farm is also the home of a non profit orginisation called Organics In America, which in its early stages is aiming to promote and make more available organically grown food in the in the Americas. Its founder, Robert Roman, is dedicating his time towards making political change happen and at the same time with the WWOOFers creating and playing in a food forest garden.

It has been my first taste of Biodynamic farming and farming in the tropics. Biodynamic farming is a way of farming based on astrology and specific recipes for fertilizers to get the best results in the garden.

So how do the planets affect farming? Well, as its been explained to me here, the same way the sun and the moon has an effect on plant growth, so too do the other planets out there. After extensive scientific testing, it has been revealed that indeed the planets do have an effect on plants and plant growth habits.

An interesting thought i heard in Mexico was how much knowledge, for example, a tree has. Not knowledge as we know it, more like a memory, but its interesting when you think as we are running around from one place to another, losing track of time and forgetting things, a plant is in one position all the time, being affected by the sun, the wind, the moon and everything around it. We are too probably, but we might no be as aware of our environmet as a plant might be!

Overall, it has been incredibly fun and interesting to work here. The farm is on about 3 acres, and it is incredibly varied. It has orchards, a jungle garden, seed saving and processing space, an old warehouse for the workers to sleep in and a kitchen where we enjoy communal cooking and hanging out.

Photo copyright Erin Birtwhistle professional photography 

Me sitting in the jungle garden space station. At first i had no idea what a lot of the plants were, but the more time i spend here the more i am learning about the plants and their uses, its incredible how much stuff is growing here!

We have been enjoying the fruits of the labour here too. From the garden we are eating bananas, avacados, sweet potatoe, squash and probably the most interesting vegetable for me, yucca.

We first saw yucca in Nicaragua being served in the national dish there called vigaron. We were even riding past fields of the stuff asking each other ¨what is that¨? Its a tall woody plant, about 7 feet, grown for its root. When you dig it, you get these big, woody bulbous roots which you peel off the hard skin and eat in a number of ways, mostly boiled and fried. It has the texture of a sticky potatoe, and the taste like mashed potatoe with the milk already in it. Yum.

Photo copyright Erin Birtwhistle professional photography 

Biomas harvesting. Here in the tropics things decompose at a rapid rate, a compost pile as high as me will reduce to friable soil in a matter of months here. Another benifit of farming here is that its possible to farm 365 days a year, although there is a distinct dry & wet season.

The farm is in a beautiful location too. On one side its bordered by a tall cliff with a river valley at the bottom. We have been enjoying watching monkeys in the canopy below and occasionaly the evasive tucans. On the other side of the river valley is the United Nations University for Peace. The farm has a close relationship with the University, thanks to Charlie (the resident gardener who has a passion for saving seeds and a great knowledge on plants and their uses) who takes flowers from the garden every morning to the campus. We were invited to the campus recently for a traditional Costa Rican lunch, at which we got to talk with some of the students.

Photo copyright Erin Birtwhistle professional photography

The WWOOF family september 2011, myself, Yuriko, Carly, Kiera, Bree, Emma, Caleb, Errin, Robert & Margaret. At the memorial park for the Univeristy for Peace.

The people there were from all over the world, a lot too from countries experiencing war. The concept is that to have world peace, in a world so reliant and accepting of war, we must be prepared for it. So people there study things like responsible media, human rights & internatinal relations and law. Its fitting in a country which has no military, thanks to a leader by the name of Jose Figueres Ferrer who in 1948 declared that Costa Rica would abolish its military in order to create a better country for its people.