Our farm has a 14 acre pine forest with about 500 trees, that have reached maturity. We explored harvesting the pines ourselves but this was a job for professionals due to the steep terrain, mud, weather, permits required, equipment, tractor, transport and the difficulty of removing such large trees without someone dying.

We spoke with a number of loggers, received quotes, and decided that the lumber mill we frequent, was the most honest and qualified for this job. We are happy with their work, their diligence and timeliness (they show up, lets not forget that this is the land of manana and quince dias).

This morning when they had loaded the tractor trailer, they came down on the very rugged goat trail of a road, crossed our big river (no bridge) with the tractor trailer loaded, and when they arrived at our house, I took these photos. The road going up is so difficult, their 4 wheel drive tractor helps to pull them up and over the very rough spots. The experienced driver is able to make the hairpin turns like the pro he is.

The cow babies were hanging out after lunch today and Bulle Boy, their dad was resting nearby with his girls. What a life. The herd is fed like royalty, their food is cut, chopped and brought to them. They do have to swallow, all by themselves. Their poop is later collected, put into the biodigester and methane gas is produced. The byproduct is perfect fertilizer for the crops. No, we do not eat the cows, but you can feed them and pet them. The cows are not that friendly, but the bull is docile. Vida Esperanza!!!

I am so thankful that I live high in the mountains, have cool temperatures and pure water, because down below, it is hot, hot, hot!!! I drove to La Suiza to run errands and the heat was stifling, I could not wait to head back up. Even on one of our hot, sunny days, the air is cool, and when you go in the shade the air can be cold. I wear flannel or a sweatshirt everyday for at least part of the day and I sleep in sweats with a quilt. It is in the 60’s at night except for when it is in the upper 50’s. I love these temperatures on the farm.

For non electric entertainment, Phil reads novels or stories to us. This week he is reading a novel by Jane Hamilton the author of The Book of Ruth. The Short History of a Prince, is very funny, Jane Hamilton really has a way with words.

We get comfy in our big bed after dinner is finished and put away, my daughter Erika joins us, all bundled up in sweats with a pillow and blanket, and Phil reads in the dark wearing a headlamp. He is an interesting reader and I look forward to this time of night. Fortunately he came up with our latest read, we are out of books worth reading and always look forward to Vanity Fair magazine articles which we can now by at the Maxi Bodega. When there is no new reading material I suffer through riveting scientific farm articles like the miracle of bokashi compost, or sustainable black water systems. Please bring good books when you visit, old, used and paperback are just fine.

Yesterday morning a Cabecar Indigenous man, his wife and baby came down through our farm. It was a cool morning, rain was threatening, and they had walked down mountain for 8 hours already. They emptied their rubber boots of water, full from having crossed rivers. A vehicle was going down the mountain from our place and they were about to catch a ride. I grabbed a very small sweatshirt that had been donated and gave it to the indigenous mother for the baby, she said thank you. The Cabecar indigenous speak the Cabecar language and some Spanish, they are the most primitive of all of Costa Rica’s tribes. We later left the farm and saw this same family at the bus stop where the dirt meets the dirt. The buses run every three hours or so, or, whenever it gets there. We stopped to ask them if they were going our way, but they were not. When we returned some 3 hours later, they were still waiting for their bus and the cold rain was now more than a nasty drizzle. The mother had dressed her baby in the sweatshirt (they had no rain gear) and it covered the little body right down to the child’s toes. A gift of warmth for a child, thanks to our friends and their donations. Without you, we can not help them. We are all thankful for your kindness.

I am sorry that I can not take photos of every photo op, I try. I always ask permission first, sometimes they say no or other factors are involved. Documenting what we do is important for all of us, I must also respect the indigenous and their fears. Each opportunity is different from the next based on their experiences or their lack of them.

Our Turrialba volcano as seen from the farm.

Tonight I made a coconut curry veggie dinner using what we had. I used malanga instead of potatoes, carrot and butternut squash, leeks including the white and dark green, an onion and extra garlic, fresh ginger chopped fine, madras curry, Chinese cabbage, a green and red sweet pepper, unsweetened coconut cream, craysins, a little salt and chick peas served over brown rice. I had a little left over chicken which I cut into bite size pieces and added for the last 12 minutes but meat is not needed because chick peas and brown rice are a complete protein. This recipe is good for you and inexpensive as most of the ingredients are in my garden, besides, I love madras curry and coconut. These are not necessarily the veggies the recipe calls for, you can use what you grow, or whatever is on sale, it’s all good. The craysins I used are an import, we do not grow cranberries in Costa Rica. Thanks Mr. Food for this inspired recipe. Fast to prepare and cook in about 30 minutes, one pot plus the rice, and delish!!! The photo is the original recipe from my old Mr. Food magazine.

I have not written about cooking lately, but I am always trying to create recipes using indigenous veggies. Sometimes I must ask my workers, what is it and what do I do with it. Sometimes the situation is reversed and they are asking me how do we prepare the leaves of that tree? Yup, we eat tree leaves and they are good. Chayamansa is one medicinal plant whose leaves we really like.

2-18-09

I am very sad to tell you that one of my dearest long time friends has passed away of a heart attack at age 60. John Schandelmayer and I have been friends for some 37 years or so, and I learned of his death today. We do not have many dear friends in this world, and John was my best friend, I shall miss him very much.

I met John through an ad in the newspaper, Motorcycle for Sale. I bought my first used Honda from him and we were fast friends from that moment forward. He and his wife at the time, Linda, taught me to race motocross. We camped, shot pistols, and had the best times camping, racing motorcycles, and catamarans. He was a natural athlete, a race car driver, kung foo fighter, kayaker, world class wind surfer, heavy weather sailor, motorcycle racer, mountain biker and I am sure I have left something out of his amazing life. John would sit in his truck and read his bible before he raced, he was a devout Bahai. He was the brother I wanted and needed in my life.

John and Linda later divorced and eventually John married Vicki. To John’s credit, he and Vicki added Linda to their lives and they all raised Jeremy, John’s son with Linda. They would visit Linda in Georgia and stay with her; she would visit with them in Florida. Linda worked for John and I would joke that he had two wives; he never got rid of the first one.

Today I was going to skype his cell phone and say hello. We usually greeted each other with John’s customary, “How the hell are you?” He was as warm and comfortable as an old familiar shoe. As Vicki said to me, John oozed kindness, that is a good description of his warmth.

I had been anxiously awaiting his visit to our farm, he would have loved it I am sure. Phil and I had hoped that John would spend his retirement years breathing in this glorious place in which we live. We wanted to share it with him and now that opportunity will be lost forever. We will miss him more than he could ever know, but our lives are richer for having called him friend. So long my friend, you will always be in our hearts. But mine is breaking at this moment.

http://www.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=1097387949545#/profile.php?id=1233683986

It’s a boy!!! At about 8AM on Sunday February 1st, our cow, number 71, gave birth to a baby toro. Our first baby boy calf has arrived and he is very sweet. Today when the herd came for breakfast, Mom left her day old baby standing alone. She is a first time Mom so she has a few things to learn. Our farm manager Marcos went and picked up the very heavy little guy (Marcos is very strong) and he carried him over to the truck, handed him off to Felipe (my husband) and then Marcos sat in the truck and Felipe handed the calf back to him. The baby immediately peed on Marcos. Well, it is a baby and it was scared, Marcos did not smell like Mom, and it was his first truck ride.

Immediately following the birth we started taking photos, the umbilical cord was still hanging. Mom allow other cows to sniff and then lick her calf. The neighbors from town all walked up to the pasture to get a look. Esperanza is a small town (44 people according to a government agency) and exciting news travels fast. Babies of all kinds are exciting news in our neck of the rainforest. Of course ours is the most beautiful baby, que lindo.

There are so many children in need of a helping hand, each of our received school clothes, pencils, crayons and other school supplies. We are so thankful that our friends help us gather these much needed donations.

On Saturday morning at the local one room schoolhouse in Esperanza, my daughter Erika and I disbursed gifts of school supplies, school uniforms, and shoes that were donated to us by good people doing great work. The Badgett family from New Jersey brought school uniforms that were given to them by a co worker of Randi’s. Thank you so much for all you have done. Please pass our thanks on to your generous co-worker.

Our friend Mike, my shipping agent, who lives in Cartago and his assistant Suzanne, gathered school supplies, pencils, crayons, sharpeners, notebooks and lots more. Each child received a bag to start them off that also included a toothbrush to go with the school supplies.

Suzanne gathered clothing and shoes from her relatives. Every pair found feet to fit them. Another anonymous woman delivered bags of clothing to the Pura Vida Hotel in Alejuala www. puravidahotel.com and we dispersed those items one by one to people we knew they would fit and who needed them.

Angie is in love with her black sneakers and “new” clothes. She desperately needed your help. You did all of the work, and I received the hugs, kisses and lots of warm wishes.

We have not seen shoes on Steven for some time now. His feet fit a pair of blue flip-flops and he is proud to have them.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

It has been cold on our mountain and because of your generosity I have been able to give sweaters and sweatshirts to cold shivering children. Last night I gave four gifts of warmth to little children who were very cold. We want to thank each one of you for enabling our project so that we can help the rural poor and indigenous.

We took photos of the children so that you could see your efforts at work. We ran out of navy blue pants and skirts. The airlines embargo on luggage has hurt the availability of donations. There appear to be more children who will attend the Esperanza school this year and there are always more that will arrive in the first week and throughout the year.

We have reserved supplies to go to the reservation with the indigenous teacher. He will pack them up on his back, an 8 hour, very difficult trip. School starts about the second week of February and ends in December. I will send my camera up with him and hope to receive some great photos.

We all thank you so very much.

This little sticky toed frog and his friend like my bathroom.

Erika and Humberto at the Christmas pig party.

On December 24th our employees had their annual Christmas pig roast at our farm. We hired entertainment for the event and everyone ate and drank too much.

Here is a photo of my new play stove made by Sunbeam. I never thought I would own one of these, but it is interesting. Unlike American stoves, my full size roasting pan or cookie sheet will fit by inserting the pan in length wise rather than sideways. This means that I can cook the same amount of stuff in the play stove. Who knew?

My first cooking event in the oven was potato and squash enchiladas with a lite mole sauce. This recipe from cookbook author Didi Emmons is a keeper. Make extra because there will be no leftovers. The mole sauce is fantastic. I used ripe bananas and walnuts, I never would have guessed this combination would or could be so wonderful. Wow!

The Rio Oro and Phil. Winter is coming to an end this month and we start our Summer,

I bought my stove with an oven and broiler. Only in the 3rd world do ovens come without broilers. Who knew? I still can not believe that a stove maker thought of this. It gets even more crazy. They also can come without an interior light, and with no glass in the door. Not a problem, I never could keep that glass clean enough to see through it anyway. My stoves were never for decoration, I am a sercious cook. The light I will miss, but it was not on the model I bought (with broiler). I was examining every detail of the stove for a half an hour at least, and, I had already been to every store in two towns when I realized that it did not say broil on every stove and every stove went to a different degree of hot on the dial. One model did not even give the temperature just low and high. How does that work for a cook using the oven? My model has 4 burners, oven and broiler, solomente, nada mas. I could not get it with auto ignition, that model did not have a broiler. Some models did not even have the storage draw in the bottom, just a fixed metal front plate. I never liked those stupid storage drawers. Ovens should be on the bottom portion and the little drawer should be above it and it should be a second oven, in my opinion. This configuration does exist already, I know, for a big price, not in Turrialba, and not in the little stove.

The broiler: Is located in the very bottom where that little storage drawer was located. The drawer does not pull out now, the door folds down, and the broiler pan slides in and out. Not one employee in any store knew this and they are still scratching their heads. I am not sure they know what a broiler is. They have no idea what they are selling, except a stove, whatever that means. It has an electric oven they said, no it doesn’t, it is gas, they were all gas. “NO, it is electric!” Really? Then why is there an ignition hole with the picture of a match here, I ask? They got the book out and are hurriedly looking through it. An electric oven would not serve my needs, I know that stoves can come like this but they are not available in Turrialba.

Like most stoves with one oven, you can not use the broiler and the oven at the same time. Okay. Then the geniuses at the store decided that you need the electric to regulate the gas. I don’t think so, that makes no sense to me at all, the knob does that... We will see.

I will light the stove with my butane BBQ lighter and use a flashlight to look in the oven. The cost for this gem was about $180.00 USD (96,040.00 colones) and it was on sale. If my electricity does not get better, the light bulb would not work anyway.

Phil wanted a different model that did not have a broiler, it had bells and whistles, a clock, light bulb in the oven, no broiler and the stupid drawer. “You don’t need a broiler”, yes I do! If I am getting a stove, I want the broiler!!! I don’t need the clock, I use the wind up timer for an alarm and I have a watch to tell what time it is.

Sometimes I wonder why everything is so hard to make happen. Will I use the broiler, I don’t know, it is literally on the floor…. But I use to broil, more than I baked until I started making our bread. We like broiled chicken, broiled steak, …… We no longer eat steak, because I don’t find cuts I can eat. I think they go to good restaurants, I give up.

So the stove is in the kitchen, still in its cardboard box. We need a part that fits in the back of the stove and connects it to the gas hose that goes to the cylinder. They don’t come with the stove and the appliance store does not sell them. They are at the hardware store my clerk, Raul, tells me. Oh, sure they are!!!!!!! Not!!! This is the 3rd #*&! world and it is little things like this that make it stay the 3rd world. No one can use the stoves without this part, so why don’t they sell them? Charge for them, overcharge even, and give one with each stove. No-no, that would make it too simple and we would not want to think of providing service to the customer, nor make life easier for anyone. So there it sits. Did I mention some assembly required? Yeah, we must put it together, like a gas grill from the Home Depot.

Phil at the Rio Oro checking out the damage caused by the wild river. We use to be able to drive across the river to the other side of our farm.

The heavy rains of November have been destructive to the rivers, roads, and crops. The potato crops on Volcan Irazu were mostly lost and the banana crop along the Atlantic coast is under water. In our area sugar cane was blown over and flattened in a random pattern. Every crop has been affected in some way by the winds and rain.

Cacao from our new rural tourismo project in Esperanza.

Cacao is a forest crop and we are going to plant it in our forest. Phil and Humberto harvested cacao (pods with seeds that become chocolate) from our trees and Humberto showed us how to eat the fruit of the cacao. It is sort of clear white and deliciously sweet. It does not taste like chocolate in any way, you spit out the dime sized seeds which are then fermented and roasted, later becoming chocolate. How cool is that? We will grow Cacao as a cash crop at the farm. CATIE is working on a new cultivar of Cacao and we will try that variety as well as what is here. I love chocolate, good chocolate, semi-sweet dark is my favorite.

Most of the world’s cacao comes from Africa, and most of that comes from Ghana and Costa de Marfil.

A new cultivar of cacao, bred for our area, will soon be available, it is suppose to have good disease resistance.

The cacao I photographed here comes from our new property that is part of our rural tourist resort in Esperanza. Cacao is a product of Central America but Costa Rica has only a small portion of the markets share.

Our small rural resort will create jobs and job opportunities for the people of Esperanza de Turrialba. We have beautiful waterfalls, mountains, trails, forests, rivers, beaches, pure water, organic food and birds of all kinds on our private 1,270 acre rainforest farm. Come, get away from it all and visit the real Costa Rica. Come meet the rural people and get a taste of the sweetest place on earth, Esperanza.

Here is a good close up of the indigenous child with the ear infection. I had cleaned his ear prior to this photo, and you can see the sores on his face. Because the child had no documentation, his parents did not make an attempt to seek help.

Food and foam mattresses were gifted by the Alcalde (Mayor). He is the tall man with glasses

Marcos is gifting a pair of used shoes to this small child who walked for 8 hours barefoot to get to our home from the reservation. Your gifts change their lives. Thank you.

Here are some of the faces that received sweatshirts that were donated by generous Americans. Thank you for your help.

This baby has a severe ear infection.

Cabecar Indigenous from the Chirripo Reservation were notified last week that they would receive emergency supplies. Today they arrived at our home and the Alcalde of Jiminez arrived with a truck load of foam mattresses, assorted food, tuna, beans, rice, soap, toothpaste and blankets. Before he came, I gave sweatshirts to the women and children. Our hefe’s wife brought used clothing and used children’s shoes. One little boy walked for 8 hours barefoot. He was delighted with his slightly used sneakers.

I held tiny babies today, none had diapers on, they have none. Cloth diapers would be a blessing.

A small child that I guess to be less than 2 years old had a terrible ear infection. I noticed the oozing crust that had built up on the now purple ear. I brought the hydrogen peroxide and asked permission to clean the ear and take a closer look, I quickly realized this child needed a real doctor. This young child was born on the reservation and his parents never documented his birth, so he has no cedula, no documentation. He is entitled to medical care but without official intervention he would most likely not receive it. The father wanted to go to Maqina Veija, someone there is practicing “natural medicine”. Whatever that means. I am all for alternative medicine and I use alternative medicine for us and for our animals, I went to nursing school, I also know my limitations. This same person treated the baby of Alexander and Sonja, with what I don’t know, but when babies and children have fevers you need to find out why. Their child had intestinal parasites so the magic potion was not going to take care of Mentos because no one asked why is my child having this reoccurring serious fever. When I picked up Mentos and his parents for the second time, again with the fever, I told Phil I think I can break this fever, but why is this child have reoccurring fevers. We need to find out why this is happening, there were no obvious signs of distress. Today I new the problem right away, but this baby has multiple problems and they were not just starting, the ear infection was critical, and sores on his skin could be signs of other problems.

Yes there are alternative treatments for parasites, but babies who have deteriorated health conditions need professional medical treatment fast. I hope that the child today received the care he needed from a medical professional.

Friends and friends I have never met donate sweatshirts, durable clothing, skirts, and educational supplies for the indigenous and rural poor. Today, because of the generosity of others I was able to hand out gifts of warmth donated by visitors to Costa Rica and Americans who live here. When you come to visit you can help the Cabecar by bringing an old suitcase filled with used clothing for children and women in small and medium sizes. The good folks at The Pura Vida Hotel, just 15 minutes from the San Jose airport, www.puravidahotel.com will keep your gift for us until we can get in the pick it up. If you are not going in that direction please just print out the hotel address directions from their web site and pay a cab driver to take it to Bernie and Nhi. Please put a note inside and outside with my name and information on it, Bernie will call me to say it has arrived. If you need a place to stay near the airport, they are wonderful hosts, Bernie is a Costa Rican historian and Nhi is an awesome cook. If you stay there once, you will defiantly return for another visit.


KW Cabecar Indigenous, donations, educational supplies

Today was a great day of discovery and interaction. There is so much need and so little help available for the Cabecar. I wish I could help the children and their Mothers just a little more, for they have the hardest life within the tribe. Education is always the key to a better life and it is no different for the Cabecar. We must help them get to a point of sustainability so they are not hungry and we must also help them to understand and meet their hygiene and dental needs. They received toothbrushes and toothpaste today, but I know that they don’t know what it is or what to do with it.

Phil was talking about a particular “old lady” yesterday and I said, I don’t think she is that old. He says she must be 65! Hello!!! I am 60, even if she was 65, it is just not that “old”. Yikes! Sometimes it may seem as if they must be way old based on the age of their oldest children (and he had that factored in), but,…no-no. They had the first child at 13, and that child had their children while they were still children, and those children were having babies at 13…... So you end up with this giant family of multi-generations, and the “old lady” is not an “old lady”. If you do the math based on my age 13 number, it is ugly, but not uncommon. Sometimes I question, “who does this baby actually belong to?”, because the great grandmother is not yet in menopause. This unfortunate circumstance means that undereducated breeders stuck in the poverty cycle are contributing to the population in a rapid repeat fashion. A person who’s really crappy education to begin with, ended at age 13, is not a educated consumer, nor an educated voter. This is how the communist party sneaks in and looks attractive to the poor, uneducated, over-babied peasant who is sitting on the sofa (no job) with the coil springs popped through the ripped red hide of a nauga, watching a beat up, old, tiny black and white TV with a snowy screen. This is not a made-up scenario in case you are wondering. Don Tonto just moved these folks. I originally called him Don Mark (the target) when I learned he was moving them, but he said he offered, which means I should call him Don Tonto (stupid), but a nice guy. I am not insulting him, these are tags of humor that we apply to ourselves, out loud and to each other when we find ourselves in awkward or embarrassing positions caused by our own stupidity, misunderstanding or inability to say no. This move made Jed Clampet and the Beverly Hillbillies look good, it should have been a bulk trash fire just for the purpose of sanitation. I am not trying to be unkind in my portrayal of this move, in fact, I have tempered the reality. I should have taken a photo (I was frozen in disbelief mumbling, “Oh my God”, and, it was raining). Our 20’ flat bed truck had a bicycle laid flat on top of the 7’ heap of mostly unrecognizable rubble (this was the second trip) and their skinny chained dog was quivering on top of the bike, in the now pouring rain. The beat up TV was wrapped in rotten nasty foam, and then covered in nasty soiled fabric, tied like a precious party gift with dirty string, and set on the front seat with Don Tonto. The women carrying babies were to find a place on the back of the truck with the rubble. Everyone has their priorities and pecking order, we know what is important here.

These three indigenous children’s father left them and their Mother and never returned. They have been in Esperanza for a sometime now. Recently, I found where they are living and tomorrow, manana por la manana, they will be leaving for parts unknown to me. The children are wearing sweatshirts donated by the Hyde family from Miami, Florida. Thank you very much for your gifts of warmth. Your generosity has changed the lives of a number of children. It has been very cold and the indigenous children have only the shirts on their back, nothing more.

I picked up the oldest child, Isabella, and the youngest child in this photo about a week ago while I was driving through my farm. It was about 60 degrees, pouring rain and they were soaked in flimsy, thin, cotton clothing. The tiny boy had a runny nose oozing down his face and giant smile. His sister was trying to carry him across the stream and she fell half dropping him in the water, not that he could have gotten any wetter. It was hard to hold the slippery child and her rubber boots at the same time. I stopped the car, and they jumped in the front seat immediately. Surprised and alarmed, I thought what if it had been someone else instead of me, and they jumped into the wrong car. Even though they do not know me, everyone knows who we are and I suppose the children aren’t any different. They are not afraid of us, but are curious about the gringos. I drove them through the farm and to the center of town to the spot where I now took these photos. They stared and smiled all of the way, never once taking their eyes off of me. I may be the only white, blonde haired woman they have ever seen.

I have seen this little girl carrying firewood on her back that may have weighed as much as 80 pounds or more. They are the equivalent of pack mules, this is their life, I am sad say.

It is 7:40 in the morning and here are a family of 7 indigenous going through my farm and back to the reservation. Two adults, 5 children and 3 dogs. The youngest child is set atop of the pack on her Mother’s back and tied there. The father said good bye as they passed, in Spanish of course.

They have one umbrella between them and they will walk for 8 more hours to reach their home high in the mountains. It has rained for the month of November, it was in the 50’s last night. Today they have a sunny blue sky day to make their journey to 6,000 ft. I hope the weather holds for them.

Please remember these folks and the other 10,000 plus who have nothing, struggle to survive, and need your gifts of practical warmth. Please either bring used sweatshirts to Costa Rica and donate them to my indigenous, or please send a donation and I will buy used sweatshirts at the Ropa Americana for the children. We also need crayons, pencils, and educational materials for the children. Many of the children need shoes, rubber boots, sneakers and school shoes, some children have no shoes. If you are visiting our country, pack your donations in an old suitcase, put my name on the outside and inside, print out driving instructions from www.puravidahotel.com and you can then give the directions to a cab driver and send your donations in that cab to the Pura Vida Hotel just 15 minutes from the airport. It is a small cab fee for you and the children appreciate your gift.

If you need a place to stay while coming or going, please stay at the Pura Vida Hotel, you can thank me later for this recommendation. The food is fantastic, Bernie is a historical guru, and Nhi is the best chef in Costa Rica. After one stay, you will return to them repeatedly, everyone does. They are gracious hosts and the best, most generous people. Without your help and their help, we would not be able to help the indigenous as we do. It is a combined effort of friends helping friends. Thank you for joining our team effort. Together we can make great strides forward in bringing the Cabecar Indigenous to sustainability.

If you wish to send a check, please mail it to:

Finca Quijote de Esperanza
Ginnee Hancock
Apdo 178-7150
Turrialba, Costa Rica

I will send you photos of the purchases and post photos of the children.

Thank you for your support and help. THANK YOU!!!

If you wish to know more about the indigenous there are many articles posted here on my blog. Please contact me at ginnee@gmail.com for more info regarding donations. If I do not contact you quickly it is because we do not have internet access, we live off the grid at our farm that borders the Cabecar reservation.