Earthquake, House Plans, Property Observations and Garden

Costa Rica orchidWe experienced a strong earthquake yesterday. I read in the national newspaper that the epicenter was very close to the town of Santiago de Puriscal and it was a 6.0. I was watering the plants in the garden and felt a strong shake, then calm followed by a stronger jolt. I watched Spencer become increasingly concerned and then scared. Roxy was resting on top of the dirt pile in the vivero so I couldn’t see how she reacted. John was in the cabina making sure the laptop was safe. I felt the ground subtly roll and jiggle for about a minute after the initial shocks. Luckily there was no damage here and I haven’t read about reports of damage in the country.

We finally received the full set of house plans from the architect! That took way longer than I expected. Now we will begin the process of interviewing and receiving quotes from various builders. Who knows how long that will take, but I am hopeful we will be able to begin construction during the next dry season.

Rio Viejo Costa RicaThe other day Spencer and I walked up the river to the waterfall. It hadn’t rained for several days so I was surprised to see so much sediment in the river. It looked to me like there had either been a recent landslide up river, or some type of construction work was going on. Because of the murky water the walk was a little slower as I waded through certain parts of the river. The highlight of the walk was an incredibly beautiful river pool I stumbled across on the way back. I was delighted to see schools of two different types of small tropical fish. I have no idea what kind they were, but to me they looked like the common guppy and the other was similar in size to a molly with hints of orange and yellow coloring. The guppies were very curious and not afraid of me. The mollies immediately hid under some plants growing in the pool. I sat very still and watched them until the mollies felt comfortable enough to come out in full view.

Costa Rica OrchidIt is raining pretty consistently every afternoon. I am now racing with the weather in order to be able to harvest the sesame crop. The plants are supposed to begin to die and then dry out before the seeds are ready. The drying out part might be a challenge. I planted a row of corn in one of the prepared garden beds and it is the tallest corn yet, about eight feet tall. I am now fully aware of the challenges of dealing with insects and gardening. We have decided to screen in a portion of the gardening area with a material that will filter the sunlight and rain and halt entry of most insects. I think most serious organic gardeners here do some type of system like this. After the corn and sunflowers are harvested we will begin on this project.