Nica Farm Review

Alright, the grand total over the 2 1/2 months has been: seven farms visited, four worked at, only one for any length of time. The intinerary has been:

Finca Ayuk, near Ocotal (work) +++++

Great experience, working on a family farm contacted through a private network. Dug family gardens, put up fencing; learned vermiculture practices, natural pest management, trimming, and more, over 3+ weeks. Farm manager likes to work independently, so fit would have to feel really right to pass on this as a possible connection for other WWOOFers.

Finca Esperanza Verde, near San Ramon (visit) +++

Beautiful cooperative coffee farm, geared toward high-end ecotourism, camped for $7/night for two nights, meals pricey. Missed chance to help with coffee harvest by three days. Good hiking trails and birdwatching, sweet service staff. Left in a hurry for a ride, am pretty sure I was overcharged ten bucks (a lot), so doublecheck math upon paying.

Finca Magdalena, Ometepe (visit) ++

Cooperative coffee farm, stayed only one night as farm was overrun with tourists and kids on field trip. Sensed that my planned work week was going to be more of a burden to the staff (to give me a tourist experience) than a help. Camped for a few bucks on very hard ground, meals uninspiring. Perhaps would be a better experience at a less crowded time.

Finca Zopilote, Ometepe (visit) +++

Party hostel awkwardly superimposed on a permaculture site. Beautiful natural buildings and stone trails amidst many trees, bushes and a few gardens being developed. Camped for $3/night for a week or so, no volunteer positions available at the time. I believe they want a 3-month commitment: be prepared to deal with no-frills rice and beans, and not a lot of appreciation. The drunken hosteler parties bring income by way of rum and beer sales, but impact the site.

Finca Bonafide, Ometepe (work) +++++

A serious working permaculture farm with many facets including excellent community outreach, diversification of food supply, etc. Camped 3 nights for $15/night, including great food. Reduced rates if workign at least a week or two. Got a lot of work done in three days, starting compost bins, transplanting bamboo, hauling water, stuffing trash into plastic bottles, mulching, making chocolate, etc. Great team energy and vision. I hope to return for a 3 - 6 month apprenticeship at minimal cost. One can learn a lot at this place.

Inanitah Community, Ometepe (work) +++

A new age community with some gardens on a beautiful site, plus natural buliding, yoga, meditation and tantra workshops. Sounded great and I was scheduled to be there a month, but I found the heat on that side of the island oppressive, and bugs there to be overwhelming. Nice folks but I sensed the guru effect of the landowners (away at a conference) was also going to be challenging. Camped two nights, and worked in the gardens, but could see no way my skin and nerves were going to make it through a month. Might work fine if you have strong skin. Apply online.

Biosfera Jinotega, near Jinotega (work) -

Recovering from food poisoning at a cafe as I was leaving Ometepe, I geared up for another try at farming at this quirky private hostel, run by an ex-Marine. Amidst a hundred possible scattered projects, I tried a couple days work in the gardens, which needed a lot of help, including transplanting, mulching, and terracing. Got another terrible case of food poisoning from the lunch prepared by the owner. Poor refrigeration suspected, but it's hard to tell exactly what was going on, as owner seemed to shift among different personalities. Obviously cannot recommend this place.

Have heard good word-of-mouth reviews as to working on El Yunque, Totoco, and Miraflor farms. Made some great contacts to pursue in the future, didn't work as much as expected, due mostly to food poisoning. The locals seem to know exactly how to deal with limited refrigeration, and the traditional rice/beans/chicken comedor regimen is safe. My problems occurred at a Mexican place (mild), a granola/yogurt place (severe) and the above (severe). I'm fully recovered by the way.

Sightseeing

Over the last couple weeks, rather than pushing on to another farm, I decided to relax and sightsee. I returned to Ocotal where I had begun my Nicaraguan journey, and revisited Finca Ayuk.

A pastoral shot was offered by the caballo amidst the zinnias.

We're not sure why none of the seeds we planted, in three different types of beds, really sprouted. It looks like Chilo has at least transplanted some squash into the area.

The beds we made did make for a nice zinnia patch.

It looks like farm owner Jeff has installed some new equipment for the well-in-progress.

Front gate is holding up well. Always a nice view down the front path to the house.

Heading back to town, I thoroughly enjoyed my last walk on these roads for at least a while. My time in Los Arados, which is the neighborhood of the finca, was the most deeply satisfying part of my trip.

Some lush vegetation grows by one of the stream crossings.

On the side of the camino, I told this hombre I loved his little store and asked if I could take a photograph. I present it to y´all as Exhibit A in the differences between the pseudo free-market culture of the US and the real one here.

Many drinks are sold in little plastic bags, like this one I bought from su tienda, esta fruta se llama ¨melacoton¨.

A mutant drinks from a bag.

Exhibit B: the Nica dream, a little shop in the front couple rooms of one´s house facing the road. I doubt there were very many hoops to jump through for this start-up.

Bushes are carved into animal shapes in the plaza of the small town of Mozonte, near the farm. Of all the plazas I have visited, the prettiest have been those of little Ocotal and tiny Mozonte. I mentioned this to one of the friendly gardeners there, and he said, they are one of the few places that spray the trees down with stored water, in order to take care of the plants on days when there is no water running.

Fundacion Libros para Niños en Mozonte

Vaca amidst trees painted with political statements geared toward the election over a year ago.

As in the US, some of the nicest foliage is reserved for the medians.

A cute local gal I met works at this little tienda.

It is somewhat reassuring that, as occurred here, power across the entire country shut down for several hours... and no one missed a beat. Aside from people doing business in the dim, you might not even notice the difference. If the States went dark, it would be a global crisis of unimaginable consequences. As I mentioned this to a local friend, he agreed that, ¨yes here it just gives us a chance to relax and chat a bit more!¨

In Esteli, some produce vendors were protesting by blocking the street, and the cops were trying to get them to move. It made for a good media event for their cause. A tussle began, and the guy in the red stripes hauled a cop to the ground and grabbed his nightstick.

I am amazed further escalation did not ensue--just imagine the retaliation he would have faced in the militarized US police state. But since the cops are mostly Sandinista, they tend to be very restrained, by US standards, in harassing the people. They threw him into the back of a pickup to take him away, at which point a half dozen other protesters jumped into the truck as it sped off. Now THAT is solidarity.



Between Masaya and Granada, a natural lake has formed inside of a hollowed-out volcanic crater.



Laguna de Apoyo offers cool blue water for swimming, said to be the cleanest in Nicaragua.



Some very tall coconut trees grow here.




The nice patio at the Monkey Hut offers excellent hamaca time.

The hot summer weather made for great swimming.



Nicaragua is a country of immense beauty.

self-repair

Here are a few photos from my miraculously self-repairing camera.

I figure I must not have been meant to photograph my time at Inanitah (the new age community I left with my nerves frayed from incessant insects), and then leaving the island (amidst food poisoning) to explore the cities of Granada, Managua, Leon, Esteli and Jinotega (where on the last farm I worked I sufffered more food poisoning).

These 2 1/2 unphotographed weeks can be lumped together as: toxic time.

Aging man, tired and spaced, getting over food poisoning so intense that it brought on my first migraine headache experience, decides to go to Matagalpa to rest.

There I find my friend Mary (left), the volunteer who I helped escape Ometepe.

Fun finding her sitting on the couch of a hostel some couple hundred miles away from where I´d last seen her--on the bus I exited with the other case of said food poisoning. (Toxic organisms were a significant influence on my itinerary in Nicaragua!)

That´s the ever-gregarious Miriam from Holland on the right.

Hammocks are awesome, and make for pleasantly disorienting photography.

Half a face is better than none.

Hostal Buena Onda was so comfotable even the on-site bunny hung out with us. I did offer some nice petting as amends for the bright flash I subjected it to here.

Muy suave.

con buen precios!

a brief list of items available while waiting on the bus headed to Leon from Managua, each representing a different vendor:

mandarinas (& onions & tomatoes) x 2
batteries and small electronic devices
dish towels
plates of cooked chicken x 2
churros
newspapers
supplements x 2
DVDs
candy
chips
sodas x 3
donut munchkins
tamtaillos
bananas
hot tortillas & quesillas
nachos

note: there were a couple more vendors i failed to record as i was busy eating mandarins

Here in Leon

i think if i were to remain in leon i'd be writing dylan songs

every day the rest of my life

everyone's selling something

so everyone's too tired to smile

it's a big enough city to realize

the world is doomed

so money is chased in the meantime

and the tenuous connected to life is reaffirmed

in a quarter's worth

of unripe mango strips

which despite being nearly flavorless

your body consumes by the bagful

for some vaguely remembered mineral

-----

i could never live IN Leon

there is no public space except behind private doors

but one could imagine living AROUND here

coming into town and making a serious living as a painter

and finishing the tire-filling project

someone familiar with earthships started

in a rundown park on the outskirts of town

where you begin to see trees again

and amidst the trash-filled slimy

puddle of a stream i was crossing over

out of infinite nothingness

two wide-winged egrets emerged

with a silent whoosh

and i mesmerized

followed them

here

i just wanted to see carlos mejia

i just wanted to see carlos mejia

local folk musician and revolutionary

i didn´t realize it would mean being the chaperone

for seven very young people from the hostel

with a buzz on

-----

the young man with the medicine

was a delight

extremely mellow and literate

with a penchant for empathic communication

into theater and very funny

the native woman visiting from the bering strait

was likewise a hoot

very beautiful friendly and wise

we spoke of harvesting meat

and our bizarrely intense experiences on Ometepe

-----

the three younger women were annoying

in the usual way

fellow hostelers you find out

you have nothing in common with

though one of them did go the extra mile

by dominating every conversation

with shallow stories of life in miami

worse were our two young drunks

one of whom was stumblingly loud and abrasive

the other a young scot

who was way over the cultural line

with anger at our server

for a small mistake on the bill

we were trying to correct

and who i had to apologize for

a number of times

-----

worst of all was me

paying the extra few bucks

to have the bill come out right

negotiating appropriate taxi fares

and watching out for the safety

of a motley group of naive north americans

in a big and often unsafe city

as i took them to a club

where they spent their precious money

on cheap alcohol

and a show which we never saw

for as we found out after the first round

mejia only plays thursdays now

Bonafide!

In what is perhaps my last set of photos, I offer you Finca Bonafide. Just go to this farm.

Amidst the hard work, borrowed camping pads, and flat sleeping surface, I slept very well those three days.

Proyecto Bonafide is complex, involving community support initiatives, cultivation of new seed varieties, educational internships, and permaculture design courses, and a whole lot more.

Like some nice gardens.

Another gratuitous shot of big mama Concepcion.

I was lucky enough to receive an overview of the project's many facets from Chris, one of the developers of Bonafide. Here is the design they are marketing for thin-walled water tanks. The tanks are round and structurally reinforced all around, so they need much less cement which is hard to come by on the island.

More garden greens being grown behind Chris's house. He is one of those brilliant innovators who also happens to be strong enough to build his own house. He was excited to share with me his enthusiasm for snakefruit plants, a prized delicacy in SE Asia, of which he has one of only two groves growing in Central America.

I enjoyed meeting him the first day, when he put out the call offering cold beer in exchange for mulching help. It was very cold and delicious. That was a very good day.

Here are some of the staff, shelling cacao beans that have been roasted 20 mintues or so. It was one of three chocolate making parties I was around, at three different farms over the course of five days.

Other materials get prepared to mix with the chocolate.

Volunteers break up and grind the beans into chocolate paste.

On my last day there, I would help Ed, on the right, begin creating a series of compost bins, organizing the large amount of compost generated at the farm.

I take a turn.

Mitch has recently joined the management team at Bonafide. Here he begins heating up the natural sweetener to be used in the chocolate.

Everyone is getting pretty excited as the dark chocolates are being rolled out.

Then some of the paste is combined over heat with milk for a lighter chocolate. Could've used more--it was still very dark!

You do catch a definite buzz off of this kind of chocolate. It is probably the main stimulant used at the Inanitah community I would subsequently last two days at. Here at Bonafide, we were making it to sell to kids coming through for an educational visit that night. (We would all pig out the next day.)

Take 50 pizza crusts...

a bunch of fixins...

a ridiculously large oven...

mix 'em all together...

and BOOM!

It's pizza night!

Tom just joined the staff from Seed Savers in Iowa, and brought a whole bunch of heirloom seeds. Here, staff sort through plans for medicinal herb gardens.

All non-receyclable trash is stuffed into plastic bottles and used as construction material. I was told a small plastic water bottle holds a 5-gallon bucket load of trash.

Looking out from the kitchen, there are spokes of garden beds and shrubbery in every direction.

Here is a site we were cleaning up to be developed into a canopied social garden space.

Work on the farm is well organized, and the operation runs with good energy. Volunteers are on the clock from 7 to noon, with a breakfast break at 8, but often participate in other projects throughout the day. In three dyas, I bucketed water to plants, mulched, stuffed garbage, made chocolate, made bamboo root starts (from among the 9 varieties grown on the farm) and transplanted them (a.k.a. hard work!), started rock-walled compost bins, sifted ash to be used as a soap substitute, and...well, you get the idea.

One of the natural buildings on the farm, many of which are open-walled. Bugs are definitely present amidst the lushness of the growth here, but can be managed, particularly by covering up at dawn and dusk hours.

This was the groovy shot of a young volunteer having some fun with the manual lopper, upon which my camera lens gave it up.

Bonafide is a great farm to learn all that you ever want to know about serious permaculture. They have developed Jackfruit, for example, a tree fruit native to Ometepe which has dozens of uses, as a marketable commodity. Marketing occurs naturally, as they have many locals working for and with them, so when word gets out that something works, it is quickly adopted to enhance farm variability and food security on the island.

Fun stuff, eh?