The end of September was a hot and humid one. It took everything we had to keep up with the work on the farm. Thankfully we don’t have to be out there when we don’t want to, but when it is that sticky, it is rare to want to get more sweaty than we already are. So we have taken to waterfall hunting (which I’ll write about a little more in later posts) and gathering and planting new finds from nurseries and things that grow wild. Even that can take a lot of effort and exertion just to plant something, but it is not nearly as much as clearing out brush and maintaining/mowing thick areas. Despite the difficulties, the gardens are looking fantastic! When we take pictures and roam slowly throughout, I remember why we do put so much effort into our botanical gardens.

 
A few of the wonders of the gardens. Pride of Barbados, Vanilla, Weed flower, ornamental banana, bird garden art, rainy day market with flowers

Tried dragonfruit for the first time. We have it growing, and it flowers but hasn’t fruited yet

Cockscomb and yellow beehive ginger

We visited the old Coloso sugarcane factory that they are going to renovate and reopen and turn into a distillery. Sounds like a cool project

Randomly saw some peacocks walking around. How I want these on our farm!

Flowers (ground orchids and fragrant hedychiums)

Just a few things around the yard (avocados, bananas, turmeric, ginger). We are always eating straight from the trees/ground.

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We checked out a new restaurant/boutique inn in Aguada called Fusiones. It was like a fusion between a food truck and a fancy hotel.

At Fusiones

Still find lots of wild hermit crabs on the property!

These Vanda orchids love this huge almond tree!

Tried out another cute vegetarian food truck called Cafe Yoruba in Rincon at the old Carta Buena

Baby Spiders hatched! yay! Go after those mosquitoes!

An amazing lily bloomed after about 5 years since we planted it!

The gardens of Aeden (and Daddy)

Taking the long windy drives up the high hills of the Rincon peninsula!

We have passed our 2 year anniversary since Maria (and 6 years since moving here full time). So much has changed!

We planted a Titan Arum -a corpse flower! These are amazing! Now our gardens are even more like true botanical gardens!

Bromeliad in bloom

The Jungle Boys!

Besides our waterfall adventures I think that just about catches us up lately. We’ve also been dealing with some car issues (got a new-to-us transmission in the Mustang), we work the cabana rental and continue selling flowers and plants at the market and at the farm. Aeden’s getting big and nearly walking and is always with us on our adventures. He’s really starting to fit in with us and we love him so! That’s our life recently in a nutshell!

Thanks to Jessika Providence for this beautiful picture!