Tag Archives: Pulguero

Birthday Fun and other Updates

New Flowers and Friends

Newest bloom: Evita’s Rose

We are constantly on the lookout for new plants, trees and flowers. It seems that most of the viveros have all the same common plants: trinitarias, hibiscus, bromelias, orchids, citrus, avocados. What they don’t have are heliconias, gingers, plumerias and all the exotic fruit trees. We are currently on the lookout for durian, Australian finger lime, and reina de las flores (this is a common tree, but for some reason we have a hard time finding it for sale).

Also looking for Rainbow Eucalyptus like this one seen on the side of the road

At the last pulguero in San Sebastian we had a good score! We found another Ylang Ylang tree (the fragrance is so divine, it is used in Chanel No 5), an achiote tree (a natural food dye for the color red and very cool looking fruit), a huge Tibochino espiga and a Raffy palm (that’s what the vendor called it). At Jardines Eneida we also found some new trees like a Cordia, Saman and mamayito (lemon drop mangosteen).

The meadow area after a good mow -we need to mow about every 2 weeks now that it’s raining so much

I also found this nepenthes pitcher plant that reminded me of well…you know

All the rain has brought out the mushrooms

And so we bought some garden art to commemorate them

Rainy days at the cabin. Notice the new railings!

Still not sure if we want to put rails on the bridge though

The mosquitos come out a lot more in the rain, so we put a mosquito net on Aeden’s play pen outside, that he promptly pulled down 🙂

He’s our little farmer so we did an impromtu photo shoot with him

Our little red is getting so big! 9 months now

Aeden’s 9 month video update

In order to find the heliconias and ginger varieties we want, we have to find direct vendors. The rhizomes don’t do super well in pots for long periods of time, so they have to be directly transplanted as soon as possible into the ground. They also need a lot of space and water, that the average home gardener can’t often provide (hence why they are not commonly found in the stores around here). Well, I found someone online who specializes in them! Not only did Carlos sell us some amazing rhizomes, he also delivered them from San German and helped us identify many of our wild species. We hung out for quite a while and got to know him pretty well. We scored some plants, but even more importantly a new friend who is as geeked out about botanicals as we are! He is a student at the University in Mayaguez and knows a TON about plants.

With Carlos and the new plants

We’ve also been busy delivering flowers to friends/businesses like these that are on the way to Karibe Kombucha and Ocean State of Mind

Other than that we have been going out and having fun enjoying the scenes around the island.

In Aguada, Puerto Rico

Cool building in Aguadilla

Selling fresh chopped coconuts in Isabela

A nice Sunday brunch at the Copa Lllena in Rincon

This guy was buying sugarcane from a neighbor

At the Sunday Farmer’s market a basket maker made me a crown. I was the reina de las flores for a day! 🙂

Man on a bicycle at the airfield in Aguadilla

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Pena Blanca, Rincon Marina, Dome’s Wings and More

Paso Finos, Pulgueros y Playas

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Britton and Aeden at the beach

We’ve been staying pretty busy with the kiddo, the cabana rental and the flower business but we also get out and about quite a bit as well. We recently went to Costa restaurant in Mayaguez for brunch (very good place!) after selling flowers at the farmer’s market and stumbled upon a Paso Fino competition. Paso Finos are a type of horse that has a very light gait (Paso Fino means Fine Step). The riders “jinetes” were judged on their posture, how their hands were in the reigns and other signs of an easy ride. The judges checked the horses for an even step on each of the four hooves as well as the general aesthetics and beauty of the beast. It sort of reminded me of rodeos in Colorado except you would never see a cowboy there in a tuxedo haha!

Paso Fino Competition Mayaguez

Me and Aeden at the competition

Paso Finos

Playa Buye

Then we drove down to Playa Buye for a quick afternoon stop. It is always a busy and popular beach.

At Buye Beach

We’ve also been checking out the local Pulgueros. Pulguero means Flea Market and is almost a direct translation since the word flea in Spanish is “pulga.” We like to go to the big market in San Sebastian on Friday mornings and we also made it just in time for the one in the Mani sector of Mayaguez Sunday mornings. We are not so much interested in all the household and random goods as the produce, plant and animal selections we can find. I am trying to talk Britton into some water features at the property and would love to have ducks, geese and koi fish for them. We found some pretty neat fruit trees, flowers and other interesting plants as well as a connection for some more heliconias and gingers. Britton says he can’t believe he is back visiting flea markets since he spent so much of his youth at them that he came to avoid them. But they are a little different here than in Colorado as you can see.

Angel Trumpets are awesome plants that smell wonderful but they are also semi-illegal/regulated in Puerto Rico because of its dangerous poisons (I still want them though!)

This variety of banana is called “Johnson” here in Puerto Rico. It’s actually a Cavendish but look how big they grow!
Flea market fried food fare: The golden brown thing is a “taco” (very different from a Mexican taco) and the darker brown one is an “alcapurria” They are both stuffed with meat, potato and seasonings

We saw this as we were leaving San Sebastian! Holy Plantains!

Mani Pulguero as it was clearing out -A seaside flea market!

At the Mani Market

Checking out all the kids stops too: at Yogufruti in Anasco (I love frozen yogurt so the fact that kids love it too is just an excuse! 🙂 )

Aeden really is a good kid and just goes along wherever we go! We need to start bringing a stroller though because he is getting big and harder to carry!

Nuestro bebe colora’o

Whenever we go out people exclaim “Colora’o!” “Colora’o!” At first I thought they knew we were from Colorado and then I realized that they were talking about Aeden’s red-colored hair! 🙂 They also LOVE, LOVE babies here. Women almost always get a super high pitched voice and say “Ayy que lindo! Dios lo bendiga” and sometimes can’t help but touch him. I will often offer him up to abuelitas (grandmothers) to hold when I see them longing for him. They love to pat him and smell his head. They also tell me about their children and grandkids and give lots of advice. It’s very sweet.

At Pepe’s Pizzeria in Stella of Rincon another seaside favorite