Category Archives: Pets and Animals

Around the Farm and Town

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.

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!

What do you think of this post?

WOW (4)
Awesome (6)
Interesting (0)
Useful (0)
Bummer (0)
Whoa (0)

Growth and Markets: Our Weekly Routine in Puerto Rico

Leave a reply

No, I am not talking about the stock market or the GDP, but rather the original meaning of those words. Literally growing things (including a baby) and going to markets. We have a bit of a schedule and routine now, moreso than ever with a baby. We used to go out a lot more at night with the band and just to hang out at chinchorros or downtown at the ArtWalk, but we now appreciate our quiet evenings with the kiddo sound asleep. So that means our days must be a little fuller. Fridays and Sundays mean market. Fridays we go to the San Sebastian Pulguero (Flea Market) where we do some bartering and buying. Mostly we are in the market for strange exotic plants. Actually we are ALWAYS in the market for those it seems. No matter how much plant life we throw at the property, it just eats it up.

With a new flower find at the San Sebastian Market

It’s pretty fun at the San Sebastian market because we are nearly always the only “gringos” there and so we sort of stick out like sore thumbs. But people are starting to get to know us, greet us and show us what all they have available before we even have to ask. It REALLY helps to know Spanish in these sorts of environments!

Aeden is a favorite with many people at the market including this sweet woman who even sang “Que Linda Manita” to him

Aeden and the birds back at the farm

Saturdays are usually spent back at the farm unless we have something fun planned. On Saturday afternoon we harvest the fruit and flowers for the Sunday Rincon Farmer’s Market.

Look who needs to start wearing shoes soon!

Aeden is now 11 months old! Check out his latest update video

New bromeliads in bloom at the farm

Our avocado that we accidentally cut down YEARS ago, has come back and is fruiting! I am so happy! Yay for guacamole! What’s strange about it, is only one trunk has fruit. So I think it must have been grafted long ago and we’ll probably have two types on one tree. We’ll see!

At the Farmer’s Market in Rincon. Dragonfruit! We have had our dragonfruit plant flower, but it never holds onto the fruit

The Farmer’s Market on Sunday mornings is fun. We don’t make much money, but it is worth it and it’s fairly stable for being summertime. We have made a lot of great friends there. And we use the money to go out and have brunch and drive around a bit afterward. If we make any more than that we put it into buying more plants from the nurseries or flea markets around.

Taking Aeden to Yogufruti after the Farmer’s Market one Sunday

I never knew what fashion tasted like before, but it’s pretty good! haha

During the week we mostly work on the farm: mowing, planting, improving trails. We also clean and do “turnovers” if we have guests staying in the cabana. We also like to pick a day or two to go shopping or an excursion of some sort. Sometimes we go hunting for plants on the side of the road or check out a beach. Lately it has been so hot, that we have been doing everything we can to stay cool. Since we don’t have A/C that means sitting in the baby pool, finding anywhere that has air conditioning and just milling around, eating watermelon and lots of fluids and trying to avoid the heat of the middle of the day (siesta anyone?). The beach is actually too hot for me on those sizzling days since the water and sand multiply the sun’s effect.

Staying cool in our baby pool in the shade like the hillbillies we are haha!

Fun shopping day out with friend Pauline

Stop in at an authentic chinchorro for una bien friiiia

Checking out a beach in Aguada (Tablerock) -great beach for bamboo driftwood hunters!

Fun on the farm! Dad and boy

Man and his horse swimming in Anasco

Not sure, but I believe this is a cupey flower blooming at our house

Britton had a red RX7 when he was a teenager so this made him gasp when we were driving along in Aguada one day! His 17 year-old self has multiplied! haha

He probably wasn’t listening to this type of song back then though (this is a top hit currently on the radio that we turn up when it comes on, and it’s great for Spanish vocabulary!)

Buying plants at Jardines Eneida! One of our favorite nurseries!

At Jardines Eneida. Check out the video:

I call Puerto Rico “Toon Town” and it’s not without reason…Check out this vibrant little house

And this one…who is very concerned with the modesty of its columns haha

Or this awesomely strange creation seemingly out of a sci-fi movie

Driving up the hills of Mayaguez we had a majestically different view of Rincon and Desecheo in the distance

That’s it for the update. Time flies. I can’t believe that a year ago I was hugely pregnant and just waiting for our little guy to arrive and now he’s almost walking. It’s crazy. Nothing like a kid to make time really feel warped.

Here’s a quick little video of some vignettes of our daily life in Puerto Rico. Hope you enjoy. Oh, and I am trying to do a little more with Instagram if you’d like to follow along.

What do you think of this post?

WOW (1)
Awesome (6)
Interesting (0)
Useful (0)
Bummer (0)
Whoa (0)

Mother’s Day, TARS, and our Tropical Gardens

1 Reply

Overlook spot in Moca

A quick update. We have been tackling house repairs and building of the deck railings, keeping up with the cabana (recently painted the entire interior again) staying on track with all the mowing (we maintain about 2 acres of green areas) as well as planting and watering the tropical gardens when it’s dry. When we are not at the farm, we go out for drives or on searches for more plants as well as just normal chores like grocery shopping and things like that. We have also had the opportunity to spend some time with friends which is always nice.

The farm always feels so refreshed after we mow it, it’s like our own personal park

It would be a rare occasion at a plant store that I don’t find something to buy

Quick stop at Borinquen Beach in Aguadilla

Aeden loved it!

We also went to TARS in Mayaguez. It has been a long time since we’ve visited. Now that we’ve been doing this tropical gardening for a good long while I can appreciate the collection that they have there even more. It looked to have suffered some damage from the hurricane, but overall it is still quite impressive. So inspiring to see what’s possible here. So many home gardens are plain and this is extraordinary!

Britton and Aeden under a huge palm

Me and a HUGE Panama Canoe Tree

Britton and Aeden with a large agave

Me and a jackfruit tree/fruit

We just started a pandanus. It would be amazing to see it grow into this

Back at our farm

We are growing a new variety of microphone/beehive ginger

Another turkey came out of the woods with babies

Early morning sunrise at the finca

Peaceful serenity in the gardens

A mango tree releafing over head

Newest additions to the farm -2 tortoises (I think sulcata but not sure)!

Amazing number of torch gingers to take to the farmer’s market lately

At the farmer’s market with the babe

Celebrated my very first mother’s day as a mother. Here’s the mother who made me, and who made me a mother (around the same age 8-9 months)

My precious boy

Crossing the suspension bridge in San Sebastian

Everyone loves Aeden, everywhere we go. His hair is so “llamativo” and many people want to hold our smiley coloraito/ cano

Doing a photoshoot with friend Laura. Going to miss her so much! We always have fun together. And I have loved being her muse!

Tree-mendous!

Going away party for Laura and Kara

Receiving party (Hawaiian themed) for someone who got out of hospital with our neighbors

A normal day in Rincon -cows crossing the road and mangos falling from the sky

What a beautiful life!

Here’s our 8 month baby update video!

What do you think of this post?

WOW (1)
Awesome (11)
Interesting (0)
Useful (0)
Bummer (1)
Whoa (1)

Earthship PR on Earth Day

2 Replies

Earthship PR in Aguada, Puerto Rico

I have heard about the Earthship in Aguada for some time, but haven’t had the chance to check it out until now. It has been a working apiary (TainaSoy/Chaparro Apiaro) but recently has transformed into something magical. The Earthship PR has a lot of potential as it is still in its infancy, but it was great to see the results in the making. Based on the biotechture Earthships of Taos New Mexico, the goal is for it to be a sustainably built (using tires, cans, bottles and other “trash”) community center that is completely off grid -water, electricity and food. At this point it has a basic working rainwater system, and a very minimal solar set up (one panel) and a small garden.

Derek and Matt led the discussion

But the coolest thing to me was the structure style and re-use of the colored glass bottles to make a stain-glass effect in the dome-like huts. It felt like we were in a movie/art set. The soft edges made it seem like we were in a fairy tale setting dancing under mushroom caps. From the vision of Eco-sustainability to the community engagement (it was built nearly all from volunteer labor) and just the sheer “cool factor” this place was a true inspiration of what can be possible with a little dream and a lot of elbow grease! Check out the video below for a full tour. The Earth Day event was also a lot of fun with bomba music, local artisans and food, and just a really chill, good vibe to help us appreciate how awesome it is to live on planet Earth!

Inside the first hut