Our neighbour and friend, Elly, presented with me with these two ears of corn. When she opened them up to show me, I was greeted with this amazing purple marbled kernels. Just look at them! And check out our butternut squash in the background. Looks so 'harvesty'?

As for the boys, Martin and Kevin were hard at work all week building a shelter for the baby bulls. Martin levelled the ground, they both worked on the concrete moulds, and together they felled a few trees, cut them and erected them in place. Next week, I'll show you the roof and hopefully three baby bulls. Stay tuned...

So, after visiting the bamboo farm, we planted our four little bamboo plants near the old wood cabin near the waterfall garden. They're only 14 inches right now, but just wait till they tower and spring baby shoots. We're growing our own bamboo farm! It will be interesting to see how quickly they grow.

Kevin and I went on a field trip yesterday to a bamboo farm. Kevin has had this on his list of things to do for over a year. It was really interesting to see all the different types of bamboo. Thin, thick, light green, striped, with thorns and without... even black bamboo. The 'mother' bamboo tree gives 'birth' to baby shoots. They grow incredibly fast, too. I stood beside a tree that was only six months old and was four times my height (easy). And it grows to reach 15 m/50 ft. (10 times my height). We bought four plants for our property to see how well they do. Our elevation may slow the growing process down, but we're pretty sure they'll do just fine.

Stay tuned.

It's not done yet, but I thought I'd give you a sneak peek as to how the conversion is going. A couple of months after arriving here, we decided to use the concrete container in the hatchery as growing beds. We had our worker, Martin, and his son, Nacho, remove half of the metal roof from the steel structure to create a bright garden space out of the rain. Our experience, however, is that although we've managed to grow a few tomato plants and some herbs, mostly, our crops haven't done particularly well. We're thinking at our high altitude, the nights dip to temperatures that are just a tad too cool, hindering the growing process.

So, Kevin has been spending the last couple of weeks framing the structure and two days ago, he installed the plastic sheet all the way around.

We said goodbye to our last guests of the season yesterday. We've had amazing and interesting guests and have enjoyed receiving and hosting all of them. We are closed for September and October during the wettest time of the year and will be re-opening November 1st. Bookings are coming in for next season already! We look forward to meeting all our new guests.

Here is what our latest guests wrote in our guestbook... so kind:

August 31, 2014

Where to begin? I love the hammock! and Frankie! Hiking on  your property, enjoying the views, taking pictures of the watefalls, hummingbirds, ponds, rivers and vibrant flowers was fun. Having your company to explain the history of the region and your special slice of paradise really added to my enjoyment. I appreciated meeting your neighbours and touring their farm. Their graciousness and serenity seem indicative of the Costa Rican people. I loved Cindy's art
and am grateful that I found some for sale at the coffee co-op to bring home.

I adored your cooking, Anne - it was all a feast for the senses – from the flowers on top of the salads, to the yummy bread and banana bread to the smooth and tasty squash soup and broccoli soup and the pizza we ate riverside! I appreicated the option of real, raw milk and felt right at home in the cozy kitchen. The casita has a warm and inviting feel and had everything we needed for a great sleep, and lots of time for reading and relaxing! Thank you for arranging the tours and for helping us choose a restaurant and for all of the helpful tips you provided! We really enjoyed spending time with you and Kevin – your adventure is turning out to be a beautiful creation here in Rio Blanco.

Many thanks and kindest regards,
Lianne
Newmarket, Ontario


I did not see the Resplendent Quetzal, but that was not necessary as the whole experience was resplendent!

Warren
Newmarket, Ontario also :)