“To talk of many things:

Of shoes–and ships–and sealing-wax–

Of cabbages–and kings–

And why the sea is boiling hot–

And whether pigs have wings.”

-Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

Soon after uttering these lines, the Walrus and the Carpenter proceed to relish every last one of the young oysters they had lured away from their bed, Pied-Piper style, with the promise of a contemplative walk along the beach. I found myself reciting the last line in my head as I witnessed the slaughtering of the pig, pondering the connection between Carroll’s words in relation to the animal hanging upside down on its hind legs.

Slughterhouse Blues

One of the biggest concerns we recognize today about our food system is an almost complete disconnection from it. For the most part, we accept the status quo, believing the claims of agribusinesses and counting on government agencies to protect us. We don’t necessarily strive for transparency, choosing often to stay comfortably unaware of how our food finds its way onto the table. Ask a child today where he thinks his milk originates and he may reference a cow with purple spots that he has seen on a milk carton. Try to describe to a child the flavor of a tomato fresh-picked off the vine, and he can only allude to the soggy and tasteless pink slice wedged between his cheeseburger. Food comes as is from packages, neatly lined up on shelves at supermarkets, not from animals or plants. Like the naïve little oysters that blindly trust in the Walrus and the Carpenter, appropriate parallels to agribusinesses and the government, we are similarly being escorted along the path to our demise. There is but a small window of time for us to wake up and openly examine the reality of our situation before we reach that end.

Last week, I received a snapshot of the day-to-day workings of the farm. I spent most of Monday morning wielding a machete and chopping down spent black bean trees to prepare for a new planting. My Tuesday morning began upon a milking stool beside a heifer and its calf where I attempted to learn the skill of extracting milk. Every so often, when the milk would dry up, we would untie the calf and allow it to feed in order to stimulate further production and then forcefully pull it away so that the milking could continue. I found myself feeling uncomfortable with the scene even though I knew it was all a part of the process. It felt unnatural and cruel, and I considered the argument that human consumption of milk is an aberrant practice as a cow’s milk is meant for its calves, not another animal species. Later that morning, I saw a litter of pigs just moments after their birth.

Newborn piglet! Awwww, Babe!

I was immediately smitten with them and found myself wanting to linger and watch their every exploration. On Wednesday, I helped to deposit a series of new plants in the garden, delighting in crushing large chunks of the clay-like Costa Rican soil between my fingers and re-sculpting it to frame the roots. I got wind that the men were preparing to slaughter a pig and after some initial hesitation, I decided that I needed to see it.

Why would I choose to stand 30 feet away to see the life slip out of an animal? I wasn’t entirely sure at first either. I know I can stay in a state-of-the-art science classroom at a private school and preach from books about the theory behind sustainable farming, the importance of limiting meat consumption on the future of the environment, or the moral implications behind using animals for food. But to actually witness the slaughter of a pig, to detect its fear and to hear its squeals and grunts as its blood is drained away is as poignant an experience as I will need to fully speak my truth.

A new litter of piglets

The pigs here have as good a life as an animal destined to become chicharrὀnes can ever get. With their daily banquets of organic leftovers, I’d say they have it better than many human beings around the world. Sure, it’s far easier to just pretend that bacon really comes as is from a plastic vacuum package. (Believe me, in my desperation for chocolate recently, I feigned that I wasn’t aware that the bon bon I was eating contained dairy.) We are not perfect and should never expect ourselves to be. But there is a certain standard by which we should hold ourselves and that is to make conscious choices that can only come from knowledge and observation.

Gecko at the slaughterhouse

People always want to know why I am vegan/vegetarian/pesca-vegetarian. I usually say it’s a combination of health, environment, and convenience, and I can now add affirmatively that I also don’t need an animal to be slaughtered for my enjoyment. But that is my creed. I can’t begin to judge a person who needs to eat meat in order stay healthy and/or happy. The choices are ours to make based on our genes, values and experiences.

Recently, after seeing the amount of food waste, one of the interns came up with the idea of redirecting the leftovers to the farm workers who do not take their meals at the café with the rest of the staff and are ever so grateful to receive the food. It was so simple and so logical, but no one thought to implement it until now. We tend to get into a groove of mechanically following a protocol, and we pay a price for the comfort of that complacency. I’ve been thinking about my purpose for coming here and wondering what it is I really hope I get out of my experience here. I guess I can say that I am here to challenge my complacency. I don’t want to sit in an ivory tower and contemplate theoretical solutions to problems that require real-life experiences to fully flesh out.  It’s time to stop being afraid and start questioning the status quo.

Written by Carole Ly, our new intern from Los Angeles, California.

Forty local food devotees enjoyed a Slow Food lunch

Finca Luna Nueva joined the local Costa Rica convivium last year and had been waiting for this event to introduce the Slow Food movement to our food-conscious neighbors in the Zona Norte.  Last year there were more than 1150 events in over 120 countries. 

Stories and photos from this year’s event can be viewed at Terra Madre Day.

Chef Ernesto Spinelli, of Evergreen, Colorado and San Ramon, Costa Rica, prepared a sumptuous meal for the 40 attendees, who came from several of the surrounding towns to savor dishes whose ingredients were either grown on the farm or purchased from local vendors in the area.

Chef Ernesto Spinelli in the kitchen at Finca Luna Nueva

The menu consisted of chicken piccata, caprese salad, roasted baby potatoes, fresh hearts of palm, potato, and avocado salad with a tarragon vinaigrette, brown rice with shiitake mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and a variety of salad field greens from the farm’s garden.

A mountain of salad from our organic farm

Very happy Slow Food devotees in the buffet line

For dessert there was coconut flan made from fresh milk from the farm’s dairy cows.

Caprese salad with local cheese and farm-grown tomatoes

After lunch, the group gathered in the salon to watch the video of Carlo Petrini’s Terra Madre Day message, followed by a discussion about the importance of supporting Slow Food’s platform of good, clean, and fair food. .   . for everyone!  Many of the attendees were members of other Slow Food Convivia in the United States where they reside during the summer. Every guest expressed a true desire to be more involved in the Slow Food movement by supporting local food purveyors and developing their own gardens.  The event was so successful that a second Slow Food luncheon is already being planned for our area with talk of forming a new convivium for the people who live in the Zona Norte of Costa Rica.   For information about a local chapter near you, go to www.slowfood.com.  The basic premise of Slow Food’s Terra Madre Day event is to encourage small-scale farmers, producers, cooks, students, and members to use their creativity and knowledge to build a better food future.

Sustainable Tourism defined by the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Tourism Council (WTTC) and the Earth Council:

“Sustainable Tourism Development meets the needs of present tourists, host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunity for the future. It is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social, and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity, and life support systems. Sustainable tourism products are products which are operated in harmony with the local environment, community, and cultures so that these become the beneficiaries not the victims of tourism development.”

Finca Luna Nueva  offers a variety of experiences for the green traveler. The experiences are both tangible and intangible. The tangible experiences are the activities that Finca Luna Nueva provides, such as hiking, farm tours, spa services, food, and much more. However, the intangible experiences at Finca Luna Nueva are what make it so very special. These secondary experiences cannot be touched or seen. The philosophies and beliefs of Finca Luna Nueva are what drive these intangibles. The guests, staff, and interns of Finca Luna Nueva are all at different points along the continuum of personal growth and because the mission is to educate and share, the farm is absolutely thriving as a marketable, sustainable, eco-tourism destination. The subculture, various personalities of the “family” and in fact, the inherent slowness of it all offers the guests a chance to embrace a way of life, if even for a few days, that places drastically different principles first.

Our "family" of interns.

These principles are harmony between human’s interaction with nature, cyclical processes of nature and the human species, slow food, and the essential connection to its source, peace, community, and of course, the interdisciplinary, esoteric nature of biodynamic farming. The guests and interns will have the opportunity to experience what happens when life slows down and they have the chance to observe their surroundings and themselves in a new light.

This farm is in lovely concert with the natural climate and with the local people. As stated theoretically above in the definition of Sustainable Tourism, Luna Nueva is fulfilling needs; crucial needs, in fact. Like food, water, shelter, and jobs for people. What Luna Nueva is doing for people, biodynamics is doing for the land, the forest, the rivers, and the animals.

Living in harmony includes these critters, too

Gathering herbs

This blend of life is like the sweetest dessert you will ever taste. Reclaiming the land and food and bolstering the people that have the courage to find their way “back to the garden” is what Luna Nueva does best.  Educating locals and foreigners about the current food and seed crisis and promoting biodiversity are just a few of the main ideas championed.  These concepts soak into the minds and souls of those who work and visit Finca Luna Nueva, just as the biodynamic preparations are absorbed into the soil, and as the rain water saturates every root.

Today I was asked a difficult question by a young woman studying Nutrition and “Food Science” (is it really appropriate to use scientific inquiry to study our food?) I digress. She asked me what is the most urgently important lesson I have learned here at Luna Nueva?  Great question, young inquisitor. I thought to myself, is it that I am alive in one of the most pivotal times in history where we, the human race, are literally unaware and even indifferent to the fact that our soil is sick and our seed supply is rapidly diminishing? Or maybe that I have the power right now to learn, change, and help others reclaim the sacred. Perhaps the most important lesson is that I now know the power of discernment in an age of false reality and mimicry.  I am thinking. I am churning.  I am recalling the countless days and nights that the quizzical look on my face gave me away; my quaint, comfortable outlook was being pummeled and I was powerless. Through experience, I have learned food can be enlivened and stimulated with the growers’ affirmations of harmony and goodwill. When our food is alive, so are we. When we are alive, we participate, we produce, we grow. What a beautiful cycle!

The river of life. . .

Biodynamics is an interdisciplinary practice that creates robustness, complementing the Earth’s own deep pulse. Mother Nature has an answer for everything. Dig your own trenches. Share yourself. Is it hope? Is it love? Maybe the Costa Rican’s have it right:  Pura Vida? Perhaps the answer is that I have learned the power of the rhetorical question. Don’t you hate it when people answer your question with yet another one? Let me pose this metaphor for thought: A mountain. An uphill climb. A journey of sacrifice, courage, and humility all for the illusive, sweet nectar of the tangible and the intangible…the perfect apple that you sink your teeth into for its nourishment and the intangible truth we all seek to find. The question is not what important lesson I learned, but rather what is yours? How will you contribute to the solution today?

Saludos,

Lindsey

Hello World!

I have been pondering what to tell you the past couple of weeks as so many exciting adventures have occurred here at the eco-friendly Finca Luna Nueva. One idea that blasted into my frontal lobes this morning was how much I love the sounds here. So part of this blog entry is about the noises of Finca Luna Nueva. Here are a few of my favorites:

Rain on a tin roof:  when it’s hard it sounds like Armageddon and when it’s soft, the clinkety clanks are like chattering tea cups.

The howler monkeys: they really do make me laugh because we just do not have monkeys where I am from.

The Ciccaba (Strix) nigrolineata: more commonly known as the Black and White Owl and sounds so beautiful when it’s hoo hoo-ing during our night hike.

The Cicada: when I heard this one for the first time I thought for sure something was terribly wrong. What kind a bug does that? The singing of the Cicada comes from the “tymbals” on the sides of its abdomen.

Antonio’s flute: many early mornings Antonio gets up and plays his wooden flute before going to stir the biodynamic preparations. This stirring is incredibly important and one must be in a stable, meditative state of mind to stir the solution for an entire hour. Eventually a vortex is created and this cylindrical movement is mimicking other cyclical movements in nature- waves, storms, and Earth’s rotation, for example.  In this small micro environment we are capturing the macro vital forces so necessary for a healthy batch of biodynamic prep. Sometimes Antonio plays his flute upon coming home at night and I just smile.

Laughter: Someone is always laughing here.

Chirping birds: at all times of the day, the playful, peaceful birds of Finca Luna Nueva are sharing their song with us.

Flowing water: I am never quite sure where it is coming from but the gentle murmur of flowing water makes this place extra tranquillo.

Yes, the sounds and sights of Luna Nueva are totally extraordinary. They welcome me to a new day and help me finish the last one. It is one aspect of Finca Luna Nueva that stays the same. Those of us who get to experience this wonderful eco-lodge are not the same afterward.

One highlight of my last couple weeks was the trip to Rio Celeste. This is the mother of all national parks and is located about 2 hours from the farm. I was fortunate enough to travel with the Newmark family while they were here.  What a treat! These are some of the more diverse, intelligent, and friendly people I have ever met. Their bond as a family is truly admirable as they really, really love each other. I was grateful to be able to tag along.

The ladies in the kitchen made us a lunch of arroz con pollo (chicken with rice), black beans, and fresh fruit. The hike is about 4 to 5 hours long and brings you to various stopping points along the way. I was so excited because the first section of the river we stopped at the water was so blue.  Everyone went swimming in the cooler river water and then warmed up in the hot springs “bathtub” next to the river. This was worth the hike already, but little did I know that what lay around the bend. After an additional 2 to 3 hours of hiking, we started the descent to the Rio Celeste waterfall. The energy contained in this remote corner of the world was paralyzing. Usually upon seeing something beautiful, I squeal with delight or laugh, point, or even stare. But this place floored me. I was totally quiet. This feeling is the purity behind the word awestruck. Everything was moving and swaying — the water, the trees, the air. The force behind the falls was a super power, the minerals created neon blue water, and the various foliage and flowers growing alongside the falls made the vivacious serenity of this place so unique. I felt a loss of words, a loss of understanding, a loss of strain and hardship. There is a time in life though when two things start to happen: you lose yourself and you find yourself — often simultaneously. Rio Celeste did both of those things in a single moment. The sparkling spirit of this place truly has the power to calm and rejuvenate even the most rambunctious of us all.

I have had the pleasure to join various group activities these last weeks, my favorite being the zip lining tour.  You wear a funny helmet and a small cable and literally soar above the tree tops.  The longest ride was about a ½ mile. This gives you the chance to really look around, hang out, and see Volcán Arenal to your right. What a beauty! This volcano is one of the most active in the world, and there I was flying right within its fiery jurisdiction. The reason hey call La Fortuna by that name (La Fortuna means fortune in Spanish) is that when Arenal erupted in 1968 it destroyed the small town of Tabacón, but La Fortuna was unharmed. The little city has had good luck beginning long before that when the indigenous people would scoop up various artifacts and tools that would float downstream along Rio Fortuna during floods. The people considered these gifts good luck, hence the name La Fortuna. This steamy, restless city is a major tourist attraction today and I am so lucky to get to go there often for local food, dancing, shopping, and friends.

Some wonderful people visited us from Whole Foods and I tagged along for a day of hiking and hot springs. We crossed puentes colgantes or hanging bridges and yes, they were hanging and swaying with the tops of the trees. We saw sporing mushrooms, which is kind of like witnessing a mushroom having intercourse. When a mushroom is sporing it looks like steam from a hot cup of coffee. The vapor is actually tiny, one-unit cells that are being dispersed and are capable of giving rise to new mushrooms. So cool! We ended the night at a lush hot springs resort where we spent 2 ½ hours soaking in mineral rich water and drinking Piña Coladas. Our Whole Foods group also contributed 30 trees to our secondary rainforest right off the trail by our Cacao orchard. We sang as we planted, let the mud sift through our hands, and we blessed every little tree that went into the soil that day. We also have students from all over the world, and two lovely girls, Rebecca and Christina from New Jersey and Panama City, joined us interns for herb harvesting. We ventured into Chino’s garden, my most favorite place on this farm, and harvested Rosemary, Culantro (no, not Cilantro…they are sisters), Yerba Buena, three types of Basil including Holy Basil, Native Basil, Cinnamon Basil, and Lemongrass. The young women were recoding everything in their journals.  The garden was pleased to have such spirited visitors. I am so close to the goal of having garden fresh herb blends for our guests which I harvested, created, and then get to share.  The real pleasure of being here is that without a doubt work and play are one and the same.

A delightful breeze and the sounds of Luna Nueva are always ever present: chirping and singing, people sharing ideas and thoughts, boots stomping through the mud, crunching leaves, strumming guitars, and splashing in the pool.

Let the celebration of life continue.

As one of the Organic Gardening Magazine and New Chapter’s Sacred Seeds contest winners, my husband and I were gifted with an all expense paid trip for 5 days to New Chapter’s Finca Luna Nueva’s Farm, Sacred Seed Sanctuary and Eco-Lodge in July, 2011. If you’d like to read my winning essay, you can visit my website, www.MoesGardenNaturals.com and go to “Moe’s Garden Blog”.

I have come home with a new passion and commitment to the Sacred Seed project. The experience of being part of Luna Nueva and the people there has a life altering effect that I bring back to my world. To eat clean, live purely, and work with purpose. They call it Pura Vida. I am deeply awed by the farm and want to learn more about bio-dynamics and the global community that practices this unique method. I am very happy to learn that my plant friends that are used in bio-dynamics grow in abundance here in the Pacific Northwest and are wild and wonderful all over my property:  Yarrow, Valerian, Chamomile, Dandelion, and even Stinging Nettles. That’s so cool.

Walking through and experiencing the Sacred Seed Sanctuary with Steven Farrell was a highlight to my whole stay at Luna Nueva. The farm tour with Antonio Marxuach, intern at Luna Nueva and owner of  “Moon Hill Dairy” in Colorado, was also fabulous and very enlightening, making me want to learn more and come back again soon. My next research plan is to read about Rudolf Steiner and get my hands on the book “Eco Farm” and “Acres” magazine by Charles Walters, also the book “Grasp the Nettle”. I am fascinated by how fungi is the key to life in the tropical rainforest and it really made sense when Steven explained that composting is nature’s mimicry. I’ve often joked in an almost chanting sing-song way to gardening children about how “it’s all about the compost, it’s all about the poo and the rot”…I was right apparently.

Steven’s incredible knowledge and passion of the medicinal plants in the tropics (and globally), and the need to preserve them at this time and in various places all over the world really made me understand the importance of joining this effort to create a global network of like-minded people that are willing to set aside a sanctuary, no matter how small or large, for local medicinal herbs for the future of our mother earth and it’s inhabitants.

The modern world is a fascinating and fast paced place, with internet and networking, where strangers are no longer strange and foods are either fast and preserved or slow and worth savoring. Luna Nueva Lodge, Farm and Sacred Seed Sanctuary has re-affirmed my belief in enjoying, preparing, and appreciating nutritious meals, slow down to the rhythm of human, plant, and creature connections and listen to the earth’s pulse. I have often said that you should “eat what is around you” and get back to a time when people didn’t travel to far away places and weren’t able to purchase foods from around the world regularly. I don’t mean stop eating bananas if you live in Olympia Washington, I mean that you should be more in-tune with your climate, seasons, and support local farmers. I also believe, for instance, that if you have hay fever and live in Olympia Washington, you should take bee pollen that is produced in the area, not go to the health food store and buy bee pollen made in New York State. It just makes sense holistically. Now that my husband and I have been to Costa Rica, however, we really love papayas, pineapple, and bananas and plan on continuing to eat them more often, as well as more beans and rice. Pura Vida, Moe

It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole month since I first set foot in Costa Rica and I sit here now a changed man not merely in some abstract, enigmatic way, but quite nearly a refugee to modernity. However, this sentiment vacillates between that of the refugee and fugitive. Clearly I haven’t escaped modernity entirely since news of the horrific weather events has not evaded my awareness. The Internet, it would seem, has us all connected; as though we haven’t always been “connected” via consciousness that we so often choose to ignore. A 6.0 earthquake my first week here brought Christchurch and Fukushima more succinctly into the forefront of my thoughts. And, volcanic activity in Chile and Russia has certainly made me cognizant of the ramifications of sleeping 20km from Arenal, an active volcano.

Arenal Volcano as seen from our observation tower

These admonishments at Mother Gaia’s behest read like a yellowed, dusty old obituary for a dead canary from a coalmine that has been closed for generations. I hardly think she is gently cajoling us anymore. More accurately, we are the over-indulged child who has been asked to clean our room so many times that a severe grounding is now inevitable.

I find myself at what feels like ground zero for the (r)evolution of consciousness that awaits our enlistment. “Here” meaning right here, right now! Here at Luna Nueva we are preparing ourselves to be conscientious cultivators, dedicated to the seed, defenders of the soil. Farming in the Biodynamic tradition, empowers us with tools for healing and restoring the Earth. Having ravaged and plundered, we stand at the crossroads of a historical opportunity to return to our Mother and beg her forgiveness for our offenses. This prodigal son wishes to return to his terrestrial family and revive the garden.

Turning barrel compost

Walking these grounds awakens one to the vitality of a living Earth and the necessity of maintaining an open dialogue with Her. In the tropics, life cycles are dramatic and accelerated, like biology on steroids. Things are either alive or decomposing, often right before your eyes. The deep ecology of the rainforest reminds the waking mind of its relationship to the real world, not the world of edifices but one that pulses and breathes with organic Life. Life that carries on quite nicely absent our intervention, thank you very much.

Far from Eden however, it is more like unplugging from the matrix to discover muscles atrophied from disuse, skills not yet acquired, and an inherent lack of work hardening. The saying goes you are never alone in the jungle and it’s quite remarkable how many of its inhabitants seem to desire a taste of you. Tiny ants and midges and mosquitoes are so stealthy you are not aware of their presence until they are injecting you with formic acid or botfly eggs. Poisonous spiders, snakes, toads, frogs, and caterpillars abound.

Look, but don't touch, this caterpillar!

Some ants are big enough to see their facial expression as they bite down on your flesh. Is that a smile or smirk?

With biological diversity exceeding any other ecosystem on Earth the tropics are so much more than the wellspring of oxygen production for the entire globe. Here there is cooperation, agreement, and interdependence. Where there may be risk from natural threats there are even greater offerings of healing and vitality. Healing plants like ginger and turmeric, super, nutrient-dense foods such as coconut, katuk and pejibaye and the milk from cows, goats, and buffalo grazing on lush, verdant jungle grass exist alongside powerful medicinal plants that show promise for treatment of ailments ranging from malaria to rheumatoid arthritis, influenza, and even cancer.

A beautiful clump of organic turmeric!

Luna Nueva is the tireless Lorax poised to preserve irreplaceable botanical species through their Sacred Seeds Sanctuary and create a model for coexistence with a landscape that can simultaneously yield bountiful nutritious foods for humans while providing abundant habitat for diverse species of native creatures. It seems we needn’t compromise one for the other. It could be argued there really is no other way to be on this Earth.

Coming here to practice Biodynamics and continuing to learn this esoteric science and art, my ambition remains to imprint myself into the cosmic rhythm of Life. My own circadian rhythm has naturally recalibrated to the cycles of the Sun and I am noticing waxing and waning physical energy as well as psychic activity that seems to flow with the lunar cycles. We have prepped compost piles with Biodynamic 502-507, turned barrel compost, stirred and sprayed 500 and BC, made BD tree paste to apply to cacao and soon will be applying 501 and fermented 508 as per the recipe developed by Lily Kolisko.

Applying BD paste to cacao trees

Early upon my arrival, I was bestowed the chance to spearhead a rehabilitation project of Luna Nueva’s small cacao plantation. Suffering from a combination of what Luna’s Chief Executive Farmer Steven Farrell describes as benign neglect, poor soils, pod-eating squirrels, and frosty pod rot (Monilia roreri), it has become a life-affirming exercise in learning the language of the Lorax. We will be employing comprehensive cultural and Biodynamic sets of protocols for treating disease, nutrition, pest management, and overgrowth.

These tiny flowers will turn into cacao pods! YUM!

We began with heavy pruning during the second quarter, waning moon in May. It is in this period when tree sap recedes to the roots. We are learning here that the influences of the waxing and waning moon trump those of ascending and descending moon when you are this close to the equator. The opposite is true when one is north of the Tropic of Cancer or south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Observation, so far, is reinforcing this principle.

Next, fellow BD intern Sara Hartley and I made a huge batch of BD tree paste which includes such nifty ingredients as:

3 kg Fine Sand

3 kg clay

4 kg cow manure

3/5 kg wood ash

1 kg compost

3/5 kg whey

1/5 unit B.C.

4/5 kg crushed quartz

1/5 kg egg shells

1/5 unit of 500

In keeping with the spirit of BD farming, all these were harvested from the farm. After the new moon, when I could no longer prune, I turned my attention to spreading BD tree paste on all the cacao trees. Hot sun, torrential rains, insect bites, bending and squatting at awkward, uncomfortable angles top the list of challenges to this task but the chance to saturate the cambium with invigorating nutrients and vital forces is too good to pass up. Added benefit: every day my relationship with the orchard grows more intimate. What began as the implementation of a series of tasks has evolved into a running dialogue. Now, I incline myself to contemplate the gesture of each tree and attempt to understand what it wishes to tell me. My profound aspiration is fluent tree-speak.

Earlier this week Steven ordered 35 hybrid trees bred by CATIE (Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza) that are the only varieties in the world which have shown resistance to Monilia. As such, we will be thinning the orchard and replacing aged and/or diseased trees with this new variety. I spend some of my time among the trees distinguishing gestures of vitality from gestures of morbidity. This challenges me to develop the skill of reading subtle, etheric energy. I am pushed every day into new frontiers. Finally, tomorrow morning we will be applying our first application of fermented tea of 508 (horsetail/equisetum) to counteract the effects leading to fungal disease. It is a project I pursue with rapt enthusiasm.  Biodynamics is indeed a formula for positive change, even in ourselves.

Pura Vida!

Antonio Marxuach

La Reina de la Noche -- wondrous and dangerous at the same time

Everyday there is something new and different set against a mellow backdrop of painted forest. Let me fill you in on some new discoveries:  Ismael brought Sara (our brilliant biodynamic intern) and me (the newbie) a big chunk of Cat Claw.

Cat's Claw -- approx 10 years old

It comes in the form of a stump like branch, about the length of say, a sword. It has a medium thickness and has an inner and outer bark. We are interested in the inner bark (the color of burnt sienna) for making teas. It truly is a magical herbal medicine. Once the outer bark is peeled off, we peel off strips of the reddish bark inside and then store it in glass jars. It’s quite a bit of work, but totally worth it. This effort is a launching pad for the Tea Project that Sara and I are embarking on. Today we made a wonderful new fresco from green tea and ginger grown right on the farm. Sara and I boiled the ginger first to release some of the flavor, steeped the green tea, added some fresh lemon, and served it up.

The most incredible people were at Luna Nueva this week. Our dinners every night are no less than three hours long and I have had my mind rocked for a good 48 hours straight.  Here we cultivate ideas and philosophies; we don’t talk about other people or sports. If we do mention people, we’re discussing Steiner or Hypatia, the Balinese or the Mayans. We’re talking astrology, mathematics, art, music, dance, politics and education. We’re discussing the great spiritual leaders of the world and also our own experiences with life. The common thread is that the people who come here are choosing an alternative life — one that’s right for them. They choose to know, to study, to uncover, and to question, and I see a satisfaction in their eyes. It’s both painful and beautiful because I know so many who are unsatisfied.  There is true courage in their hearts and I commend anyone who dares to step away from their norm.  These people give me hope for my future.

Tom Newmark -- a fabulous mentor and conversationalist

As the marketing intern, I have been doing a lot of observing here:  watching the processes and listening to the conversations. It’s been on my mind about how to make Luna Nueva even better than it currently is.  Last night, I finished a presentation about our educational night walk.  I’ll send out the presentation to a number of local agencies. Our goal is to get the locals to see what Luna Nueva has to offer and hopefully they will have an interest in this type of education.  It is truly a wonderful place to learn.

I'm even comfortable with Babe and friends!

Another aspect of my job is to work in the kitchen with the talented staff. The other day, I learned to fry chicken, make plantain chips, and make a lemonade fresco. I also helped chop the fresh green vegetables directly from our biodynamic garden for the salads. Because of the way the vegetables are farmed, the salads are nutrient-dense and slightly mucilaginous. It’s wonderfully fresh and makes you feel good about what you’re eating. I am constantly thinking of new recipes that contain ingredients grown on the farm. Fresh coconut macaroons sweetened with honey are right around the corner.

In the kitchen with Harold, making root beer from scratch!

The weather has been crazy and beautiful here during this rainy, green season. Last night a bunch of visiting students, guests, and the interns all ran to the observation tower after realizing we were right in the middle of a lightning storm. Lightning was all around us; blasting and shooting just about every second. We all mused that the storm was really a manifestation of the spirited exchanges we had at dinner — the Earth’s response to the mind expanding three-hour focus groups!

Hasta semana!

Earlier this week the hotel’s afternoon groundskeeper Alexis invited me to join a group of the young campesinos for a friendly fútbol match between local rivals. I explained to him that I have never played before. The closest I’ve come would be kickball in elementary school. But, this is Latin America. If you appear even reasonably athletic then of course you’ve played fútbol before. It seemed what I was saying to him was incomprehensible; it’s probably my Spanish. So, I was recruited despite my best attempts at evasion, praying for rain, and not having appropriate footwear (I am down to Vibram 5-fingers and mountain bike shoes).

The inevitable humiliation comes game day — rather night, that is, 7:00 p.m., an hour before I typically go to bed. As if the game wasn’t going to be daunting enough, the only available transportation was on the back of Alexis’ motorcycle, on rugged jungle mountain roads, in a torrential downpour, with no helmet. Sigh! I gave my word so I had to face it. To put “It” into a gringo analogy, picture dropping in on a really good pickup basketball game at a playground in Brooklyn or South Chicago having never handled a basketball before. In Central America young boys come out of the womb wearing shin guards and their ball-handling skills leave one awestruck. However, when all was said and done, I managed to surprise myself by staying in the flow of the game and making some contributions without tripping over myself. Thank goodness I watched so much World Cup coverage last summer!

Among the challenges of the Biodynamic apprentice is to develop a keen sense of the etheric and astral realms, meaning we need to be able to read subtle energy and become spiritually attuned. This is for the purpose of harmonizing ourselves with the flow of the farm/garden. The modern chemical farmer is able to remove himself from this Natural process sitting in the air-conditioned cab of his combine, tractor, or backhoe, spraying whatever his local extensions office “prescribes”. It seems there is no real substitute for boots on the ground, walking the field, observing plants in their greater context: the soil, the local ecosystem, insects, weeds, even the subtle gestures of the plants themselves. Cultivating this subtle awareness requires tuning out a great deal of external noise and represents a discipline not easily achieved in our modern, technological world.

Our training in Biodynamics requires that we develop an esoteric skill-set, a hidden body of knowledge, skills that are not readily identifiable in the realm of the materialist. Even though we are strongly encouraged to sit and contemplate the garden, sketch a plant, paint a watercolor, play music or write an ode, this can just look like idle time to the materialist.

I am reminded of a previous workshop with my mentor/teacher, BD farmer Jim Barausky who was teaching us Aristotle’s five intellectual virtues. These are five ways the soul arrives at truth by affirmation or denial. He grouped them into three classes:

Theoretical

▪                   Sophia – wisdom (a.k.a. Divine wisdom*).

▪                   Episteme – scientific knowledge, empirical knowledge.

▪                   Nous – mind (intuition, perception, reason).

▪   Practical

▪                   Phronesis – practical wisdom/prudence (foresight, sagacity, prognosis).

▪   Productive

Techne – craft knowledge, art, skill. © Wikipedia (is this the place where peasant wisdom resides?*)

Since I often say that modern humans worship at the altar of empiricism or “scientific” dogma, it is worth re-emphasizing that Aristotle listed all five as virtues. Modern society has certainly marginalized at least three and likely four of these virtues. This I believe, as do many, we do at our own peril.

In the spirit of ancient Athenian civilization, we have sought to nurture here at Finca Luna Nueva a more comprehensive ethos of inquiry through collaborative dialogue and idea sharing. As if by kismet, the Universe has brought us a steady stream of engaged and aware spiritual Truth seekers with whom to collaborate. The characters have been diverse and eclectic from ballet dancing warriors to pro football player cum alchemists, artists, actors, witches, wizards, pilgrims, and disciples of every manifestation. Luna Nueva is an incubator for explorations in consciousness!

Teachers come in all forms. This week I learned a valuable lesson from the avispo or buru, the Costa Rican wasp that packs a wallop of a sting and induced my first foray into anaphylaxis. This insect’s nest should be avoided. While pruning in the cacao, she came at me with the speed of a bullet and the piercing puncture of a white-hot poker. The residual venom distorted my face in a cartoon-ish way and spewed a perfusion of pressure that eventually started to clamp down on my sinuses, inciting a skull-splitting headache, and necessitated a trip to la farmacia in La Fortuna in search of the antihistamine Benadryl.

A stiff upper lip, courtesy of our local wasp!

You won’t find a greater proponent of natural healing remedies and plant medicine than me but I also understand the occasional necessity of “modern” medicine.

With the new moon, I will be winding down my pruning chores and return to applying BD tree paste in the cacao orchard.. This weekend I will be applying my third consecutive weekly application of BD 501/508. The orchard likes the attention it is receiving and I am optimistic.

Spraying BD preps

Next week my girlfriend Lisa and her two boys, Max and Bennett arrive for a one-week, Costa Rican Adventure! I am so excited to share with them a sample of what I’ve experienced here. They are a huge motivation for why I want to succeed as a farmer. Lisa’s dedication, conviction, and commitment in maintaining and building Moon Hill Dairy are inspiring and I hope to show her and the boys an amazing time. I think they will love it here as much as I do.

Pura Vida,

Antonio Marxuach

Really?  I walked slowly and hoped for the best!

They only come out at night -- a satiny parrot snake

The funny thing about the jungle is that it is so reckless, so alive, so unpredictable; even sensual. Nature has an answer for everything. She has perfected every process, every nutrient, every seed, plant and flower; even every disaster. Animals and plants die out here every day. Some slowly, like the tree in the forest that was taken over by another tree — the long sturdy arms of the guest slowly chokes out the host stealing its sunlight and nutrients from the soil. And some die quickly. A baby bird fell from the nest and la serpiente had lunch. This, however, is only one portion of the circle; the yang to the yin and vice versa. Birth and growth are continuous. New seeds take root, pineapples grow bigger and juicier, and flowers look toward the sun. Everything pollinates everything else. Food and herbs are harvested with great care, motivated by the philosophy of actually putting more into the Earth than is taken out. There is true sustainability here at Luna Nueva. We can strive to feed ourselves and the future generations but without investing in the land, nature and humans will deplete it.  This is not a natural process. It’s similar to what our parents taught us: leave it cleaner than we found it!  Can we leave the places we travel to and live in more abundant than when we found it? Believers and practitioners of biodynamics seem to think so.

The jungle is also a good place to tame your personal demons. Some of us are really good at that and some of us live in pain because we do not know how. The process is slow and I am in the beginning stages. What one learns here cannot be found in a book, film, or from music. It can only happen though patience, courage, and humility. I began reading a series of lectures by Rudolf Steiner, the man behind biodynamics and from everything I’ve learned thus far, he was a wizard of a man. In the introduction, the author warns us intellectuals, scientists, and mathematicians that when studying nature and her processes one must not do so because of curiosity or the desire for knowledge. It must be done esoterically and with the motive to connect the worlds.  Curiosity is a human condition, so much so that we cannot take ‘no’ for an answer. Learning to slow down and observe something really happening is difficult. We can miss the robust sweetness of life when we interact with it only through “interactive media”. Even more tragically human is the desire for knowledge. A noble pursuit for some and an empty disconnected hiding place for others. True discovery needs pure motives. I have started to grasp this concept in my few days here at Finca Luna Nueva. The forest is incredibly honest and the message I heard from it today was “Be you.” Perhaps that’s the hardest thing to do in today’s world. For the first time in history, humans are facing total destruction by nuclear weapons, food scarcity within an exponentially growing population, and such total immersion in the material world that we are being sickened by our abundance. As Bill Gates says, it can all be traced back to our Divided Mind. We can be pulled down by our confusion or we can collectively look up and out. And as we turn our gaze back to Mother Earth, we see her absolute wisdom. A question we should ask ourselves is if the things we currently believe in are even worth believing in.

I went to the secret waterfall today and stood under a massive 15 meter torrent of water in my hiking clothes while the blue Morpho butterflies played in the luminescence. The rain came hard while we were hiking back, but there is nothing like rain to bring you into the moment.

Finca Luna's secret waterfall

Life here on the farm is teaching me that a simple life is worth living. I hope to learn how to manipulate negative energy into something positive, how to make ginger cookies, speak better Spanish, and as William Shakespeare says:

“This above all: to thine own self be true,

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man.

Oh, and to end on this note: a Toucan just flew by!

On the slopes in Steamboat Springs

Antonio is in his second year of his NABDAP North American Biodynamic Apprenticeship Program and continues his studies with his BD farmer mentor Jim Barausky and his wife and Waldorf teacher Cheryl Mulholland. His first season in 2009 was spent at Frog Belly Farm learning Biodynamic horticulture from Jim and milking 16 dairy goats along with other animal chores.  After returning home, he planted his own 1,500 sq. ft. BD gardens with very modest market success, but it provided his family with beautiful produce. Subsequently, he got involved with the Moon Hill Dairy, a local raw milk dairy, where they have been milking seven Guernseys and two Brown Swiss cows and selling cow shares to their members in a CSA-style format.

His personal interest in the culinary arts, nutrition, and botanical/herbal medicine originated from his years as an elite athlete.  With a lifelong passion for sport, he immersed himself into all aspects of holistic wellness and healing. “While many athletes sadly choose to take the path of watered-down, pseudo-nutrition and high-tech, pharmaceutical enhancement and various combinations of reductionist technologies, these methods are, in the best case scenario, ineffective; in the worst they are both dangerous and unethical.”

Antonio’s journey has taken him to the source of Nature’s most vital foodstuffs.  “Without question, truly nutrient-dense foods come from the most balanced, healthiest soils. I believe that Rudolf Steiner provides a formula for cultivating soils that integrate the necessary elements to nourish the body (physical, etheric and astral) while simultaneously renewing and healing our relationship to a living Earth.  I discovered that nutrient-dense, living food is the ultimate starting point for the true epicurean and my eventual goal is to produce Biodynamic foods that will be sought by renowned chefs.”

With a keen social consciousness, he wants to align his goal to provide the same quality food to indigent and working class people. “I grew up very poor with a widowed single mother, so profiting from the economically advantaged is not an option. We have given away volumes of milk and produce to struggling and working families. One of the main reasons I am doing this internship in a Spanish-speaking country is to refine my communication skills so that I can more effectively interface with the migrant farm-working community in the U.S. I am deeply dedicated to the cause of BD, organic and sustainable farming as well as ecological and social justice, in accordance with the principles Rudolf Steiner outlined in Threefold Social Order and Philosophy of Freedom.”

Antonio has even managed his Crohn’s disease with nutrition and lifestyle. “I use natural and herbal remedies for every ailment and have only resorted to prescription antibiotics twice in my adult life. My Biodynamic studies have imbued me with a deeper understanding of valerian, stinging nettles, dandelion, chamomile, yarrow, oak bark and horsetail.”

The Rambo of Biodynamics!

Sadly, Antonio’s Puerto Rican father died when he was young so contact with his father’s parents was limited, but he is on a personal quest to restore family roots. Commensurate with that ambition is a deep and profound desire to connect more intimately with Hispanic culture and his Spanish/Latin American heritage.

His ambitions at Luna Nueva include:

•. Continuing  his Biodynamic studies in a uniquely different climate;

•. Learning traditional Meso-American horticultural/agricultural and healing traditions;

•. Mastering the Spanish language;

•. Working more cooperatively with Spanish-speaking, migrant farm workers back at home;

•. Learning eco-tourism to apply in his ski-resort, hometown;

•. To become a wiser, more well informed farmer/gardener.

Although, he has always intuitively gravitated toward people and animals, he has now passionately rededicated himself to speaking the more subtle language of the etheric plant world.  “Because I left college early to pursue my athletic endeavors, my ongoing studies and pursuit of knowledge would be characterized as autodidactic rather than academic. Considering the resources available to the self-motivated individual, there has never been a better time for self-education, and agriculture certainly lends itself to learning in the field,” he says with an impish smile.

Spraying a BD prep

For Antonio, it has been a month of constant activity and deep immersion into the land and culture of Costa Rica. “I hope to someday be proficient enough as a BD farmer/gardener that I might be able to teach the next generation of farmers this important work. What a privilege it has been to meet and work with the people involved with this inspiring venture.”

The privilege is all ours, Antonio, because you are changing the face of farming and helping to restore it to its noble place in our society!