We love living and working at Finca Exotica, and we are proud to tell you about this paradise, but don’t take it from us alone! This blog post is through the eyes of one of our guests, Riccardo, a traveler from Italy. The first post from Riccardo is about permaculture at Finca Exótica, our garden and the garden tour we offer to guests.
Farm through the eyes of Riccardo:
Jodie took us on a tour of the garden of Finca Exotica Ecolodge. A kind of food forest in permaculture, an edible jungle, with plants and trees that have been planted with a precise intention. Nothing is left to chance; and each plant is compatible with the others and preserves the natural spirit of the rainforest.
More than a garden, outdoor plants surround this paradise. From some of the plants you can eat the leaves, from others the fruit and from others the root. It is a space that feeds your body and beyond that, your soul. That is what permaculture at Finca Exótica is all about.
Before starting Jodi gave each of us a fresh coconut to drink with a straw, a water rich in all the electrolytes the body needs. Slightly sparkling, if you find yourself without water, you can always use a coconut. In this space nature gives you absolutely everything you need.
In the garden, the walk is not only visual: it is also a space to taste fruit and even the leaves of several plants found along the way. Some plants are native and others have been imported but here everything achieves a magical connection. Many of these plants are used to make fresh salads. Others are enriched with numerous vitamins and nutrients such as omega 3, 6, etc. We repeat: this magical place has it all, and at Finca they use many of these plants as ingredients for the meals, salads and even desserts.
You need to try the turmeric tea, prepared fresh every morning!!
Turmeric is the spice that gives curry its yellow color. It has been used in India for thousands of years as a spice and medicinal herb. It has a natural anti-inflammatory compound and increases the antioxidant capacity of the body. If you want to know more about the turmeric, you can read some of the benefits here.
Finca’s garden also has a cinnamon tree. An infusion of cinnamon leaves is not only tasty, it also helps regulate digestion.
Cilantro is also very present, a commonly used herb in Costa Rica that you are bound to taste while you are here.
We could keep going like this for a long time. The garden tour takes around 1 hour walking inside the property and listening about all these plants and many, many more.
* Garden Tour by Benedetta
Sustainability footprint
The structures around the garden are made of bamboo, an exceptional material for sustainable living and really important in this project of permaculture at Finca Exotica. Quick growing and extremely strong, bamboo is used for construction and ecological building all over the world. (We will talk about this later, in our next article)
Here at the farm they have planted species of bamboo that are not invasive in order to grow material for building without damaging the surrounding environment, and generating an open space to create an edible landscape as well as a place to live. Finca harvests its bamboo starting in February, and begins construction projects thereafter.
Achieving sustainability goals requires many questions, preliminary studies and careful analysis. We must ensure that our needs correspond to the resources available in the environment, without altering their balance. Collaboration with nature is key. That is the way, they tell us at Finca, that they have taken here.
In this way, even the management and maintenance efforts are sustainable, functional and strong, but at the same time low impact, or even better completely biodegradable.
The Finca experience is a paradise in every way!
The experience awaits you
If you are interested in learning more about permaculture at Finca Exótica, do not hesitate to contact us, we have upcoming events for you about permaculture, herbalism and movement, so that you can understand what Riccardo is talking about
In addition, you can also learn about our other events here.
Contact us, we are waiting for you in paradise.
* Written by Ricardo Edited by Andrea Mora and Finca Exótica.
