View from our house

This is a picture of the storm once it calmed down a bit. Note the fallen branches from the nearby mother-tree and another tree fallen in the background. Loved the winds. Having trouble with pictures and words. Blogging is too complicated for good old fashioned farmer boys. Life´s good.

The days of darkness

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Our internet has been out these past two days. It seems like a tropical storm has hit Jamaica, maybe cuba. Since Monday afternoon, after returning from The Caves, we have been under water.

Jamaicas current situation

Farm work under water loses its efficiency. Tuesday was a day of 24 hour rain, while Wednesday decided to add wind to the rain. In front of our house we lost one tree and a large branch. The winds where so strong working outside could have been dangerous. This morning was the first calm day of the week, allowing many workers who where previously unable to reach the farm to come in. There are several areas flooded, the fact that ONE TIC can´t be crosses safely to reach the farm also unables us to reach Bunker´s Hill. Today we where planning on working the afternoon at the school but One Tic was unpassable and our ground transportation is out of order. We have got a pretty nice work group set up for Saturday, which we will postpone if the weather keeps down, or if we go to Kingston. Neither of which we are positive about. Many main roads seem to be shut down and drivers are advised to move very cautiosly.

Yesterday, in a moment of slight storm decrease, Luis was sent out riding to bring in a herd of cattle, 10 calfs of which had to be branded and tatoo´ed in order to have them in the records on time. The whole group in charge of bringing in the herd did it all galloping and as fast as possible, in order to minimize active storm exposure. Work in the vegetable section was delayed these days, as the wind brought down parts of the wind tunnels and the rain has been too much to clear new land for outdoor planting. This morning, as the winds subsided, we repaired the wind tunnel and started planting peppers, two varieties of tomatoes so far (Big Beef and Golden Cherry), Italian Basil, Pack Choi, and a lettuce mix. These will be ready for transplant over the next weeks, tomatoes and peppers taking the longest. Once transplanted, the first tomatoes-peppers will be available in 55 days, while lettuce should have a continuos harvest in 2-3 weeks time. Pack Choi will be picked as "baby" and as mature. Baby Pack Choi is more tender and has a more concentrated taste.

At the seeding we encountered quantity problems. I am trying to save seed and trying to get sequence planting in order to have continuos small scale harvests, something necessary for Pantrepants limited market, 1.5 medium sized hotels. The farms goal, so far, seems to be to try to plant as much as possible and not worry if it gets sold, but this is creating too much work, waste of seed and produce. The point here is trying to plant every two-three weeks a small quantity but large variety of different crops, in order to offer the hotel kitchen the largest ammount of produce. This, for some reason, is harder than it sounds.

We just finished dinner. We are getting better, mastering the mulitple pan multi sidedish meal. Our nutrition levels have been improving, minimizing the need to drink Vanilla LASCO after meals to fill up.

Enjoy

The Days of them Caves

Luis found his little corner transport 

Weekend. Saturday morning up at 5:30. Gathering all the produce. Tomatoes. Salads. Peppers. Packing them up in Sylvans car and witnessing the sunrise while driving down the Cockpit Mountains. Sylvan is one of the few drivers we have met so far who likes his car. He drives peacefully, enjoying life, taking care of his car. Most Jamaicans drive crazy. Intense. Fast. Lots of stress on the road, to make up for the lack of stress in their lives.

Oh so back to the story, Sylvan drives perfectly. We got to the highway and where picked up by Charlie, Landscaper and Nursery, and Chef Conroy, future Chef at Golden Eye. Our truck was loaded so Luis had to find a little corner behind the mattresses, enjoying the morning warmth for the 2 hour drive towards Negril. Negril is in Western Jamaica, a famous tourist destination with some very GALLETA beaches, as we say in Costa Rica for perfect, incredible, etc.etc.

We are being distracted by Equus africanus asinus, commonly referred to as Donkey, Ass or Burro, while writing this post. We dont know what Donkeys preferred method of communication is called, its not neighing nor barking. Well thanks to wikipedia we solved that. 

Donkeys have developed very loud vocalizations, which help keep in contact with other donkeys over the wide spaces of the desert. The best-known call is referred to as a "bray," which can be heard for over three kilometers. Donkeys have larger ears than horses. Their longer ears may pick up more distant sounds, and may help cool the donkey's blood. Donkeys in the wild can defend themselves with a powerful kick of their hind legs as well as by biting and striking with their front hooves.

Braying is the characteristic sound made by an ass, donkey, and most mules. Donkeys use this sound to communicate and will bray more frequently when a new donkey is encountered. The sound typically lasts for twenty seconds. The sound may be rendered onomatapoeically as "eeyore" and so this was used as the name of the donkey in Winnie-the-Pooh. Donkeys may be trained to bray or not to bray upon command. This may be used as a form of mockery. Braying may be considered a simile for loud and foolish speech.  

There are braying men in the world as well as braying asses; for what's loud and senseless talking and swearing, any other than braying

—Sir Roger L'Estrange

Donkeys have a lifespan of 30 to 50 years.

Sorry. The donkey was out the braying very loudly for a while, we thought it necessary to include him in our post and share our newly found knowledge. Well so it seems we havn´t started writing about our weekend yet.

Getting close to infinity. 

Upon arriving at The Caves, a beautiful little hotel on the West end of Negril situated on rocky cliffs overlooking the light blue sunny stormy rainy calm angry peaceful ocean, we jumped off a cliff right in front of the breakfest restaurant. Charlie led the pack with jump #1. 

The vegetables and herbs we brought where quickly comandeered by Chef Conroy and mutated. Our golden cherry tomatoes turned into a sweet warm cooked tomatoe side dish, Okra into soft a little slimy vegetables accompanied by soft fish. Charlie was a vivid food critic. Using words and sensations I wish I could remember. All I can think of was a feeling of infinity. Infinity is usually not considered a feeling. But think "I feel Infinite" and think of moments that have felt like that. Great moments in Life. My infinite was a fleeting moment standing on the cliffs, pre-jump. 

With Charlie we spent the days, Saturday and Sunday afternoon, exploring the bush and selecting plants that would do well in the nursery and look good in the Golden Eye hotel. We walked through bushes behind the caves and found many intersting plants, mainly about 20 silver thatched palm trees. The work involved in removing these specimens was rough. Pick axe. Truck pushing. Shovel. Lots of coral in the ground. Deep roots. Our collection ended up being very respectable, filling up the truck all the way, allowing only a small space for the lucky free-rider on the journey home.

Arrived at Infinity.

After a day´s work/exploration we found a rough ocean crashing into the caves, filling our life with "just one more" every one more. We ended up being crashed and pounded by a countless number of waves, reluctant about returning to the surface. 

We ended up getting to know Jamaican wildlife, beachlife, nightlife and life this weekend. Actually, im too tired to keep writing. Its been a long day.

Underneath these contentless lines you can see pictures of The Caves and our return journey home, where Fabio had to find his cargo space and enjoy a free ride. 

Conroy, Fabio in his transport space and palm trees.

Oh. Wasps also infiltrated our weekend. Fabio got stung on the eyelid and if you look closely can see a massive swelling causing shut-eye disease. Very dangerous when 3D vision is required. (walking through the bush asimilating distances of branches and tree stumps). Charlie was also bitten, strutting a swollen hand and forehead. 

Luis, Fabio, Charlie and Chef Conroy.
Note the swollen eye-cheek.

The Week of Enjoy

Sr. Luis Rojas enjoying la cama

This week we didn't update the blog much. Mainly due to the time issue we have here, as time seems to not exist, yet it passes. We have not yet philosophized enough on the subject to understand it. The week was a total of about 18 hours, 6 of which we slept. Nights at Pantrepant are bliss. Lots of fat soft pillows. Low tropical temperature. Fan. Exhaustion. Good dinners. Reggae. Maybe a beer if we are lucky. etc. etc.  Sunrise shines through my window, eliminating the need for an alarm clock. Sometimes, always, getting out of bed is not a pleasure. Enough about beds.                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Today we had to gather different vegetables for The Caves Hotel in Negril. We will have the honor to escort these vegetables and herbs (Calalu, Spinach, Tomatoes, Salads, Arugula, Okra, Basil) to their final destination tomorrow morning. Our trip starts at 6 a.m. when we leave Pantrepant with our valuable cargo, proceeding to wait under a bridge under the highway to get picked up by Charlie. Or so we think. From there we go to Negril and visit the hotel and its beaches. This will be our first excursion into Jamaica. Update and pictures on Monday.                                                                                                                         

Today is payday, so work ended early to get to Falmouth and stand in line at the bank. We dont like lines. So we are thinking of staying on the farm and maybe go fishing and re-setting our shrimp trap. Or just go swim in the river.                                                                                                                                                        

Mr. Macdonald in an education magazine

On Wednesday we went to visit Stephen Macdonald, a psychologist, farmer and commnity activist. He has a very intense past. Serious stories and important knowledge and ideas. We visited him in hopes of gathering information about the local Cockpit Mountain endemic medicinal treasures. He was setting up a project with the University of the West Indies to reproduce and distribute endangered or threatened plant species to minimize their native extraction. Sadly, the money dissapeared on the way to Bunkers Hill (Pantrepants nearby town and where most of its workers come from every day). He introduced us to another local rasta, who we visited in his organic plot in the middle of the bush, with more knowledge on medicinal plants. We got information and saw smelled touched many of these plants and their local names, in order to correlate the local knowledge with UWI studies.                                                                                                                   

Well, this weekend we might sleep in a pick up truck or in a 53 star hotel, we might eat in a romantic candle-lit cave wishing we where with our girlfriends and not with each other.
We'll keep you updated on this topic.                                                      

                                                                                                                                                                            

Enjoy.

The Sunrise is setting

Sunrise

Sunset

We have just finished our completely self sufficient dinner, apart from vegetable oil, salt and pepper.

The shrimp mission was a success, we got over 20 shrimp of different sizes. Our dinner included items from the garden like Calalu?, eggplants, tomatoes and a secret ingredient. Lion came by and tried the shrimp he helped fish, now he is completely asleep and snoring.

Today pinapple was planted, compost was turned and tended too, cabbage was mulched, mulch collected,seeds arrived and plans made. Tomorrow seed planting will begin hoping to have a continuos production of salads and tomatoes, among other crops. 

We will also be meeting a local rasta, Mr. Macdonald, who has extensive medicinal plant knowledge, hoping to find out more about local plants and a project created to preserve and distribute endangered or over-used plants.

Above you can witness our beautiful sunrise and sunset.

Enjoy

Our first catch, pre-cooking

.

The Week of the End

Bull #919A0 in Pain, so says he.

Friday, after morning activities in the garden and with the herds we where present at the branding as can be seen in the picture on the right. Friday, trying to look back on it after the weekend, seems not to involve many productive activities. It is probable we took the afternoon off after our internationally acclaimed phone call. Friday night Marty came back to Pantrepant, searching internet, nice views and refreshing river baths. Saturday morning at 5:30 we where awaken by yells sounding like "lets get to work soldiers! Soldiers! Wake up!" in Patua. Lion (Pictured bellow)was excited to go work at the local school, helping us set up the garden.

Mr. Lion and Fabio celebrating their courageous victory over
the chicken invaders. 

We got to the school and were joined by Joseph and his son JJ (Brian). This Saturday the work was truly felt, clearing most of the space for the garden and surrounding areas, making work easier next week, when we will be working with the students. We had Marty helping us in the clearing, mastering his machete wielding abilities under the midday sun.

After working hard at the school we took a break before going to Falmouth, a coastal city in Northwestern Jamaica. In Falmouth we explored the local weekend market, haggling over tourist-priced tomatoes and onions. We ended up buying onions in every stand leading to overstock, as prices started to decrease.

Group work on the future school garden.

Marty and his faithful machete

Fabio and Luis with their new shrimp trap set Sunday Night.
Catch update tomorrow morning.

Sunday we spent the afternoon in Pantrepants river, returning to delicious farm made vegetarian sandwiches with cheese, eggplant, unknown "greens" and avocado. Joseph taught us how to make shrimp traps to be used in the river, hopefully being able to include shrimp in our future vegetarian sandwiches. We set the traps tonight, hoping for a bountiful catch by tomorrow afternoon. 

The Day of Exhaustion

After a week of backbreaking work (Monday through Wednesday my back considers a week) today was a less physically active day. My lower back refuses to shovel more compost and till/move any more EARTH for the day, so I stuck to the machete. Luis Rojas is still going steady, spending the morning gathering different herds for inspection and curing the sheep.

Luis with Dave, Tony and Grevil resting under an orange tree

The morning was spent measuring the greenhouses and outdoor garden areas for a seed use estimate to improve seed ordering and for planning crop outputs, once the magic seeds arrive. Later in the morning we Luis went to help garden workers Tony, Grevil and Dave steadying pineapple rows while Fabio took pictures.

After another great lunch, followed by a nice ventilated rest, we embarked on our journey across the river, through bushes and shortcuts with the primary school as our destination. On our way there we found distractions in the form of a Rasta playing guitar and grandmother sharing her interesting life story. Upon arriving at the school we were greeted by several of the children, who were already out of classes but enjoyed staying longer in school. We continued our work in the school farm we are setting up and got the design done we where planning. Not much noticeable work was done but the advances were felt. In a couple of weeks we hope to have the main garden running so we can focus on details and start working with the fourth and fifth graders.

Balloon in mouth work is the way to go. 

Fabio being shown how work is done in Jamaica.

At the school we were accompanied by Sir Brian and Mr. Kevin, Joseph´s (Great Pantrepant worker) 7 and 9 year old children. They were showing us how it should be done (work), as is evident in the images. Later on a group of local youths visited our semi-garden, but refused to volunteer like Josephs hard working kids. They did not like being referred to as “guys” but preferred “gangstas” or “thugz”, with a Z.

Mr. Goldteeth and Luis Rojas holding the perfect lunch

Day #?? I forget, at Pantrepant Farm.

Time up here in the cockpit mountains, in terms of hours and days doesnt matter much. We have a life where time isnt the main factor deciding our every move, other than 11:59 a.m., the best time of the day.

At 11:59 it is time to run over to the canteen, food hall, cafeteria etc. and recieve the daily energy recuperating ration of Jamaican Food.

Our lunch normally includes a good ammount of rice and beans, seasoned with some sort of magic carribean sauce. This comes with a side of a vegetable that I picked this morning with a name I cant remember called "the greens" by Mr. Goldteeth, the farms personal chef. We also get lots of breadfruit and a nice ammount of chicken, with a daily changing sauce/seasoning. Thank you, Mr. Gold, for all the great food and cooking tips you have imparted on us these timeless days.

Other than eat....

We finished working on different composts in several areas of the farm to get enough ready for the upcoming months when we will be planting. We also took our first ride together today. It was my first time riding (a horse) today (fabio)... Luis is a very good rider. We went to gather herds in different parts of the farm to inspect them and move them.

After work we walked across ONE TIK (One stick), a river crossing we will post pictures of soon, to get to Bunkers Hill, the nearby town to visit some of the workers and hang out a while.

Upon getting back we met, Marti or Martin? (Edit: Just checked an email... wasnt too far off! Marty nice too meet you today... he gave me a rum punch. Excuses my memory) and had some drinks with him to get to know each other.

Everything about today has been great. 

Enjoying.

Community Work

Although life on the farm is beautiful we still have to get out every once in a while, mainly to buy LASCO Vanilla flavored protein powder for milk shakes and to go to the nearby elementary school a couple of hours a week to help the teachers and kids out.

Our main goal at the school is to set up a school garden which we will use to educate the children, mainly 5th graders, in sustainable ways to grow a rural family´s food.

The garden plans consist of a mandala based design in the center, surrounded by different topics such as composting, medicinal and herb garden, vegetable garden and local tropical crops. The garden will also have its own goats donated by the farm and hopefully some chickens.

Here are some pictures of the first day of work at the farm, thankfully we got help from Charlie, Tony and his kids, Mr. Lion, and Joseph. Without their help clearing this king grass infested land would have been impossible alone with our limited machete abilities.

Here are some pictures in action:

some activities

The day started with a rainy morning, arriving at the horse stable some horses were taken to bring a herd back to the pen. Then herd was inspected and counted to start a registration folder which can help the general order and management of the herds.

During the afternoon we started working on the compost bins. These bins were left abandoned and we are starting a more efficient composting.

Here are some pictures of before and after the days work.

After a long rainy day outdoors we decided to go feel the vibes of pantrepant floating through its waves. The river crossing the farm was overflowing due to the continuos rainfall.

Week #1 in Pantrepant

We are students from EARTH University, located in the low humid tropics of Eastern Costa Rica, who have embarked on a journey and adventure into the Cockpit Mountains regions of Jamaica. The Cockpits, little bunker like mountains, surround us on all sides. We are here on a four month internship, where we will be working in Pantrepant Farm, in which we are also working with the local community. The farm has two main sectors, cattle for genetics and meat and the agricultural sector to supply fresh vegetables to some of Jamaicas hotels.

Our work on the farm will consist of improving actual methods of organic production and implementing new ones, improving the production efficiency.

We arrived at Pantrepant Sunday (Sept. 5th) at midnight, experiencing the farm as soon as we woke up on monday, 5 a.m. for an exploratory tour before finding ourselves some work to do.

Above is the first image to hit our eyes as we awoke on our first morning.

We will be updating daily about our activities, ideas and experiences in this blog over the next 14 weeks to document our acomplishments and plans and changing opinions.We being Fabio and Luis.