It was so good to visit Finca de Los Perezosos for the second time in 2 years. This is now John’s 5th year owning the land and boy does it look like he has been there for 10!
So many new projects have begun and taken shape that it is impossible for me to grasp them all.
If you are traveling in Panama, be sure to check out Finca de Los Perezosos http://www.organicpanamapermaculture.com/
Stay for a month and volunteer or get a longer term internship to really make a difference or just camp out for a few nights and enjoy the river and fresh fruit. Either way, it is not to be missed, when traveling through Panama. It is a great half way point when crossing from David to Panama City, just get off in Penenome and your half an hour away.
The view from the house is spectacular, don’t miss visiting Quintin’s house on the road to the farm, as he has an amazing view as well. There is a cool waterfall just down the road from the farm that you can walk under and get a nice energizing waterfall massage.
FISH John has recently, spontaneously bought a bunch of tilapia and another species of fish related to the piranha. The pond and water system still needs a lot of work, but its a good start. He is going to be working on sealing a natural pond dug in the side of the hill and finding different food sources from the farm for the fish (so far they dont like bananas or starfruit).
GARDEN The farm garden is planted with perennial herbs like hibiscus and is crawling with lizards and hopping with toads! John’s dream is to grow big juicy red tomatoes and the volunteers and Marcelino are going to be building roofs to go over the beds to keep the rain from pounding down on the tomato plants. Well see if it helps.
BALO BALO BALO! Everything should be covered and strewn with balo. Balo is a plant full of nitrogen and it is grown on the farm specifically for the purpose of being a green manure (not to mention the many other random obscure uses it holds). In the photo above you can see that the garden bed was covered in balo at some point to keep weeds down and fertilize the soil.
SHOWER The new volunteer house has a new outdoor shower. The farm is definitely not concrete /cement free but it is surely innovative, and the use of beer cans in this construction is hard to miss.
Talia, a recent volunteer, is showing off her artwork of the Garbage Goddess on the wall of the shower. She is working on a shower-caddie made out of 6pack rings.
FERTILITY Finca de Los Perezosos now has a composting toilette and will soon have some tree-toilettes going as well. In this photo above, you can see how well the excrement has broken down. Woo hoo beautiful fertility!
And our shit is now home for happy bugs and beetles!
Perma Dub Dream 