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Posted: Sep/10/2008 7:57 AM PST
hey all....i just found this forum yesterday. i'm originally from chicago but i lived in miami, fl and austin, tx before moving down to costa rica about four years ago. i'm a nature freak, so i've done a fair amount of gardening everywhere i've lived. i'm much more of a zoologist than a botanist but i don't have any formal education in either area...i'm self taught. i sold everything and came to central america and bought some rainforest properties that i am now preserving. i'm planting precious native hardwoods in the secondary forest. where there had been pasture on my properties, i am planting fruits for my own consumption and to attract wildlife. i am very interested in ethnobotany. the medicinal uses of native plants and herbs fascinates me and is something i want to learn more about because it will benefit me as i strive to get more and more off the grid and live in the rainforest or rural areas of costa rica. i'm growing so many edible things including cacao, mangoes, papayas, bananas, platanos, guavas, guayabas, guanabanas, annona, pineapples, vanilla, cashews, cinnamin, citrus, coconuts and so much more. the ornamental plants that i collect and grow include orchids, heliconias, torch gingers, aristolochias, bamboo (though i grow it for future renewable construction material rather than as an ornamental), passifloras (some of these are edible as well as ornamental) and palm trees. i like to read, write, photograph wild animals. i love music, art and film. i spend most of my free time walking through the rainforest or along the beach. i'm politically progressive, anti-war and pro-environment...i'm interested in green building, organic gardening, affordable alternative energy solutions. i've been in the information technology and software development industry my entire career and would be interested in meeting other people here who are technologists to talk about work opportunities. PM me any time if you want to talk about rainforest flora and fauna, gardening in south florida, gardening in central texas, gardening in central america, politics and how politics is associated with a clean environment and the availability of safe food. PM me if you need help developing e-commerce web applications or software or custom solutions, as i can definitely help you there. also PM me if you left the states and now live in costa rica or elsewhere in latinamerica. and, certainly, PM me if you are from latinamerica so we can talk about the culture and great diversity of things we can grow here...and you can help me practice my spanish! pura vida! mike Attachments:  |
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Posted: Sep/10/2008 11:17 AM PST
I did a google to see where you were. Must be beautiful in that area. What is that on your arm. Hard to see in the picture. Blog some and tell us about your property, post some photos too. It is so nice to be on a web site where there are members from all over the world. Welcome to Garden Guides, Linda B from SC |
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Posted: Sep/10/2008 11:29 AM PST
Welcome to Garden Guides. Your life sounds exciting! The bird appears to be a toucan, toucan. Right? |
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Posted: Sep/10/2008 11:54 AM PST
Quote: Originally posted by yardgranny6 I did a google to see where you were. Must be beautiful in that area. What is that on your arm. Hard to see in the picture.Blog some and tell us about your property, post some photos too. It is so nice to be on a web site where there are members from all over the world. Welcome to Garden Guides, Linda B from SC hey linda! it's a toucan on my arm. i live in tres rios de cartago, but i have two 50 acre rainforest properties on the pacific coast. one is near quepos and the other is near golfito. yes, i'll upload many more photos as i get the time. and hopefully, i'll soon have more time to do some blogging as well. thanks for the welcome! |
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Posted: Sep/10/2008 11:54 AM PST
Quote: Originally posted by witt Welcome to Garden Guides. Your life sounds exciting! The bird appears to be a toucan, toucan. Right?yes, it's a chestnut mandibled toucan. |
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Posted: Sep/10/2008 1:01 PM PST
Welcome to GG. |
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Posted: Sep/11/2008 6:52 AM PST
Welcome to the boards, Costa Rican friend! What a risk you have taken, and what rewards you may reap! I look forward to seeing LOTS of photos. |
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Posted: Sep/11/2008 7:53 AM PST
A big welcome to Garden Guides, Toucan, you will be a great asset to this site. John |
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Posted: Sep/11/2008 2:48 PM PST
Quote: Originally posted by stereoman Welcome to the boards, Costa Rican friend! What a risk you have taken, and what rewards you may reap!I look forward to seeing LOTS of photos. hey there stereoman! i'm not so sure moving here was such a risk. i can always move back to the states if i want, but i don't think i will. there's still too much to do and see here. and if it gets overrun with too many gringos down here, i'll sell my properties and move farther south to the amazon. i want to see as much biodiversity as possible before it all gets killed off. a lot of people have said to me that what i did was risky. i have a different perspective on things. i think the risks are equal no matter where you live. i was feeling less safe in the states, particularly economically. over the last eight years i've watched the economy sink, the stock market falter, real estate prices drop. i watched a totally unnecessary war get started as corporate interests gained more control than ever over the government and i saw evidence of a coming police state. regulatory organizations have been gutted, environmental protections have been lifted, global climate change ignored, genetically modified foods and terminator seeds have been forced upon everyone....all in the name of corporations wanting to make more money. the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer and the middle class is disappearing. now banks and financial institutions are failing and getting bailed out with taxpayers' money. people are losing their homes. healthcare is becoming more and more unaffordable for the majority of citizens. election results are questionable and the US global standing is tarnished. there's less and less diversity in the media as fewer corporations end up owning all the media outlets. the right wing manipulates southern and middle american working class and rural people by using religion, bigotry and fear and these people rush to the polls to vote against their own economic interests and the cycle continues. speak out against the injustice or criticize the government and you're called unamerican. i was stressed out by it all. i came down here and the stress lifted. now i watch it from afar on cnn. sure, i'm hoping for a change, a radical change, rather than more of the same this coming november because the economic situation in the states has an effect on us down here. but i'm not feeling all that optimistic. so, i don't look at coming down here as a risk. just another step in the journey. you should come down for a visit some time. you'd love it. mike |
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Posted: Jun/10/2010 12:55 PM PST
Hello! I hope you are still there. I am going to get into growing and selling medicinal herbs and very interested in visiting Costa Rica,possibly living there on a part time basis. Would like to know all about Costa Rica through your eyes. Hope to hear from you, Barbra |
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