This week we decided to check out the Aibonito Festival de las Flores (Flower Festival) with a friend. We have wanted to check out this festival for a long time, but Aibonito is a looong way from Rincon as it turns out (about 2 1/2 hour drive). We went the south way through Ponce and then through a panoramic route through the mountains to reach it. Since we came during the week it wasn’t too crowded and we found free parking close to the festival. The entrance charge was $6 per person. We bought quite a few flowers, though I was expecting a lot more crazy and exotic plants. Maybe it’s because I am a plant person, but there wasn’t too much that I haven’t already seen. I would say it was worth it to go at least once if you haven’t seen it before!
The flowers we were most interested in: Gingers and Heliconias
We got some of these cool varieties
These carnivorous plants are so cool
Hanging out under the shade
Quite a few booths and vendors
Nice bridge and pond in the permanent Festival area
Cool Aibonito sign -Aibonito supposedly was named that when someone arrived and said “Ay, que bonito” or “Oh, wow, how pretty!”
Lots of orchids!
Live music and carnival rides. The Gran Combo is coming to play on Sunday which is a big deal! Also check out how much harder this area of the island was hit by Maria -the trees are still stripped of leaves!
Some music of El Gran Combo
The drive to Aibonito is spectacular!
On the way back we stopped at the Holiday Inn in Ponce for dinner.
Overall, it was an exhausting yet fun day and now we have a bunch of plant starts to get in the ground!
After Maria took down a lot of our trees, it was so disheartening. It looked as though a bomb had gone off and nowhere was it more evident than in the vegetation. As “plant people” and people who live directly in the jungle with all the other forest dwelling creatures we took notice of the changes. We humans weren’t the only ones traumatized by the hurricane. Birds, bees, mongoose, iguanas, and all sorts of other creatures were displaced. There was a sadness that is hard to describe to those who haven’t been through something like that. I am still trying to wrap my mind around the complete and utter chaos that that storm brought to life and its still rippling effects.
In the plants, it was so obvious. Many were pulled from the earth, trees lost all their leaves, and others leaned so far sideways they will never be straight again. The plants that lived through it seemed to go into a shock survival mode of instant spring within about a month, trying to bring on more leaves and flowers, but they were just trying to hold on to life while they restored themselves. Like us all.
Our ravaged tropical gardens the day after Maria
So this spring we have been even more renewed by the sight of true spring. The flowers are blooming again. The bees are pollinating. There is new growth and repair. There is hope. And this scent fills all of us with it. For us, at the farm, this means more work, but we are enjoying it. As I grow this new life form as well, we are preparing in harmony with nature.
Many of our parcha -passionfruit- vines were severely damaged but they are growing and blooming again!
Farm meadow area
Takes a lot of mowing to keep the yard looking sharp -before and after mowing about 2 acres with 2 push mowers (one each)
Lots of yard work!
New baby turkeys came out of the jungle with their mama and we put them in the coop out of harm’s way
Some of the bounty of flowers we take to the Farmer’s Market on Sundays
A new area we are cleaning up and replanting
Turkeys roaming the pineapple garden
From the farm to the Farmer’s Market-flowers, pomarrosa, guineos (bananas)
Scene from the Sunday Farmer’s Market
Another section near “Ridgeline” that we cleared of downed trees and is now being replanted
Hawk Lane and the end of the pink roble bloom
Mulberries (a favorite tree of the birds)
Pineapple that is almost ripe enough to pick
More pineapples growing
Sale and delivery of banana plants (long load!)
Pretty birds, sugar cane, palms, bougainvillea and bananas
There is always something to do around here. With four acres of land, two small casitas and a couple of bird coops we are always busy maintaining and trying to move forward with new goals. We try to do as much as we can ourselves with occasional outside help. Here are a few of the projects we have been working on recently.
Britton sawing what I think is a fallen Indian bay leaf tree
Chopping up downed trees
Hurricane Maria brought down a lot of trees everywhere and our property was no exception. One of the many things we did right when we built the jungle cabin was to bury the electric line even though it was 500 feet away from the main. Otherwise, we would have been struggling like the electric company to get the poles up and the trees off the lines. We still had (and have) a mess to contend with however. The problem is that there is nowhere to bring all this wood. So we have a huge pile of wood debris in the quebrada.
It does open up our jungle area to a little more light and we have plans to plant more heliconias and gingers here as we expand our flower business. Britton mainly runs the chainsaw because I am a little afraid of the kickback when I’ve used it. I lopper some of the smaller brush around until we have an area that we can replant. We have a whole section of property (about 3/4 acre) by the Magic Mango and Camino de Pobres that we haven’t even touched and is still impossible to cross without scrambling over huge fallen trees that jut every which way.
Truck loaded with flowers to bring to the market
Flowers and plants
This is one of the more enjoyable tasks around the farm. We go out and find plants -either dig-ups or at nurseries- and then the next day or so we plant them. When we plant a tree it’s really a tough decision because we know that some of them can grow to be huge and we’d rather not transplant too much. With the other plants that grow from rhizomes like bananas, eleplant ears, heliconias and gingers we’re not so picky because they are easily transplanted.
This bamboo is bigger than me and weighed more too!
I love monsteras and they look great in the flower bouquets too
Some plants are very difficult to find and/or transplant like the giant bamboo we recently planted. This probably deserves a post of its own because it took 2 days of digging and a full day of moving and transplanting. I love how the plants and flowers transform the place. The jungle is beautiful on its own, but the broad-leafed plants bring a certain classic paradise look that I just love.
Our cabin in the jungle
The jungle treetop cabin
While there is always something to do with a structure, I would say that the inside of the jungle cabin is now complete. We finished the kitchen and our final touch this past month was to have screen doors installed. Now it is so fresh and breezy that I almost always have to have a blanket on at night! We have more plans for the area around it such as finishing the lower area as well as adding some railing.
Trimming the screen doors
Mango cabana Cabana at the top of the property
The concrete cabana got hit worse by the hurricane than our jungle wooden cabin because it has the ocean view and therefore the winds are stronger. It lost all of its upper railing on the rooftop and the front of the house got blasted like a water pressure treatment for 24+ hours. So we have some projects for it especially as we are now renting it out to guests. We are planning on repainting the outside areas that got blasted as well as the interior.
We also just recently finished sealing the roof again. This is a product called Crossco that is basically a plastic paint that prevents water from slowly seeping through the concrete into the house. Britton also refortified the small bridge crossing since it doesn’t have the other cabana rails as support for it anymore/currently. And I have a couple of ideas for interior decor.
Powerwashing then resealing the roof of the cabana
Before and after sealing
Of course there is always more, but these have been the current projects around the property. It’s hard work but keeps us busy and I love seeing the ever-changing beauty of this magical place.
Many banana and plantain plants folded over in the wind
We have weathered the storm and come out just about as good as you could hope. Not only was there not any damage to our immediate area, but even the water and electric came back on within 5 days for most people. There are a few people who are still without some utilities, but everything is slowly booting back up.
Hanging with friends Priscilla and Ivette in La Parguera
On Monday, Labor Day, we went down to La Parguera to meet up and compartir with some friends. It was eerily vacated as people prepared for what was to come. For us, it was good to get away from the news and the worrying.
All day Tuesday we spent hauling our stuff from the wooden cabin to the concrete cabana. We definitely over-prepared, but when the news says that the largest storm ever is coming straight for you, even I, the don’t-worry-be-happy girl, started to be slightly concerned.
A branch on one of our avocado trees fell so we had to gather the aguacates. Did someone say guacamole?!
Come Wednesday, the power goes off around 12noon. It seemed to be a precautionary measure as there was still hardly any wind or impact of Irma. That was the last time we had contact with the outside world until Saturday when we went to Home Depot and were able to use their free wi-fi (as an aside it’s actually kind of nice to sit and use internet in there on their patio displays -hah).
The worst of the storm passed in the middle of the night Wednesday into Thursday. We could hear major wind gusts but not much else. There was very little rain and we commented that we’ve been through a lot worse in Greeley where our house would receive the full force of wind from the west. And in the town I grew up in near Wyoming, the joke is that a metal chain is a wind sock. So I was underwhelmed to say the least. Not trying to taunt you, though, Irma!
When you come from a windy area, you expect a bit more
The next morning we went to check out the damage. The worst of it was right at the bridge where a medium-sized tree uprooted, got tangled in another tree and landed on the bridge. It caused no structural damage. We just had to chainsaw it out of the way. I think we caused more damage breaking dishes and glass jars hauling our stuff over to the cabana and back than Irma did to our property, not to mention that Britton was pretty hung over. Yes, we definitely can cause more damage to ourselves than any storm.
It was hot and boring without internet or electricity to run the fans for 3 days. We did end up hooking up and using the 400 gallons of water, so we were thankful for that. We took the opportunity to spend a lot of time reorganizing our stuff that we moved over and cleaning the cabin. After a few days I tired of eating canned foods and junk food. We were happy on Saturday to go into Mayaguez for a few parts and a nice meal at Pollo Tropical. A lot of other people had the same idea too it seemed.
Trees on the bridge to the cabin
Someone mentioned they would like to see pictures of the places we visited before the storm. I assume this means the gas stations, banks and grocery stores. There really isn’t much difference now from then. You wouldn’t even think a major hurricane nicked us because there is hardly even any plant debris on the sides of the road. Occasionally you can hear a generator still running, but overall almost everything is returning to normal. We even went out to Sunday Funday in Aguada and had a fresh coconut water/whiskey drink.
Sunday in Aguada…everything looks pretty good!
I am not sure if this hurricane prepared us for something larger or made us less because we didn’t see much destruction. Either way, I am glad nothing much came of it for us. I was very sad to hear that St Maarten/Martin received a lot of damage because we were just there on our cruise! And I hope the other islands and Florida are able to recover swiftly.
Even the chickens, turkeys and Kitty are all fine!
Here’s a short video during and after Irma at our property.
The flowers we were most interested in: Gingers and Heliconias
