HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEW DAWN
OUR COSTA RICA FARM SHARES MORE THAN 100 YEARS OF HISTORY. The Chacon family traveled on foot from the central valley to pioneer this land when it was virgin rainforest and indigenous tribes were the only neighbors. They cleared the land to plant food crops and later brought livestock to graze on new pastures. Times were difficult for them. There was no money and so everyone traded and bartered their labor for food. No doctors or dentists either so the pioneers suffered many losses. In the 1940s the US army built a road from San José to Panama, which opened the region to more settlers and commerce. Later the pioneers formed coops and founded a coffee growers project that still continues today. When I arrived in the area in 1980 the farm was in a traditional coffee plantation with a wide variety of fruit trees, root crops and shade trees. A tropical stream bordered the farm and the valley soil was very fertile. We remodeled the old wooden farm house with a tile roof and still today enjoy the comfort it provides. As the years passed we worked to convert the property into an organic medicinal plant reserve and educational center for locals with school gardens and workshops on natural food production, and for the past 20 years we've invited people of all ages and nationalities to join us in creating ecological health gardens at New Dawn, located in the scenic foothills of the Talamanca mountains, 700 meters above the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica Sandra Geoffrey our latest medicinal plant apprentice and Spanish student from Quebec had this to say about our program. It was wonderful studying with you and living in this quiet little paradise. I learned so much...stay as you are! Ed thanks for your help, your plants and books. Jessica..muchas gracias para la comida y Ud. es una buena profesora de Español. Voy a practicar con mis amigos.
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