When cows escape and eat sugar
cane on someone else’s property, it’s not cheap. A few weeks ago we installed fence
posts and barbed wire around a large field just outside of Esperanza. Mounted
on horses, Alan led the cattle drive with Marcos at the end of the pack to move
them to the new pasture. Since then, cows have escaped on a few occasions and
foraged on the highly prized sugar cane. Not good. Adding insult to injury,
last night some cattle rustlers had entered the pasture and were heard from
across the mountain. How does one hear cattle rustling? Well that’s a great
question! Apparently gunshots rang and flashes pierced the dark night, that’s
how. So, to address these issues we are installing some extra security
measures.
At
Finca Quijote there isn’t much emphasis on proper ecological functioning –
despite my efforts. Plants from all over the world are grown for ornamental or
production purposes, along with introduced species of fish. One introduced
species (I think) is a type of bamboo planted throughout the farm. It
reproduces by underground rhizomes thus forming clumps of plants. Each new
bamboo plant is bigger than the last in a colony, which gives an indication of
the age of the stand and is pretty neat (okay, neat for me since I like insects
and plants). Bamboo has many uses, but this week we have been harvesting it for
its insane thorns. How insane? Well, we all wear safety goggles because someone
lost vision in one eye after getting poked – that insane. Costa Rica is not a
tame place. So today I got to wield a chainsaw, tear 20 foot tall bamboo culms out
of a thicket, carry them up and down like a flagpole and attach it to
barbed-wire fencing. In the afternoon I picked some bananas from hanging
racemes, took the dogs down to the river for a swim, and ate a guava right off
the tree. Just another day in rural Costa Rica.
