These are Tilapia fish imported from Africa and are closely contained so they don't escape and take over the wide fish stocks. They are grown strictly for consumption by the family.
Friday 29 February 2008
Small Farms
Farms in Costa Rica grow many different things compared to our farm at home.
These are Tilapia fish imported from Africa and are closely contained so they don't escape and take over the wide fish stocks. They are grown strictly for consumption by the family.
These are Tilapia fish imported from Africa and are closely contained so they don't escape and take over the wide fish stocks. They are grown strictly for consumption by the family.
What Goes Into a Cuppa Joe
Every wonder why coffee is so expensive?
First, you have your coffee trees.
The coffee beans in various stages of readiness. Note the green beans as well as the different shades of red.
The beans are then put in the hopper of a machine that separates the casing from the beans themselves.
The red hopper in the picure above is on the top of the picture toward the left and the roller in the picture that follows is lower toward the right.
This machine takes the casing off the beans and separates the two.
Here the beans and casings go their separate ways. The casings wind up as compost for the trees.
These are the beans 'newly released' from the casing.
The beans are then placed on racks to dry
First, you have your coffee trees.
Replacement trees of various sizes....
The coffee beans in various stages of readiness. Note the green beans as well as the different shades of red.
The beans are picked by hand into the basket shown here. Several passes through the trees are done to pick the beans as they ripen. A really good bean picker (that means he/she is fast and picks clean with no leaves, sticks or green beans) will be paid about 1,000 colones (~$2) a basket. The average picker can pick 6 - 7 baskets a day.
The beans are then put in the hopper of a machine that separates the casing from the beans themselves.
The red hopper in the picure above is on the top of the picture toward the left and the roller in the picture that follows is lower toward the right.
This machine takes the casing off the beans and separates the two.
Here the beans and casings go their separate ways. The casings wind up as compost for the trees.
These are the beans 'newly released' from the casing.
The beans are then placed on racks to dry
Once dry, the beans are place in another machine where they are separated from the inner lining, or parchment.
The parchment is either used as compost or turned into paper that is made into bags in which the beans are sold.
The coffee is roasted.......
cooled and then quickly packaged to preserve the aroma.
And sold to the tourists as well as being shipped to other markets.
The parchment is either used as compost or turned into paper that is made into bags in which the beans are sold.
The coffee is roasted.......
cooled and then quickly packaged to preserve the aroma.
And sold to the tourists as well as being shipped to other markets.Sunday 24 February 2008
Warm and Lush and GREEN!
I just looked outside and there is still an awful lot of snow.
So, for winter weary eyes, here are some shots of green. Some pictures will no doubt appear again in future blogs.
So, for winter weary eyes, here are some shots of green. Some pictures will no doubt appear again in future blogs.
Roads
The roads in Costa Rica are interesting.
Example 1: Some roads are paved but they are relatively new and confined to the extreme touristy areas. I didn't feel they warranted a picture.
Example 2: This is not a dry stream bed. This is an example of most of the roads. It tends to cut down on speeders and the number of gears required in any given vehicle. (Reverse, 1st and 2nd are all that are really used on this type of road).
Example 1: Some roads are paved but they are relatively new and confined to the extreme touristy areas. I didn't feel they warranted a picture.
Example 2: This is not a dry stream bed. This is an example of most of the roads. It tends to cut down on speeders and the number of gears required in any given vehicle. (Reverse, 1st and 2nd are all that are really used on this type of road).
Example 3: What can I say. This one is largely composed of tree roots. I suppose one would only need one forward and one reverse gear for this type of road tho' since I don't know if we ever drove on one, I shouldn't be saying that. It may be less rough than the 'gravelled' road.
Extreme care must be taken when going around corners (and there are many of them) as one tends to drive on the 'smoothest' part of the road irrelevant of whether you are on the 'right' side or not.
I guess our bumpy roads and streets are pretty good by comparison.
Extreme care must be taken when going around corners (and there are many of them) as one tends to drive on the 'smoothest' part of the road irrelevant of whether you are on the 'right' side or not.I guess our bumpy roads and streets are pretty good by comparison.
Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my...
Not to mention
monkeys
and ants
a frog
monkeys
and antsa frog
a butterfly
a moth
a salamander
a moth
hermit
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