Permaculture Farm
This is a living, thriving, vibrant place including more than 2 acres of wildlife, a plant nursery, exotic fruit-forests, salad greens and veggie patch, chickens, ducks, piglets and dogs; plus of course the humans that keep this place moving in a certain direction.
The houses and furniture are made by local work-(wo)men and utilize sustainable materials from our farm or the local area wherever possible. The furniture and internal walls are also from locally sourced material and hand-made here on site.
A day’s harvest on the open-air kitchen. Help yourselves!
Diversity
We try to keep life as diverse as possible to create support systems and to feed back in what is taken out. It also makes the most of all space and levels availbale to us here. We can show you how to apply these ideas in your own home.
We regularly grow 6 different types of bananas, passionfruit, guava, beans, three types of coconuts, jackfruit, breadfruit, guanabana, anona, cacao, coffee, pejibaye (palm peach), papaya, mangoes, moringa, lettuces, herbs and much more. We try to grow tomatoes and occasionally we have pineapples.
We grow plenty of ornamentals too- not only are they pretty to look at but they also attract all sorts of pollinators. We have a constant array of butterflies, humming birds and tiny bees thanks to our bright floral patches and, again, adds to the diversity of the land.
Hummingbirds have to feed every 15 minutes unless they go into their ‘deep sleep’ at night. That means they need regular feeding spots along the way. We see a lot of them around our property.
Bees appreciate all the help they can get- they’re known to be attracted to purple, white and yellow flowers, so we have plenty of lilac flowering vines and ‘azulin’ for them to feast on. Butterflies see really well on the infa red scale, so we keep false-bird-of-paradise flowers around for them.
We get birdlife coming to enjoy the fruits around, as well as squirrels, howler monkeys and more butterflies. Owls and iguanas visit the trees around and frogs, toads and fish enjoy our water features.
Animals
Our domesticated friends include four dogs, chickens and ducks, pigs and often piglets. The animals help us add another link in the cycle, and give us somewhere to feed our excess produce or food scraps.
It saves on composting and means what we grow is never produced for no reason or wasted- it goes to sustaining life instead.
For example when the greens go to seed, the leaves often change flavor at that point, and can become bitter (although arugula gets peppery and awesome) so isn’t great for human consumption. But chickens still love it.
No Waste
We can use the bird’s eggs as food for us and the dogs and then we grind up the eggshells and sprinkle them on the soil around the salads for extra fertilizing.
The waste produced by the chickens, ducks and pigs is great fertilizer too. All back in the cycle, no loss. The coffee grinds get used around the garden too. They’re great for repelling unwanted flies.
Pinapple skins and cacao shells make tea. Citrus skins are great with vinegar for cleaning products.
The only things we really have to actually compost are papery onion and garlic layers and avocado skins. Although composting takes more time and we are already sitting on very fertile lands, being seeped in volcanic ash, the organic decomosition still helps the future soil fertility.
Help yourself…
to the abundant fruits, herbs and salads growing on this property.
If it grows here, feel free to pick it and eat it. If you’re not sure what it is, please do check first. Not everything is edible. The ackee, for example, is only edible when ripe, and toxic otherwise.
Learn the pro way to open your own coconut - coconuts usually found next to the chopping station, if not feel free to find a ripe bunch and bring them along.
There are plenty of varieties of bananas growing around (6 edible ones at last count) to try and compare- usually ripening in the kitchen.
Learn how to dissect and prepare all the parts of a jackfruit.
Not sure what you’re looking for/at? Ask one of our friendly team members to show you around or check out the displays in the kitchen to familiarise yourself with our exotic herbs and fruits.
Project Bona Fide run Permaculture Design Courses annually at the start of the year. Write to us for more details.
Over 20 year’s of experience in growing plants in Nicaragua. On the pacific coast and Ometepe island. We sell ornamentals and fruit trees for delivery or collection anywhere in Nicaragua. Find those unusual or hard to find fruit and ornamentals here. Our best sellers are jackfruit, suriname cherry, bamboo, vetiber, moringa, nispero, avocado, canistel and guanabana as well as more typical fruits like mangoes, bananas, cacao and coffee. We sell bamboo & building materials. Buy plants designed for your soil and weather from San Juan & Popoyo to Ometepe.
