Ricardo tells us that the coffee harvest is in full swing and that he is working 11 and 12 hour days as of late. I believe the coffee this year matured much later in the harvest season, as there was not the usual amount of rain when the season begins. There is probably close to 2 more months of harvest. So, since that is taking it’s course and everything is running smoothly, I will dedicate this blog post to describing my observations of some of the country folk around Costa Rica and new friends out in the countryside in Biolley (Bee-oh-lay) Costa Rica. 
Don Emilso was a great character to get to know!
Don Emilso had a coffee farm for sale near the city of San Isidro de Perez Zeledon and he was funny and kind. He really wanted us to purchase his property. I ran into him in San Isidro about a week later and he insisted we buy his property. Don Emilso invited us into his simple, simple country house when we stopped by to view the property, and even invited us to lunch which he was in the process of eating when we arrived. I am sure that would have meant someone in the kitchen rustling up some lunch for us on the spur of the moment. I guess I should mention that we arrived to don Emilso’s farm unannounced. Don Emilso has no phone so our Realtor took the chance of stopping by in the hopes don Emilso was in to show us the property. He’s a great guy and I hope I run into him again sometime when shopping in the big Southern Zone city of San Isidro. San Isidro is not big at all, but it is our closest “big” city from our farm- about a 2 hour drive. 
Don Domingo and I discuss the farm property features in this photo.
Don Domingo was the former owner of our property. He is a hard worker. Don Domingo inherited the farm from his father but was tired of maintaining the property, so he sold it to us, fortunately! He is a nice man and very sincere. Don Domingo has a house and a “tienda” he owns and operates in Biolley, Costa Rica. ( A “tienda” is a little store. Don Domingo’s tienda is stocked with some snacks, machetes and a good supply of rubber boots!) He has extended his neighborly friendship by offering to lend us a hand if we need it. We are grateful for Don Domingo’s friendship and we like him a lot!
Outdoor kitchen behind the indoor kitchen is used to make some of the traditional meals at the Finca Palo Alto.
Near our farm Finca Lilo de Biolley, is the farm Finca Palo Alto. The family there are our friends and we always enjoy visiting them! Pictured in this photo behind us is a typical wood burning stove out back of the real kitchen. Susan, pictured here, is Doña Jadilly’s daughter and she is preparing some food for us. We have stayed at the Finca Palo Alto (they have cabins for rent) and we have eaten at Jadilly’s kitchen several times. We really enjoy visiting with the family and learning from them! 
Pictured here is doña Jadilly on the right, her sister in law Eunice on the left and Jadilly’s granddaughter in the middle. They are picking dried oregano. Jadilly and her family are very interested in organic methods of growing their food and coffee. They try and stay healthy, they are very gentle in demeanor, soft spoken and incredibly nice! We like spending time with these folks! 
Pictured to the far right is Ricardo’s wife Gisele (carrying babyPatrick who is now born) her sister Janoria on the far left, doña Betty next to Janoria and Gisele and Janoria’s daughters.
Our closest neighbor is doña Betty and her family. Doña Betty is Ricardo’s mother in law and Rigo’s mother (our workers on our farm are Rigo and Ricardo). These people are like family to us! We plan on doing a lot with our extended “Tican” family when we move to the farm. We plan to help each other grow and prosper, take care of one another and enjoy each others company.
Peace and Pura Vida!” That’s one of our rocks on the farm! It’s the biggest rock we can see. But there are others out there that are huge too. The rocks really add to our landscape and make our pasture very interesting!) Of course Ricardo is our mainstay while we are away from the farm. He takes care of everything for us. Ricardo is dedicated, honest and kind. He is our worker and part of our extended “Tico” ( “tico”=nickname for Costa Rican people) family. That’s the green girl with Ricardo.
Everyone in Biolley is waiting for us to finally come to stay instead of coming to visit. I cannot emphasize enough on how nice these people are. It is hard to believe it is genuine, but it is and we feel everyone so far has welcomed us with open arms. We know that our new community in Biolley will be where we will settle and spend years to come. I’ll talk about growing bamboo, tomatoes and herbs on the farm in the next few blog posts. We have a lot of ideas to provide opportunity to the community as well. I’ll be sure to enter those ideas in the future blog posts before our next trip to our farm in Biolley, Costa Rica! Until then, I extend to all my readers the vibe in Costa Rica known as………
Pura Vida!
