The Farm

In this BLOG I would like to highlight the activities of the TOTOCO Farm. As you will recall from the original business plan, the mission of the Farm is to experiment with best practices in sustainable agriculture. Thusfar at TOTOCO we are underftaking 2 main projects that can be considered Farm activities; 1) Implementation of an Agroforestry Project on the TOTOCO property 2) Development of an Organic Herb & Vegetable Garden in the TOTOCO volunteer zone.

The Agroforestry Project is being supported by the Eco-Lodge as it is considered part of the general reforestation and landscaping of TOTOCO. In three years we have planted over 2000 trees including hundreds of specially selected fruit trees. (The first 2 pictures show citrus trees- one doing very well and already producing while the other shows some of the challenges we face as you can see the small black dots covering the plant. These are actually small pests eating the fresh leaves). In avocado, mango and citrus alone we boast over 35 different varieties!

We have also planted a large number of fast growing indigenous trees which will serve to improve soil fertility and give needed shade which will allow for the planting of more delicate fruit trees in the years to come. (On the left you can see a picture of a 5m tall Jackfruit tree- the largest fruit in the world. On the right is a banana crop of which we have hundreds all over the farm).

Care and maintenance of the overall property including the trees, falls to Elder, Jose Luis and Pablo (pictured) who also service the Eco-Lodge's composting toilets (organic compost being an essential element in the sustainable management of any farm) and maintain the gardens and paths throughout TOTOCO. (The other 2 pictures show Bamboo and Papaya).

On the lower end of the TOTOCO property is the volunteer zone (picture left) which has been operational for over a year now. The primary task of volunteers (Sanguita & Dale are pictured) is the maintenance and, when possible, the expansion of the organic herb & vegetable garden.

With the availability and ability of volunteers being inconsistent it is important not to overextend ourselves and as such we are trying to focus our limited resources on learning to grow a few things well. Once we have identified what we are good at we want to increase the harvest and perfect our techniques.

Succesfull trials thusfar include green beans, sweet and spicy chilis (below left), pineapple (above right), passion fruit (below below left), ginger, kurkuma, malanga, katuk, spinach, basil and cuban oregano. Important experiments that are also being undertaken include the consistent application of organic pesticide using leaves from the nim tree and the maintenance of a small worm compost for kitchen waste (below right).