This Is REALLY Where It’s at!!

I hope I have your attention! I know the blog has faltered, and there is no excuse except that we have had some success of recent that has kept my writing hand stilled. But once I saw this new listing of only 4 lots left and, more importantly, the concept behind the community, I stopped everything, took out the old feather, and dipped it in the ink bottle (hope that comment didn’t lose some of our youngsters!). I was out Naranjo way, which is a quick 9 kilometers (about 7 miles) further up the road from Grecia, to look at lots in a gated community, which by my nature is not a turn on. But in this case, it was a REAL turn on because the concept they are reaching for is total self-subsistence to include medical, assisted living, power, water, AND FOOD!!

Grecia is and always has been a Mecca for an abundance of fresh vegetables at the local market, which is held weekly now on Friday and Saturday (previously only on Saturday), and this new concept of “growing your own” has really caught my eye. Up until last week, Cheryl had a very nice garden going with loads of strawberries, sweet potatoes, chiles, tomatoes, peppers, herbs of all kinds, and on and on. Unfortunately, we are starting all over because our gardener failed to dilute a pesticide, and it’s all gone now. Anyway, we have calciumed, peat mossed, and perlited the heck out of the soil and are ready to begin again, but THIS time we will do it inside and the gardener will not have a key!!

We plan to be the Grecia pioneers of the new system of Verti-Gro, which is illustrated in the pictures to show how you can produce 5 times as much in 1/6 the space and 1/3 the time. It gives you the capacity of growing tomatoes, grape tomatoes (my fav), string beans, strawberries, lettuce, cantaloupe, zucchini, and way more in a very small space and year round. Looking at the pictures, we can only have about one fourth the space for our garden, but still we are excited about the self-subsistence available in this system. And yes, they provide systems of different sizes based on your family size and land availability. And if you would like to buy one of the remaining four lots to build your dream house on, you get free veggies as part of the community. Call us at CostaRicaLandToday.com for more information.

Glenn Ekblom was our guide and knower of all things Verti-Gro and coincidentally has the dealership exclusive for Central and South America. And yes, he IS willing to help his customers get off the ground – pun intended!

The steps, as you can see in the pics, are to first start your seeds in plugs and then transfer them to the inside for the vertical growing and environmental control. They are growing lettuce in tables of red rock outside just as an experiment (yes, red rock only) and producing more than a hundred heads in a month’s time, so you can get the jest of production time, quality, and quantity.

A quick look at how the pots stack up on the poles illustrates how the volume of veggies is multiplied so many times as the veggies grow out of the four corners of each pot on each level. How cool is that?

The watering system is quite simple to operate through soaker hoses that have controls at one end of the greenhouse. It comes in two systems, the greenhouse and the watering/fertilizing system.

So when you purchase one of the lots in the community, you are set to go with all this already up and running. Or you can buy from any number of lots through CostaRicaLandToday.com and have your very own system installed in the local Grecia community.

Please call us at CostaRicaLandToday.com for any questions. Contact us if you would like a personal tour of this fantastic gardening system for your new or recently built home or if you would like to see your community get into a self-subsistence of vegetable growth!!

We Now Have “it” in Grecia, Costa Rica!

While I have said that I would not write anything more about “quickies” until that “right” time came, let the world know you read it here first! Ye bastions of finer cuisines may now bask in the glory of our very own McDonald’s Restaurant at the new mall, only 5 minutes from our house in El Cajon de Grecia. When we first explored the new mall, it had not been visible that we would have the Golden Arches, but alas, more and more stores are filling in the spaces, and one of them should give us more recognition on the world map of places where North Americans can survive without leaving the greater metroplex area of Grecia.

I shall no longer have to back away from the question that is always asked, “Do you have one of these at all or even close by?” I can now say that it is just five minutes from our house here in El Cajon. While there, we also noticed a Pizza Hut, a Taco Bell, and a KFC, so the temptations of being a junk food junkie are ever so close once again. Or should I say bastions of finer cuisines?

Please notice in the pictures that we are also going to have movie theaters at this mall very soon, which means we can catch a flick that’s only five minutes away from our house. How cool is that?  Remember the movies here are in English with Spanish subtitles so we see them just as you do.  Soon, El Cajon de Grecia will be said in the same breath as Dallas, Texas.

As always, our wish for you is Pura Vida!

Summer Is upon Us!!

As the weather in the States gets colder and colder, here is this guy talking about the “summer”! Ahhh, but alas, it is true! Here in Grecia, or more broadly speaking in Costa Rica, the summer months are upon us. It is quite simple, but those of us from the States, Canada, or any “4-season country” can easily get confused as our summers coincide with your winters and vice versa. This is why we get the onslaught of tourists from now to about June, when the tropical rainstorms begin. At this time, mid-November, we begin to see about 5 days out of the week where we have no rain at all, and we begin to see the change in flowers as well. We see hibiscus, poinsettias (see Cheryl standing beside them), bougainvilleas, amaryllis, and the list is way too long to even begin, but our seasons are marked by the onset of new flora and the “turning off or on” of the rain.

Summer is obviously the tourist season, so those of you who are blessed to visit Costa Rica this season should be sure to notice the flowers, bushes, and trees. I still visit a “vivero” (nursery) at least once a week as they invariably have something new that I have never seen before, and I almost always buy one of something, or two, or three!

Most of the plants we have are from cuttings we get from friends, which are obviously free, but the purchases from the nurseries are almost that same price. No sense in listing the costs; again you must see for yourself when you visit. Plan at least a day to walk in and out of the nurseries and see the tropical plants that grow much larger than “Texas-sized.” And the growth cycle here is also unbelievable. We recently trimmed our rose bushes, which had reached 5-6 feet in one season. Obviously, they were a bit spindly, but they produced beautiful roses and will come back even stronger when the rains come again and we get a whole new set of flowers to enjoy.

So much for the flowers and the beautiful lush changes – this is really a place where you have to stop and smell the roses. What about the beautiful weather we have every single day? I mean absolutely gorgeous days and perfect temperatures here in Grecia. I know there are some out there in readership land that have heard of Maui, Hawaii, but for a comparison you must consider Grecia, Costa Rica. The temperatures, the lush tropical setting, and the polite culture of Grecia – they are all, in my mind, better than those of Maui. No, it’s not just because everything here is cheaper, but because the people of Grecia do not have the Hawaiian resentment. It’s too hard to describe Grecia and the “surroundabouts,” so I send each of you my most cordial invitation to visit our paradise and see for yourself.

Until next post! PURA VIDA!!

The White House

No, this has nothing to do with George W. Bush or Pennsylvania Avenue, not even the election!

The White House, as it is known today, was built at the behest of the Shah of Iran, back in the times when he was allowed to be the Shah of Iran. Sad part of the story is that the shah never saw his completed villa. Fast forward to today, and we find that that this White House eerily looks like the White House as you drive onto the grounds, with pillars and posts, but therein is pretty much the end of the similarities.

I’ve only been there 3-4 times, once paid for by my mother to celebrate my birthday and the other two times paid by others in celebration of something requiring someone else again to pay the check.

I did recently take Cheryl, my supporting wife, to thank her for all she does for me and while the check was big, the payment was small. She undoubtedly helps me for way more than I give her credit.

Anyway, the White House has an exit off the Pista (main highway) and after meandering up through Escazu, you find yourself at a wonderful restaurant, hotel, casino, spa, Harley rental, and who knows what else and, as mentioned, in the architecture and abiding service found at a place known as the White House.

White House Costa Rica is only 15 minutes from downtown San Jose and 25 minutes from the Juan Santamaría International Airport. If you find an excuse to treat yourself or just want to do it anyway, I highly recommend the White House restaurant as a $13 hamburger has to be something special, and it is. Cheryl and I usually split the salad and burger, but not the bread pudding dessert, and we leave quite content. The chef is from Alaska, and without fail he will personally make your acquaintance and learn who you are and how you enjoyed your meal. And trust me, the menu goes nothing but up from the burger end.

The White House has an absolutely breathtaking view of San Jose and the Central Valley, and the views from the restaurant are nothing short of spectacular. And if you sense you might arrive late, simply have James warm up the helicopter and you can be in a matter of minutes right outside the restaurant.

Pura Vida!

We Just Got “Cityfied”

Grecia is about a fifteen minute drive from El Cajon, where we live, and in the center of Grecia is a fairly large park on a beautiful piece of land that backs up to the famous Red Metal Church. I say famous because it actually is made entirely of metal and it is actually red and it has been there over a hundred years and it is actually the tourist high point for Grecia. The tourist buses stop there each day and all the tourists disembark to take photos of the church. It really is a very beautiful church and the church’s other claim to fame was that it was a stopping point for the American television show, “The Amazing Race”.

There’s a lot of words I just used to draw the mental picture of what I am about to introduce in this article, but you must have the vision of this beautiful church, with this beautiful piece of land in front of it with fountains and walkways for the central park of Grecia. Lots of people gather in this park day and night and practically fill all the benches as it is a place of social gathering.

There are businesses all around this beautiful area, as it is, after all, our downtown and there is so much traffic that it has two of our three stoplights opposite the park. Are you getting the quaint mental picture of our “downtown” area? Up until last week, I would have told you that you would not find any American owned businesses in the entire city of Grecia, but alas, it is this week and I cannot say that anymore. We now have a Burger King and a Church’s Chicken in Grecia!

A lot will be said about this in the coming months for sure, but they exist everywhere else in the world, even in Iraq, so I guess our turn has come. Don’t get me wrong here, because we have McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Subway, Taco Bell, Friday’s, and the list goes on and on, but all those are not in Grecia—yet!! And once every couple months, we go and have our junk feast when we are out and about. It looks like when that couple of months comes up from now on, we can do it “over there”. I think the song goes, “…this land is your land………”

Pura Vida! (The Good Life)

Market Day

Today is market day, which means it is Saturday, and every weekend all the farmers in the Grecia community and some from farther out come to Grecia for this weekly event. I particularly enjoy it because I feel like it is a social outing where I get to see and talk to the strawberry guy, the tomato lady, the hydroponic lettuce guy, the egg guy and so on. And of course they all recognize us to be gringos (North Americans), but the polite culture of Costa Rica really shines through these people as you feel they are as glad to see you again as you are to see them. When we get home I must wash my hands quickly as I have strawberry juice, papaya, tomato, and many other fruit remnants from shaking the vendors’ hands. It’s my play day though, and any day I get to learn some Spanish is a good day—and that is everyday!

While many of them can speak enough English to transact business, we both show the courtesy of speaking Spanish to them. It is also a social gathering of most of the gringos who live in Grecia and surrounding communities also and there are many gringos who haven’t learned any Spanish or don’t care to, but they are still able to transact their business with ease and they still get the polite smiles. In any event, we always see many people that we know well or casually because this market is well run, the facility is brand new, and it is so huge the gringo turnout is well established also. It is all under cover with cement walkways and there are even eating establishments, but you can almost have a good lunch by sampling the goods as you pick out your veggies and fruits for the week!

There are lots and lots of goods and products at this market; anything from flowers to clothes and pottery and jewelry and the list goes on and on. This is certainly a land of plenty when it comes to fruits and veggies as they still have many fruits and veggies that I don’t have even a clue what they are. If you are the adventurous type, the vendor will happily tell you the various ways to prepare their produce and you will have lots of varieties to experiment with.

When we left this morning to go to market, the sky did not have a cloud in it, but you can see that by 1 pm, when I took this picture, the afternoon rainclouds are forming. All is well though, because we had a great day at the market and I always get a chuckle when I think what we would have spent in a land up north on the produce we just bought!

The picture here of the roses is just plucked from one of our rose bushes that are worth the view because someone made the mistake of telling my wife she could not grow roses here. Someone also told her she couldn’t grow chilies, and so we now have gazillions of those also.

Pura Vida!