This is a review on one book that changed the way I think about edible plants and gardening in general. When we first moved from the US to Costa Rica we were totally uninformed on tropical gardening. It made sense that with all the sunshine and rain, it would be easy to have a garden. We soon found out that gardening in the tropics requires a totally different skill set compared to gardening in Illinois. In the beginning, we wanted our generic varieties of supermarket vegetables. We tried broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, cauliflower and a plethora of other comm ..read more

Aquaponics System Update July 2023 This aquaponics system in Costa Rica has been running for about 8 years and produced lots of tasty fish, veggies and herbs.  This July, we changed out 4 of the wooden grow beds for the plastic beds seen in the video.  They’re the only off the shelf grow bed we could find in Costa Rica.  (They’re actually livestock water tanks).  We kept one of the wooden beds in the middle to raise water hyacinth for the ducks and chickens and serve as a nursery for river prawns. In addition we’ve switched one fish tank to exclusively Swai (Pangasius hypo ..read more

  It’s not uncommon for eggs to have two yolks, but a Texas farmer recently found something even cooler: a double egg. A double egg is an egg that contains two complete eggs, each with its own yolk, white, and shell. It’s a very rare occurrence, and this farmer was lucky enough to find one. If you’re not familiar with double eggs, here’s a quick explanation: they happen when a hen lays two eggs very close together, and the second egg gets trapped inside the first. The two eggs then fuse together, creating a double egg. Double eggs are not harmful to eat, but they’re not very common. So ..read more

We started growing cassava, known as “Yuca” in Costa Rica, when we first moved onto our property.  We buried cuttings in horrible hard clay soil and they were totally neglected.  To our surprise, they still popped up and produced large starchy yuca roots under the soil.  We learned through trials, that the roots produce better in sandy loose soils and any amount of shade will diminish the size of the tubers.  Put these puppies in Full sun. See the video below to learn how to plant Cassava cuttings Planting and Growing Cassava Cassava will grow in any warm climate, inclu ..read more

What happens when you mix fish farming with hydroponics? Aquaponics! If you’re new to the subject, this type of food production can be an amazing resource. I think of it a bit like hacking nature. Aquaponics takes all of the primary needs of a plant and animal ecosystem and compresses them in to one cyclic package. It’s basically poo powered hydroponic gardening with the extra benefit of having tasty fish to eat. This combination creates a closed-loop environment where fish and plants thrive together. How Aquaponics Works In aquaponics, the fish are housed in a tank and the plants are grown ..read more

Chances are, if you live in the city, you’ve seen this little plant growing in crevasses of sidewalks and roads.  If you have a garden, you’ve likely pulled it, tossed it, lit it on fire, sprayed it with herbicide, chopped it with a shovel, or put it in the compost. The thin line between pesky weeds and tasty salads Purslane or Portulaca olearacea, is a one of the many SUPER healthy plants people refer to as a “weeds.   Purslane is the plant kingdom’s omega-3 fatty acid powerhouse. “It’s a miracle plant,” said Dr. Artemis Simopoulos, president of the Center fo ..read more

Moringa Oleifera There are a lot of amazing claims about the moringa tree.  From fighting cancer and fending off malnutrition, to purifying water and preventing infection, it’s almost too good to be true. Many sites calling it the “miracle tree” or the “tree of life”.  Just type in “moringa cures” into a search engine and you’ll see hundreds of disease cure and prevention claims.  While I think some medicinal claims may be unfounded, the overall value of the moringa oleifera tree would be difficult to discredit. It’s an amazing plant. Too Good to Be True? When something on ..read more

Did you know that beneath your feet is an information superhighway built of networked fungi that allow plants to communicate? Recent studies have revealed some amazing information about how plants communicate. They use a sort of networked fungus called “mycorrhizae”. The term mycorrhizae means “fungus root”. These thin strings of fungus attach to the roots of nearby plants and form a symbiotic relationship between plants of various species. Whether it be the roots of Morninga, Guanacaste Trees, or Winged Beans, they all serve can each other. The BBC published an article which states that abo ..read more

I’ve used a TON of pumps for aquaponics systems including Danner, Pondmasters and Little Giant.  I’ve also burned out far too many than I’d like to admit to my pocketbook.  This odd brand from Amazon, “Jebao” has been the best so far.  For a Constant Height One Pump(CHOP) system it runs continuously.  They’re also DC pumps so they use less electricity, are brushless and are more durable for constant running applications. I ran the JEBAO 12000 for From 2016-2020 without issues.  I wanted to get more water circulation due to my large system. I upgraded to ..read more

Did the years of playing Super Mario Bros leave a yearning to find a ‘magic mushroom’ to give you a 1-Up in life?  Medicinal mushrooms have been used in Eastern medicine for thousands of years and have gained even more popularity as of late.  They offer a vast range of potential benefits including improving cognition, enhancing immunity, improving cardiovascular health, boosting  mood,  stimulating memory, and of course…..nourishing the body.   StoneAgeMan on YouTube put together a excellent video on his top 5 medicinal/functional mushrooms.  I’ll go into detail ..read more