I have now returned to ViVerde three times and it’s no surprise that the more time I spend here, the more connected and in love I am with the land, the tropical lifestyle, our project, and its community. Most of the trees we planted in the beginning have now at least doubled in size, and when in season, limes, grapefruit, papaya, starfruit, sour oranges, jocote (a plum-like fruit), mangoes, and bananas come rolling in the door. We have grown ourselves a buffet of “all-you-care-to-eat” ginger; Mom and I firmly believe in the ginger-every-day diet and our immune systems thank us.
We still battle the birds and squirrels for the sweeter things, but our aim is to one day grow enough for everyone. I make a mean chili-lemongrass-ginger mojito, ingredients harvested from the gardens surrounding our kitchen. We had our first vanilla orchid bloom (yes, vanilla is an orchid!) and YouTube-educated ourselves on how to hand pollinate with a toothpick.
