My time is finally up at Finca Luna Nueva and now, as I sit here in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, I can reflect on my three months spent in Costa Rica. It is amazing how fast time goes by; it felt just like yesterday that I was riding in a taxi up the road to FLN with a big smile on my face, excited to finally be in Costa Rica and ready to start my internship.  I don’t even know where to begin summing up my experience.

I was able to learn and do many things that I probably would not have had a chance to do in many other places in the world. I was lucky enough to start my first couple of weeks planting biodynamic and organic ginger and turmeric. I was also able to eat a ton of both from the last harvest (I will definitely be making the turmeric dressing when I get back to the states). When I arrived I didn’t know much at all about biodynamics ( and most people don’t), but now I would easily be able to use biodynamic practices on my own (future) garden/farm.

Peyton Benoit's time at Finca Luna Nueva is coming to a close and she shares with us some of the things she has learned about living at our organic and biodynamic farm.

Almost two months have flown by, and a lot has happened since my first days of ginger planting on the farm. There have been many greetings and farewells to both interns and guests since then and they will only continue.I continue to learn about biodynamics and have had to keep up with the spray preparations for the cacao trees and tea plants, whether it be a silica spray to prevent fungal growth and support maturation of fruit/leaf or horn manure spray to support beneficial bacteria in the soil.

Peyton Benoit arrived two weeks ago and these are her initial impressions of life down on the farm.

It's been two weeks since I arrived at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge and  I can now say that I am finally starting to settle in.  Althoughit is not my first time in Costa Rica (it's actually my third visit here), this visit is like none that I have had before. I have been given the  opportunity to spend three months in one of the my favorite places in the world. Who can't be grateful for that?

In March 2012, we hosted two dynamic workshops :

The Deep Ecology of Green Tea and  Ten Healing Herbs, conducted by White Feather.  Below is the second part of Sara Hartley's observations on the wonders of medicinal herbs.

Now that my time at Finca Luna Nueva, the organic and biodynamic farm and eco-lodge in the rainforest of Costa Rica, has come to a close I am starting to look back over the past three months and appreciate just how incredible they have been. My internship has offered me the opportunity to slow down and as a result I have been able to truly take advantage of my beautiful surroundings and live according to the practices of an organic, biodynamic, Slow Food farm.

That’s not to say that I haven’t been busy!