Newbie Interested in Finding Like-Minded Sustainable Community

Hello. Check http://www.pachamama.com, http://www.montezumabeach.com or http://ecorealtorscr.com for samples of some of the sustainable communities already installed in Costa Rica, I believe that to grow one's own food,  hydroponics is the way to go.And hydroponics requires small areas. Do come visit, I will be glad to show you around where I live.

Thank you for the links, MauroN.  We are just starting to explore our options.  We have a pretty large tire garden here in Alaska. We are constantly looking for ways to warm up the soil and extend the growing season.   I'm sure that gardening in Costa Rica would be a  much different venture, though.  Thanks again for the info.

Here you will find the opposite: since it doesn't freeze the insects refuse to die...and will return again bringing their extended family and all of their friends,  to eat your garden.

Aha.  I was wondering about that . . .

kohlerias wrote:

Here you will find the opposite: since it doesn't freeze the insects refuse to die...and will return again bringing their extended family and all of their friends,  to eat your garden.

Hahaha. That remains me of a Canadian friend who said that when an expat marries a latin girl (in this case a tica), he marries her entire family. True,  the friend went through that process himself. I guess the latin insects do the same. But there are ways to keep away the  insect"s  "in-laws"

Having had extensive gardens in various areas of the country, I would tend to 'dispute' that anything will keep insects away for any length of time...especially if  anything 'out of the norm' that is not usually grown here, has been planted.

We placed cuttings of mature Pitahaya (dragonfruit) plants on  volcanic rock over 5 years ago, and it has taken that amount of time to get the first fruits in this location...and now the ants are after the few ripening fruit. Usually, on a mature piece, they will bloom and fruit quite quickly.

We had neighbors that resorted to using dynamite to get rid of cutter ants. Didn't work for long.

Take note, that unless your veggies are grown under cover, the heavy seasonal rains will crush the plants.

In the time since I posted my previous response, I thought I would let you know that it wasn't the ants that devoured my first ripe Pitahaya eating the entire inside, but a bird that beat them to it. Darn