Rancho Margot Finca Tour
Intro
Rancho Margot is a finca (large property / country estate. Our tour was really similar to the sustainability tour that we took earlier in the trip (https://www.willdodds.com/arti...), so I'm going to leave out a lot of the repetitive details, post some pictures, and write a few notes about new/unique information that we learned on this tour.
The Grounds
Techo Verde (green roof)
Can you see the plants growing on the roofs of the two structures in this picture? These are called "green roofs." The plants are planted intentionally. The green roofs serve two purposes: 1) Keeping the house underneath warm, and 2) muting the sound of rain, which, in Costa Rica, can sometimes fall very heavily.
Queso Fresco (fresh cheese)
Queso fresco is a mild, fresh, soft, white cheese that is popular in many Central and South American countries. Our kids learned how to make it.
Organic Fertilizer
Our kids also learned how the finca makes and uses on its crops its own organic fertilizer. The main ingredients, some of which you can see the kids mixing in the pictures below, are wood shavings (for calcium), ground corn (for iron), and leaves (for microorganisms).
Presentaciones
Our tour guides did a good job of making the tours educational, interactive, and hands-on. During our lunch break on this day, our kids made promotional posters for the finca to show what they had learned on the tour. We had a lot of kids with interest in the sciences, so there were some, despite my worries, who really embraced activities like these.
Etlingera Elatior / Torch Ginger
Alpinia Purpurata / Red Ginger / Pink Cone Ginger
Heliconia Collinsiana / Platanillo
Heliconia Bihai / Red Palulu
Zingiber Spectabile / Beehive Ginger
Post a comment