The turtle symbolizes independence and being at home anywhere. The tortoise can travel everywhere with its home on its back, so the tortoise can travel far and experience many opportunities. Turtle values the earth, water and the skies, symbolizing the fundamental quality of the earth, the emotions of water and the magic of the mystical. Turtle energy can be helpful in achieving balance and freedom. This totem is a symbol of connection to the center, navigation skills, patience, developing new ideas, self-reliance, tenacity, and non-violent self-defense.
Deep in the jungles of Costa Rica, unattached to my nation or farm, she has been cultivating gardens, digging ditches, and implementing creative permaculture designs. Torrential tropical downpours force her to design systems that resist the waters and protect the plants from it, so that she can spread its seeds. Peregrine permaculturist equipped with her tortoise backpack, a bag of seeds and cuttings, a wisdom of implementing permaculture, a deep knowledge of plants, a collection of books, and her PDC and teacher training, she sets out to bless each farm with her worked. . For over a decade, Desiree Wells has been traveling throughout Costa Rica landing farm after farm, implementing designs, planting and maintaining. In search of new learning opportunities and driven by the perpetual 3 month border jumps, she travelled. Learning the way of survival in simplicity and beauty. Today, this permaculture pilgrim has found a place that she can call her own.
For the past year, Desiree has been setting up a “classroom” where she can share the things she’s learned on her adventures. This classroom is located in a beautiful garden oasis where sheet mulch, composting, and bog building are in perfect harmony. Where the cob comes in many forms, and recycling is a work of art. Workshop participants come from the community to experience hands-on learning about watershed maintenance, growing seeds and cuttings, composting, natural building, permaculture introductions and more. Because this classroom is only in its first year, much of the learning that takes place at Abundant Eden (the business Desiree has started), is foundational and focused on implementation. Desiree calls what she does Permaculture practical and focuses on techniques and designs that establish sustainable survival. Slowly and surely, like the tortoise, she believes that with careful observation and thoughtful design, many problems that can arise in the Permaculture feedback loop can be avoided. Desiree single-handedly provides food for the community she belongs to, Finca Frucion, and her gardens are like magical fairy lands, where plants come together in three-dimensional art.
I met Desiree about 2 years ago, when my family and I first arrived in Costa Rica, with the intention of living our dream. She was such a shining light and I remember walking through her gardens on one of the many farms she serves in awe of her beauty. Some time later, she and her horse came to our farm and decided to make a home here. I cannot express the joy I felt when she shared that she wanted to be a part of our community. Having gone through a Permaculture Design Certification course and teacher training, she still didn’t feel she was ready to really share what she had learned with others. She was looking for a mentor, someone who could show me the course in this foreign climate, and like an angel, she came into our lives. Since then I have learned more than I can express here and deeply appreciate her wisdom. When I look at the wetlands around my house and then walk through the community garden that Desiree tends, I am humbled. Although my desire to work side by side with Desiree is strong, fate has blessed us with a baby and has set that course back for the time being. Still, I’ve learned a lot. Some of which I will share in this article.
When I first came here, I was in a rush to design and implement. He wanted chickens, goats, gardens and more. We focused primarily on infrastructure for our family of 5, but soon my rabbit speed manifested a chicken coop, bog gardens, and a goat house. We had a lot of chickens, plants and some goats. But alas, my speed caught up with me and a great lesson awaited me. Desiree kept telling me to slow down and focus on my zone 1, but I was an ambitious young man and didn’t listen. Our dog ended up killing most of the chickens and my ignorance the rest. The gardens near the house were established without the infrastructure to irrigate them and many of the plants did not survive the dry season. Although the goats are thriving, I have mourned the loss of our chickens and plants and have learned my lesson. Slow and steady, the tortoise wins the race.
One of Desiree’s greatest strengths, aside from her ability to know what plants need, is her swamp building. She has created a system in which her plants thrive. She begins by creating contour lines with animal dung and plant matter, depending on what pioneer species she has near her. She then digs a trench, one shovel deep and one shovel wide, just above the organic matter line, and puts the soil on top of the line. This is a nice textbook, however there is more, the plant matter/manure line creates a “worm hotel”, especially when you add cardboard, another layer of organic matter, food scraps and essentially create a compost pile , which she affectionately calls “yum yum sandwiches.” After that, she digs the trench deeper and adds that soil to the top. This is not the best soil, nor do plants thrive on it alone, so what she does is add some rich soil from elsewhere on the farm and create a little nest for the seedlings. By the time the roots are deep enough to reach the compost below, it breaks down enough for the plant to use. Of course, here in the tropics things break down fast. This is just one of many techniques that she has put into practice here on the farm.
Desiree is an extremely creative, artistic and competent permaculture designer, she has traveled and worked on some of the best known permaculture farms in the US, Thailand, Costa Rica and Panama developing her tricks of the trade. I feel very honored to be able to work with her and call her a sister and friend of hers. I highly encourage other people to come and see our little piece of heaven here to learn in the Bountiful Eden classroom, as I have. Desiree is now accepting interns and apprentices at Finca Frucion in Costa Rica. For more information, feel free to check our Finca Frucion website or send us an email.
To be honest,
alana said