Our Forest

We have not written about our trees for a while. But do not worry, they are doing fine. They cannot grow fast enough as far as we are concerned, but there is definitely progress, although our land probably looks still like an abandoned pasture to the untutored eye. However, we, as specialists, biologists and owners (admittedly, perhaps not totally objective) see a, very young, tropical forest.

The rains have just started and we can see that more than 90% of the trees we planted have survived the dry season. There are a few obvious patterns. The trees that were sold to us as ´Zapote Colombiana` are not suited to our plot; eight out of ten have died (one of the survivors is still in the nursery). Furthermore, trees planted in September and October had more difficulties during the dry season than those planted earlier. The reason for this was probably the lack of light in September and October. The weather was constantly overcast, so the trees just did not get enough light to make a strong root system. This year we will try to concentrate the planting activities in the period from May to August.

The trees that were planted early last year, are doing very well. Our star is still a mahogany tree we planted in the ‘Heliconia Valley’, that tree is now 3.5 m. high. Most panama trees and Amarillos are also doing fine. Most ‘amarillo’s’ are 1.5 to 2m. high. The ‘monkey comb trees are also growing well, even though we planted them fairly late in the season. The heliconias, not trees but rather showy flowers, are also doing fine. The parrot heliconias have flowered continuously from May to February. And they are growing like weeds.

Furthermore, there are lots of trees emerging that we did not plant at all. Not much variety, most are Wild Cashew, Guava, Nance and Roble. One of our ‘hills’ looks more like a guava orchard than a forest. But we do not mind, these trees provide food to birds and the neighbour’s children, as well as shade and protection against high winds to the soil and to the trees germinating (or planted) below them. We plan to plant shade-loving trees like the cocoa underneath the guavas, since we still have some meter high specimens waiting in our nursery....