Caoba Organic Farm

Caoba Farms is an organic farm just outside the city center in Antigua (an easy stroll from Central Park). They provide many of the fresh herbs, vegetables and even poultry you enjoy when you eat at fancy restaurants around town, like Hotel Santo Domingo and Meson Panza Verde. Individuals can also buy directly from the farm (and they deliver). 

Rows and rows of glorious veggies

 They are not technically a "certified-organic" farm because that certification does not yet exist here in Guatemala, but it seems like they have all the right ideas in place: low-impact farming, no pesticides, etc. They would like to collaborate with the local government to develop an organic certification and become the entity that educates and certifies other farms in Guatemala.

We spent an afternoon walking the grounds with one of its long-time employees, learning about their philosophy, farming techniques (many of which are ideas renewed from the ancient Maya) and community outreach (reintroducing organic farming, composting, etc. to the surrounding community). 

Mouth watering

We savored the fresh air, rubbed rosemary between our hands for energy, slurped home made mango popsicles and plucked blackberries from the vine. It was beautiful and it inspired me.

We ate moras plucked from the vine.

Within the last year, I've become more and more interested in healthy food and healthy eating, even becoming vegan for an 8-month stint (prior to coming to Guate -- with plans to resume). I've taken more care to learn where my food comes from and changed many of my eating habits, leaning toward colorful plates full of veggies and beans and quinoa. My tastes have evolved, so much so that now the bright colors and smells of fresh vegetables can make my mouth water. And something about a big pile of worm compost really excites me. Caoba was a feast for the senses.

Happy ducks who eat delicious organic leftovers

When things are in harmony, you can feel it in the air. Our gal Mother Nature seems to have had a lot of smart ideas from which we have disconnected -- but at Caoba, they are alive and working well. For example, cultivating a diversity of crops which are rotated and protected from bugs by a natural barrier of tall trees; spraying plants with a mixture of water and garlic to make them unpalatable to pests; rotating the food sources for the chickens, ducks and rabbits (since there's not so much room that they can rotate the flocks) and making sure they have fresh plants to eat and defend themselves against viruses; bathing the birdies in water infused with fresh herbs to clean the bugs out of their feathers; covering the walkways with macadamia nut shells (from partner Valhalla Macadamia Nut Farm)and of course all kinds of great composting going on.  

You listen to the methods, see the results and think yes, this is so smart. When did factory farming become "normal"? Ugh...

Pathways covered in macademia nut shells from Valhalla

They also developed a simple composter that restaurants can use on site; Caoba will buy the compost back from them once it's full.

We hit up the store before leaving and enjoyed a scrumptious dinner. Wish we were staying longer (or that we had found this sooner) so I could volunteer here for a week or two. I loved it!