I know I just posted a garden update recently, but we have done so much work over the last couple of weeks, that I couldn't wait to get you another update and more pictures!

Co-founder Isaac Garcia has been working really hard with volunteers Jared, Stefania and Rita, as well as foundation employees Jose and Luis and two representatives of the La Flor ecological committee, Manuel and Argentina.

In just a short two weeks, tons of weeds have been pulled, paths created, fence installed, walls painted, new flowers and trees planted and the breathtaking view has been revived.

The volunteers generously donated nearly $70 in plants, while we (the Casa Milagro Foundation / Tropical Adventures) donated paint, flowers, palm trees, tools and the fencing material.

We really hope that between the active town members and future volunteers, we can add more paint, flowers and trees, as well as keep the garden maintained really well. Thanks to all who helped!

The weather has been beautiful lately and we currently have 4 volunteers working in La Flor. In addition to teaching English at the schools and to adults at night, all of them have been pitching in to help bring our garden back to life.

This community garden has been crying for attention for a long time. Now we finally have some people to give it the love it needs. We've been out there every day for the last week cleaning it up. This coming week we'll paint the wall and plant new flowers.

It's hard to believe that such a small space can take this much work! If you have great landscaping and gardening skills, we have no lack of projects to satisfy your needs. As Bob Barker would say, "Come on down!"

I found this flower in a neighboring town called "La Flor," which means the flower. They did have some nice flowers there!

We were in La Flor because we're preparing to send some of our volunteers there. It's a super small, quiet community set apart from other towns. The community is very focused on helping one another, recycling, education and agriculture. Here is a photo of their community garden. Pictured are (left to right) Allyson (La Flor resident and activist), Jimmy (neighbor and friend of ours), Isaac, Gustavo (La Flor community leader and program Spanish teacher, and Louise (friend).

We have these wonderful neighbors, Al and Allison. They own a flower exportation business. The other day they gave us these beautiful Birds of Paradise, because they were "rejects." I thought they were pretty amazing!

I know it sure is hard to tell from these before and after photos, but we've done a ton of work on the house and it's looking SO much better. New roof, new windows, window frames, 400 flowers and plants. Click on the photos for a better view. Still a lot more work to go, but little-by-little it's starting to look like a real home.

Just wanted to share another picture of the garden. It’s doing marvelously, and we’ve been able to share food with many, many people. It feels good to be using the land well, and even better to eat the yummy food!

The person you see there is our friend, David, who is also my massage therapist. He stopped by to do some "shopping" in the garden.

The mountains you see in the background are part of the Talamanca Mountain Range. (Click on the photo for a larger version of the picture.)

Yippee! I’m very excited to say pulled our very first vegetables out of the new garden today. Here you can see a picture of Isaac holding the radishes we ate in our salad for lunch. The picture below is a shot of the garden itself.

Through a series of pretty crazy life circumstances, we didn’t get the garden planted until several months after we moved in. We were really inspired by our friend, Louise, who was going to help us out with it. As it turned out, as soon as we were ready to begin, stuff came up for her and she couldn’t help.

Hopefully she’ll be back soon to help us enjoy the tons of food we have now!