The Birth of Finca Luna Nueva
For fans of JRR Tolkien, the image of wise Gandalf the Grey embodies the good magic of the world. Our beloved founder, Steven Farrell, is known by many as Gandalf, the wizard of the farm. He’s been organically farming for forty years, beginning in 1984 in stone-fruit orchards in Santa Barbara, California. And we’re all grateful that he came to Costa Rica about 40 years ago to try his hand at macadamia nut farming in a small village near the Arenal Volcano called La Tigra.
Macadamia farming proved to be a commercial challenge, but those trees are still producing fruits that attract small animals, and those small animals attracted jaguars and pumas, so we can thank Steven for helping to bring back big jungle cats to the mountains near Luna Nueva. To help make ends meet, he started farming ginger on his land, and through a broker that ginger made its way in 1992 to an herbal company in the United States. That herbal company loved the purity and potency of Steven’s amazing “blue ring” ginger, which was rich in pungent and healing compounds.
In 1994, that herbal company’s appetite for ginger grew, and it asked if Steven could find a larger farm that would yield more ginger. Steven took on this challenge, but there were three conditions: the new farm needed to be close to his home in La Tigra, the soil had to be wonderful, and no agrochemicals could have been used on that land for at least three years in order to start from an organic foundation.
Around this time Steven used a local packing house to wash his ginger, and he asked the owner of that establishment if he knew of any land that met those requirements. The owner had an employee named Walter Arias, and Walter knew of a farm in the nearby village San Isidro de Peñas Blancas that he thought would work.
Walter took Steven to the land, which was then owned by five brothers and a brother-in-law who had split the land into six parcels. Three of the parcels were devoted to farming “decorative plants,” like the corn plants found in offices around North America. The other three were forested. And all six parcels, together, were commercially failing. A local bank was in the process of foreclosing on three of the parcels, and that’s when Steven showed up!
Steven made a generous offer for the thirty-hectares, which the bank and brothers accepted. So began Finca Luna Nueva.
You may ask why it’s called Finca Luna Nueva, which in English is New Moon Farm. Turns out the herbal company buying Steven’s ginger was called New Moon Extracts, so Steven named the farm Luna Nueva Extractos de Costa Rica – Finca Luna Nueva!
Walter Arias was working for Steven’s friend who owned the packing house, so he wasn’t then available to help Steven with the new farm. Walter suggested that Steven hire his brother Carlos and their father Porfirio, and those gentlemen were our first employees. Carlos did the farming, and Porfirio drove the ox cart that helped clear the fields. Six months later Walter joined his family at Luna Nueva, and over the course of the next months Luna hired Eladio, Sergio, Sergio’s son Johnny, and José. Sergio has now retired, but all those other great farmers are still with us at Luna Nueva.
The herbal company’s demands grew, and the next big crop was turmeric. Luna Nueva then shipped its ginger harvest up the States, but in 1999 it began to ship its turmeric to a distinguished extraction laboratory in Germany. And that’s when a representative of the herbal company, Tom Newmark, came down to visit Steven and check out the farming operations.
Tom fell in love with two things: the farm and the farmer! He and Steven began what is now a 25-year partnership at Finca Luna Nueva, and since that visit in 1999 they imagined and built all that you now see here at our farm and lodge. Steven’s daughter Kimberly now runs our operations, and Tom’s wife Terry is the moon-loving artist who has guided us in creating the beauty that defines us. And Steven, Tom, Terry, and Kimberly have worked together to nourish this land, care for our Luna Nueva family, and push us beyond organic and into the world of regeneration.
Pura Vida!
