It’s been a deeply fulfilling year for us, and we finally have a chance to say hello and update you on the latest.
So, where do we start?
Did we mention how busy we are?
Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you for all your wonderful support of our regenerative experience and mission.
Let’s start from the beginning…
A Beautiful and Rare Find
In the beginning of the year we found a a Silky Anteater near our turmeric field.
These beautiful creatures are nocturnal and almost never descend to the ground.
Due to the difficulty to find them in the wild, little is known about their social systems. But they are often found on their own.
As the name hints, they are strictly insectivorous, eating mainly ants and termites.
After we found it, we placed it back into the wild. We were so grateful for the sweet visit.
New Finca Luna Map
We have a beautiful map of our property designed to showcase the broad picture of our lodge and farm in a fun way.
Our guests have found it extremely helpful to explore and discover our hidden treasures, such as the bamboo tower and other exciting trails.
Cow Milking with Tomás
We hired Tomás this year to run our animal systems and we are beyond thrilled with his amazing work. He uses regenerative farming methods that align with our mission. Yes, Carbon Sequestration is his main goal.
Our cows look so happy, our systems are running smoothly, but most importantly our guests love him.
For now he’s working with cows and tilapia. But soon he is expanding his work on activating our new regenerative systems for chickens and pigs.
So exciting!
Ariel has been promoted!
Ariel, our 5 star bartender and waiter, who has been with us for over 6 years, has been promoted to a key position at our lodge. He is now our Farm to Table Manager. Yay!
What does that mean? Well, Ariel is now the person who links our farm and our restaurant. All of the produce from our farm goes directly to Ariel’s Kitchen where he designates what goes to our restaurant and what stays in his kitchen to be processed for our gift shop or tours.
He has made coconut, hibiscus and other fruit ice cream pops, banana flour, herbal teas, bitters, dehydrated fruit, tinctures, natural seasonings, and so much more.
But that’s not all, Ariel is now running an Herbal Medicine Workshop. Where guests can learn more about herbalism and the importance behind every product he has placed in our apothecary.
Bravo Ariel!
MORE ABOUT HERBAL MEDICINE WORKSHOP HERE
Farm to Table
Why is it so important to understand this concept? Well, it is who we are! After all, our name starts with the word finca – Spanish for farm – and we farm so that our kitchen can create all the fresh and flavorful foods that our guests enjoy in our restaurant.
For Luna Nueva, farm to table means that the food on the table comes directly from a specific farm or farmer, without going through a store, market, or distributor along the way.
We prioritize using the food that is grown on our farm and other organic local farms.
By buying local produce, we guarantee more flavorful and nutritious food, while supporting local economies.
We like to tell a story, the story of regeneration of the planet and personal health, through our meals.
Renovated Cacao Sanctuary or “Santuario de Cacao” in Spanish.
Cacao is the main crop at our farm nowadays. We have planted hundreds of Cacao Trees in order to have our own Cacao Orchard for Organic and Regenerative Chocolate Making.
We needed a special place to highlight this chocolate journey, so now we have a renovated sanctuary. Here guests can enjoy the chocolate making workshops in a perfect and sacred setting.
MORE ABOUT OUR CHOCOLATE TOUR HERE
And speaking of chocolate. Our wonderful friend and former intern Selina Walker designed this beautiful logo for our cacao sanctuary.
The details of the mandala represent and celebrate often forgotten influences, like pollinators and moon cycles that help create our most cherished natural resources, in this case Cacao.
The moon cycle and constellation-like dots hold additional meaning as they also link back to Finca Luna Nueva’s roots as a biodynamic farm and match our current logo.
This image was painted as a mural in our new cacao tour rancho and is now available as t-shirts and other items in our gift shop.
Dairy Logo
Selina also designed a logo for our dairy. Check it out!
Available in T-shirts at our gift shop as well.
Thank you Selina 🌜🌛
Farm Update
First and foremost, we have to thank Scott Gallant from the Porvenir Design team for helping us achieve our wildest dreams. And also to Gerardo Calderón, our new farm manager and leader.
Both have cultivated an incredible environment of abundance and teamwork. The pivotal factor in our progress was the opportunity to experiment, and through several trial and error phases, we achieved monumental successes that have shaped our farm into its present form.
In other words, we’ve made lots of mistakes – and we’ll surely make many more – but we’re learning every day how we can farm more in accordance with the lifeforce of our ecosystem. we demand of ourselves that our farming nourishes and improves the ecosystem, and we’re hoping to demonstrate this for farmers around the world.
Our crew is inspired and excited to come to work every day. The farm is so biodiverse and filled with vibrant energy.
Thank you so much for all you do.
Walter – Frander – Carlos – Eladio – Jose
Let’s see the highlights of the first semester of 2023.
- New Composting Area.
- Harvested our very first cacao batch.
- Planted rainfed rice in the area soon to be occupied by our pigs.
- We also planted corn and squash.
- Pineapples were delicious!
- Avocados were harvested too.
- Redesigned our syntropic farming systems.
- We hosted 2 Open Houses (sharing with the community)
- We guided a farm tour for the entire hotel staff.
- We harvested onions.Many more highlights will be shared as we continue to grow.
What’s Next?
This September we will build a new reception area. We are so excited for this project, as the design will continue themes established in our restaurant and overall Luna style.
Here’s a sneak peak of the new building.
This means that September will be closed to guests as we prepare for the new season and perform maintenance on our lodge.
Articles worth reading
- Edible Flowers of the tropics
- Regenerate and Rejoice at Finca Luna Nueva
- The Great Dance of Life
- A True Eco Hotel in Costa Rica
