VeggieCaravan

So i just left Costa Rica after an incredible visit!   Punta Mona was a delight!  things seemed to be running so smooth.  Why couldn't it be more like that when I was living there full time.  The farm looks sooooo great and the jackfruits.... forget about it.. they are dripping.  I am soo proud of the crew down there.  Its amazing how the energy of the crew there actually fully effects the way the actual plants feel.  Wow thats some deep stuff, but it really is true.  Also Zak and my dad came down along with the Feldmans and we made some big strides with our new farm outside of San Jose in San mateo de Orotina.  We actaully harvested 6000 kg of Dah-licous mangos which we brought all the way to Cartago to have them dried.  YUM!!!  

So just finishing 3 weeks w/o bearly leaving punta mona.  Things are going incredible!! Wow.  The fruit trees are growing and the crew that is there managing the center and the garden is incredible.  The brother and sisiter dynamic duo Nico and Aurora are just rocking the place!!  Nico is working with groups and Aurora is managing the farm.  YEA!!!  They are amazing!   Jaze and her kids Talin and Torin are handling the office, Jon from Scotland and Jason are running the kitchen, Clint is lifeguarding, doing compost and working on the website, Ryan has taken over the permaculture talks and then the gandoca boys Roger, Moshe and Ricardo are working with the volunteers.  Also Itai is back from israel and just finished teaching a 10 week intensive Permaculture, Bio-dynamics and tropical Ag course and is now working on the Chinampa system in the swamp.  Kalil and Evan have been kicking it on the hill and Tom and Abeja are in out as Abeja is getting ready to have a baby.  Zak and I just had an incredible stay out there and the farm is just more happening than ever.  Lots of music, bonfires and firedancing and the groups have been super smooth!!!    There have been an average of at least 30 people out there at all times.  I love it there.  So I am in San Jose right now getting ready to go and visit our new farms in Machuca and near the Miravalles Volcano.  Siempre p' delante!!

Just wanted to say Happy New years from all of us from Kopali!!  We spent the weekend up at Arrowhead Lake in the mountains outside of LA in the house of My Uncle Heshie.  It was incredible.  We had a feast and danced lots.  The Kopali launch has been incredible.  We have at least half of the 23 stores and it seems like things are really selling.  Keeping our fingers crossed!!!!  Off to Costa Rica tomorrow!  Yea!!!

Stephen

Our New Years eve dinner in Arrowhead Lake, California

Here we are in the parking lot of the Phoenix Whole Foods and we are having an excellent time.  The tour has been such a blast.  All the folks at Whole Foods have been treating us soooo nice and even hooking us up with lots of Organic foods.  Yesterday we did our first full blown puppet show in the parking lot of the Tempe store. It was lots of fun.  We are beginning planning our full blown tour which will begin on January 18th in LA.  I'm leaving the tour on the 2nd of January for Costa Rica to film the pilot for the show we are doing on the Travel Channel.  It is about where food comes from, from the field to the plate.

You can watch the trailor here  http://puntamona.org/?q=node/74

Life is super sweet.  We are getting on the road on our way to Las Vegas!!!   I will try and do this more often.  Love to all! 

So here we are just weeks away from the birth of Kopali Organics.  I am soo honored and proud to be a part of it.  From the dream of making a bigger difference in the lives of small farmers to the reality of affecting the lives of 1000’s of small family farms throughout both Costa Rica and Mexico.  Each day as we work endless hours trying to pull this all together, almost coming to the brink of burning out, all we need to do is think of the farmers and their families and how this hard work may change their lives.  It feels really, really great!  We have danced on all extremes of the spectrums from not wanting to support trade at all to starting a food exporting company and I feel super grounded and solid in this giant step we have taken.  This is only the beginning I am excited to be involved in making this website an open space for sharing ideas and thoughts about a whole new way of doing business!!!  Love to all!