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Update on Siva Ashram
Last week I got back from Costa Rica after having spent 9 days there working on the next phase of the development of our Siva Ashram project. The trip that we make this time of the year is primarily focused on planting trees as part of creating our botanical garden. I was very blessed to have my dear friend, Nick Bloor, join me from Australia.
We spent the first couple of days of the trip purchasing plants in Alajuela, a suburb located just outside the capital city of Costa Rica. I’ve been on a mission to collect all kinds of plants over the years, and I am happy to say the Ashram has some special trees already from previous plantings, but we were able to add to the collection this time. After our plant shopping days in Alajuela, we made the 5-hour drive to Nosara where Siva Ashram is located and spent our remaining 5-days working the land with our team of hard-working locals.
In 5-days, we did the following:
– planted over 600 trees and plants
– designed and planted a 2-acre plot of the property with hardwood trees to create a hardwood forest
– Nick pruned over 50 Delonix Regia trees along the Ashram driveway so that one that they will create a beautiful tunnel of red flowering trees to drive through.
– Nick also pruned all the trees leading to and around the Ganesha circle, which will one day be home to a shrine to Hinduism’s Remover of Obstacles.
– We completed the creation and planting of our butterfly garden
– We planted 97 bamboo plants around the property. Some for the purpose of erosion control along hillsides, some for beauty and others to create a fence line.
– We completed the plantings along the entire northern border of the ashram property with red and white bougainvilleas representing the feminine and masculine energies.
– A lot of land clearing work with the help of a backhoe and chainsaw as we eradicated weed and invasive trees
– and a few more things
It was an extremely successful trip, and to say we were tired at the end of it would be an understatement. The fact that we are creating something beautiful that will last beyond our lifetime and uplift countless people fills us with energy and joy and drives us to work as hard as we do.
if you would like to sponsor a tree you can do so here.
Here are a few photos from this trip.
Sunrise. Entrance area to Siva Ashram.
The path that takes you through the gardens is called The Path of Transformation. This is the start of the path and leads you first to a shrine to Ganesha.
Nick helping me to design the hardwood forest.
Our Bismarkia Nobilis palm has grown a lot in the last year.
Nick pruning the Delonix Regia trees along the Ashram driveway
The giant Ceiba Pentandra tree on the property
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