28 August 2012

Edible landscaping


   Most of our heavy rains roll in from the Caribbean and so I opted to put as few openings across the sea-facing front of the house as possible.  Thus the front presents a blank expanse and to lessen that effect, after finishing the house, young hibiscus were planted across the front joining a marvelous curving old palm tree.   
   As the project at False Bluff continues, more structures will go up.   A north-south 'roadway' bisects the land we've cleared to date and it's lined on both sides with young coconut palms.  Although there will eventually be buildings on both sides of this roadway, the only house now is the one pictured in the blog so far.  The house sits just to the east, or the lagoon side, of the roadway close to both docks.
   A path leading to the house breaks off from this roadway.  Clumps of lemon grass line the path between the house and the roadway.  In a gentle curve - connecting the hibiscus planted across the front of the house and the lemon grass planted along each edge of the pathway - is planted a woody mint that has stems which twist and turn in all directions.  It doesn't have much of a bloom but it makes really interesting shapes.  
   Both the lemon grass and the mint make great tea.  I've read that parts of most hibiscus plants are good for tea as well, but haven't tried it.  Sustainability!
   The plantings are new enough to not put on much of a show yet, but it'll all come together in a couple more seasons.
Hibiscus, lemon grass, and mint
   Each hibiscus is a different color and each has a different bloom shape.  Until False Bluff I never knew there was such a variety among hibiscus.  Some of the plants withstood transplanting better than others and some didn't survive at all.  The slow growers will catch up and new hibiscus plants will fill the empty spots.
Hibiscus and mint


21 August 2012

Good fences (help) make good neighbors


   At the start of this project there were no fences...and no clearing, no papaya trees, no buildings, no newly planted coconut palms, no wells, no banana trees, no dock, no open creek.     
   Opening the creek to boat traffic has increased the number of people who travel out to this remote piece of beach and quickly made 'remote' an almost obsolete term because we're only eight miles from Bluefields and now getting to the beach is easy.  Some of the people who come out to False Bluff aren't property owners but instead remove things that belong to property owners, me included.
   The sections of fence that we've put up certainly don't keep out anybody who's determined to trespass onto private property:  it simply defines boundaries. The first section went up around the area where my staff lives and where most of the project work has been done to date; it went from the pier east to the beach and then north along part of the property line.  
   The second section went from the pier east to the beach and then south along the boundary of that section of property.  
  A wide pathway is been left for public use...a pathway cleared of scrub that goes directly to the beach from the now open creek.

15 August 2012

Fence posts

   Some posts for the new section of fence.  

07 August 2012

Getting ready for work

   A new section of fence is going up.   When any new project starts, a crew comes out and stays at False Bluff until it's finished.   While the creek was being opened for boat travel (see previous posts), months of work were involved.  There was, of course, downtime for the crew members and lots of supply runs to Bluefields eight miles away through Smokey Lane Lagoon and panga pass.  
  The stay for the current fencing job will be only a few days and so the amount of food, equipment, and camping supplies is less.  Offloading at the dock near the house behind a lockable gate, puts everybody and every thing closer to the campsite.  These guys were on the beach and in the water about twenty minutes after unloading and setting up camp.  Fencing was on hold until the next day.
Equipment and food,
fence wire,
even the boat engine.