Bosque Village http://bosquevillage.com/en Permaculture farm and sustainability laboratory Thu, 16 Jan 2014 22:38:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 Govenia utriculata http://bosquevillage.com/en/govenia-utriculata/ http://bosquevillage.com/en/govenia-utriculata/#respond Thu, 16 Jan 2014 22:38:09 +0000 http://bosquevillage.com/en/?p=1369
"Govenia Capitata"
Beautiful rare orchid found in the forest!
  • We have found a very interesting rare orchid growing in the forest.  Govenia utriculata, also known as, Govenia Capitata, a member of Orchidacae. It was first spotted June 12th, 2009.
    • Brian says:  “While walking in the forest, I came upon an amazing flower. It was so different than all the other ones. The forest here is healing and I would like to encourage the rare native species to find homes here! When we are able to find such a plant we do everything we can to help it spread.”
  • Since these are the best photos of Govenia utriculata we could find on the web, we decided to release them for use by others under the Creative Commons license Attribution, Share Alike.  Read more about that here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons_licenses
  • If you visit in July, seek out this flower! But don’t pick it, or any other flower you find! If you pick a flower then it will not reproduce. Don’t kill the plant off simply because you think it is pretty! These delicate plants do not like to be disturbed.
  • It is mostly pollinated by bumble bees.

What insect pollinize Govenia utriculata?

  • Many orchids are very specific about how the flower can be polinized, If we knew what insect pollinizes it, then we could take a litle extra care to make sure that habitit for that insect exists nearby. The scientific texts suggest that bumblebees to the job, and we do have some bumble bees here, but perhaps there are others too.
  • Fortunately, we don’t even have to figure out who the pollinizers are.  As the forest heals, many native plants and insects will gather making the biosystem increasingly diverse.  Still, it would be a nice task to sit near the flower for a few hours in hopes of finding out what insects pollinate it.

How can the orchid be propagated?

  • Protect it! We don’t know yet how to reproduce it. The first thing to do is to protect it by not disturbing it. Change nothing nearby.
  • When it blooms it can produce millions of tiny seeds, but still it will be rare for a seeds to land in just the right spot to germinate. We can help the plant out by making sure the seeds have a chance. Our best option is to simply spread the spores as widely as possible where there are living oak roots.  Govenia utriculata lives in relation with fungus.
  • At the Fusion plant propogation center. The goal is to learn to produce those trees and plants which are easiest to propagate and which can serve people. We will place the orchid on the oak substrates used for outdoor mushroom growing. Especially on oaks being used to propagate native fungus.
  • These two plants are similar so we will try to get them as well:  G. purpusii, G. tequilana, or more likely, when we see them we will GPS their locations and try to help them reproduce where they are at.

Links:

Govenia utriculata
It is a delight to find a new rare plant in the forest!

 

 

]]> http://bosquevillage.com/en/govenia-utriculata/feed/ 0 2012 http://bosquevillage.com/en/2012/ http://bosquevillage.com/en/2012/#respond Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:43:36 +0000 http://bosquevillage.com/en/?p=1311 I am off to town today to get sawdust, cow horns, Dog bones, can to make a rocket stove and gasoline. I will visit the post office as well.

]]> I am off to town today to get sawdust, cow horns, Dog bones, can to make a rocket stove and gasoline. I will visit the post office as well.

]]> http://bosquevillage.com/en/2012/feed/ 0 Picnic to La Cascada de Piedras http://bosquevillage.com/en/picnic-to-la-cascada-de-piedras/ http://bosquevillage.com/en/picnic-to-la-cascada-de-piedras/#respond Thu, 17 Nov 2011 20:41:29 +0000 http://bosquevillage.com/en/?p=1303

There is a small pool and cool rock formations just fifteen minutes hike from the Bosque. For fun, we packed up cauliflower from our gardens, cucumber from a friend’s garden, homemade hummus and homemade flatbread, and went for a quick picnic.

We’re thinking of putting a geocache at this particular spot. Do any of [...]]]>

There is a small pool and cool rock formations just fifteen minutes hike from the Bosque. For fun, we packed up cauliflower from our gardens, cucumber from a friend’s garden, homemade hummus and homemade flatbread, and went for a quick picnic.

We’re thinking of putting a geocache at this particular spot. Do any of you do geocaching? It seems like a fun excuse to explore. 🙂

We call this place La Cascada de Piedras.

]]> http://bosquevillage.com/en/picnic-to-la-cascada-de-piedras/feed/ 0 Recording the Harvest http://bosquevillage.com/en/recording-the-harvest/ http://bosquevillage.com/en/recording-the-harvest/#respond Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:44:48 +0000 http://bosquevillage.com/en/?p=1305

Since June we’ve been fairly diligent about weighing the produce from our gardens and the fruit trees. This year we’ve had pretty good success. We haven’t bought fruits or vegetables from town besides some mangos that were too inexpensive to pass up, a papaya (I miss it and we can’t grow it easily), and [...]]]>

Since June we’ve been fairly diligent about weighing the produce from our gardens and the fruit trees. This year we’ve had pretty good success. We haven’t bought fruits or vegetables from town besides some mangos that were too inexpensive to pass up, a papaya (I miss it and we can’t grow it easily), and onions and garlic. Pretty good, right?! 🙂

Our biggest successes are lettuce, chard, and cauliflower (oh, you should see the cauliflower). Our avocado trees are producing well, and we’re finally getting some yield from our apple trees, our guayaba trees, and even a few pomegranates. The carrot and cabbage patches are still producing.

It’s was an exciting rainy season. We’ll see how we do as we move into the drier time of year. We’re hoping to keep a year-round tomato and chard garden near the kitchen, plus some potted plants of herbs to last throughout the winter.

We’ve had surplus this year which we give to friends, let go to seed, and/or preserve via canning and drying. Our rabbits and chickens get fresh produce daily from the gardens.

]]> http://bosquevillage.com/en/recording-the-harvest/feed/ 0 Lizard Tails http://bosquevillage.com/en/lizard-tails/ http://bosquevillage.com/en/lizard-tails/#respond Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:36:35 +0000 http://bosquevillage.com/en/?p=1301

Lizards drop their tails if they are very frightened, or if a predator has them by the tail. We did not frighten this one (much) but found it already tailless. Brian snapped a quick photo.

Lizards stay close to their hidden homes so when the sun is out we can reliably see a lizard [...]]]>

Lizards drop their tails if they are very frightened, or if a predator has them by the tail. We did not frighten this one (much) but found it already tailless. Brian snapped a quick photo.

Lizards stay close to their hidden homes so when the sun is out we can reliably see a lizard in the same spot each day. Usually by the time we pull out a camera, they’re usually gone before we can snap a shot.

Here are some we’ve caught on camera over the years:

]]> http://bosquevillage.com/en/lizard-tails/feed/ 0