Fun hiking... in the Valle de Cocora

Valle de Cocora hiking (Los Montanas)

We had a great day hiking over the "Los Montanas" pass and down, in the Cocora Valley -- a great place to hike.

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Yard-long beans in Cartagena

Colombia was not a trip for admiring vegetable gardens.  I didn't actually see anything resembling a vegetable garden (outside of a "modern" demonstration edible garden at the botanical garden in Bogota).

So not surprisingly, there aren't many vegetables to be seen in markets, either, aside from the "usual" corn, squash, onions, and tomatoes.

So I was glad to see these yard-long beans, offered up by a street vendor in Cartagena, a UNESCO-designated seaport (a centuries-old city founded in 1533).

Yard-long beans, eggplants, tomatoes, and shell beans (street vendor in Cartagena)

Yard-long beans (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis) have a long history.

Related to cowpeas, they've traveled the globe from their initial origin in Africa, moving to Asia, India, and South America, tweeked along the way in seed and pod color.

In Cartagena, they probably came along with enslaved Africans, and would have thrived in the humid and hot coastal climate.

Similarly, a vegetable vendor of Carribean extraction offered up some unusual (for Colombia) vegetables, too, in the large and sprawling Cartagena market.  She had okra, callalo, and hot peppers in addition to the usual mix.

Both were small-scale growers, I thought, just selling extra from what they grew for themselves.

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Views from Salento

Salento view down the main street

We totally enjoyed Salento, a "tourist" town locked in a time warp;  the colonial buildings are filled with shops, but still evoke the feeling of a Zona Cafeterra town from years ago. 

Salento fruit stand

 It may have been an accidental time to visit -- on the cusp of explosive development - but there are apparently some historical standards that have preserved the amazing look and feel of the town. 

We loved Salento -- and especially the views surrounding the town.

Sunset was magical.

We were amazed that there weren't droves of folks at our "regular" sunset spot at the head of the main street (simply labelled Restaurante). Hmm, there's no way I can post on TripAdvisor if you don't advertise a name!  We loved the spot.

It's just before the path steepens significantly, before the steps up to the mirador.

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Valle de Cocora

LW and decorated "Willy" jeep (a traditional form of tourist transport)

A primary "tourist" destination for Columbians and foreigners alike was the historic town of Salento and the nearby Valle de Cocora.

It made for some great hiking.

View from Los Montanas pass

Valley view

Looking down the valley

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Wonderful tropical fruits

One of the delights of traveling in tropical America (especially Colombia) is all of the amazing fruits.  Mango, papaya, bananas, and pineapple were regulars on our breakfast plates.

A diversity of tropical fruits (from Uncover Colombia)

But maracuya (passion fruit), mora (blackberry), guanabaya, uchuva, guava, as well as a variety of citrus fruits, and grapes (a native grape something like concord grapes, as well as imported) were available as well.

Pears and apples made an appearance with street vendors (perhaps a holiday treat?)

Fresh juices in Colombia were always available (from breakfast to dinner), whether at a restaurant or on the street.  Hubby loved them.  They're not sweet, at all.

They're simply fruit pulp (of whatever sort), blended with water or milk (with ice, at times), to make a refreshing drink.  Nothing like our fruit drinks or smoothies at home in North America, as they're not sweetened.  Remarkably, frozen fruit pulp (mango, maracuya, and guavabuana) has made it to the frozen fruit section in one of our local supermarkets (catering to Latin American tastes).  It'll be fun to try them!

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Traveling in Colombia

Wax palms (Colombia's national tree) in the Valley of Cocora

Google thought it was "suspicious" that I wanted to sign into my blog account in Colombia.  Hmm. 

And the only way to verify my identity was to receive a text message on my cell phone (which didn't work in Colombia) or answer a series of largely (unanswerable) questions about my various Google accounts and when they'd started  (how are you supposed to remember the date of when you signed up for Google Calendar?)

So posts weren't going to happen while we were traveling!  So there's been a lapse in posting...

LW with a favorite activity (map reading!)

But, we had a wonderful time for the three weeks we were there, discovering some of the natural and cultural diversity of Colombia -- a fabulous destination (and totally safe and easy for traveling, too).

There are more posts to come, along with musings about gardening, too.  The deep freeze that we're currently experiencing makes me feel better about NOT having worried too much about planting extra greens (unprotected) or about the herbivores (woodchucks and deer) that were yumming up everything in the fall.

Fences and barriers are on my radar for winter and spring plantings, that's for sure (after the soil thaws out enough to sow early winter greens!)

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Green gardening DOES matter

A bluebird at sunrise in my yard.
Bluebirds are important bug predators in the ecosystem.

At the beginning of a new year, there are many speculations on what might happen and to-do lists of what you could do to improve your own situation.  Normally, I shy away from making such proclamations, but this year I decided to make a short list on what gardeners could do to improve the planet and encourage wildlife.

One of the reasons for my making this list is learning that it takes 17 repetitions for most people to fully understand a new idea and commit it to their immediate recall memory banks. Even though I've been writing about green gardening for ten years at this point, there are still people who have not heard enough about Doug Tallamy and his research showing that even small patches of native plants have a positive impact on birds, insects, and other members of the local ecosystems.

So I wrote 6 easy steps to support wildlife in 2014 over on the Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens blog to show some examples of things and normal people can accomplish and how these projects will improve the planet.  As I reminded readers, There is no Planet B. 

A burmarigold (Bidens laevis) blooming on Jan 5 in a
wet roadside ditch in Clay County FL.

Winter in Florida

It's been pretty cold and windy here in north Florida, but yesterday it was in the mid-seventies and quite pleasant.  The cold is returning as I write this and tonight we'll probably experience a killing frost, but it won't last long.  Our landscape of mostly native plants will be fine, although I will harvest all of my sugar snap peas today and cover the vines with a blanket. They are close to the house, where it's a little warmer anyway, but I'll take the precaution so we can continue our harvest deeper into the winter.

I feel for my friends in the more northerly climes and the polar vortex that they have suffered through. They will continue to freeze their butts off as Mother Nature continues her rampage, but this doesn't mean that global warming is a hoax.

Plants don't lie

Even though climate change doubters are using this cold snap as proof of their politically-motivated beliefs, plants don't have a political agenda and they don't lie. As an example of what happens as a result of fewer cold snaps, mangroves have been moving northward as seen in progressive satellite images over the years. See this Science Daily story With Few Hard Frosts, Tropical Mangroves Push North,  Slate's article Winter does Not Disprove Global Warming and How global warming can make cold snaps even worse, as posted in Quartz.

Happy New Year!

I wish you a happy and prosperous 2014 that's filled with adventures that allow you to enjoy nature at its best.  Also, I'd love to hear what you are doing to enhance your yard to benefit wildlife.

Green Gardening Matters,
Ginny Stibolt

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