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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] permaculture Digest, Vol 62, Issue 23

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  • From: Charles de Matas <cdematas@hotmail.com>
  • To: <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] permaculture Digest, Vol 62, Issue 23
  • Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:22:30 +0000


Dylan - Thanks for your message. What you and Christopher describe about the
Cabruca is very familiar. I just wasn't familiar with the name Cabruca. In
the old days that's how all coffee and cacoa was grown, under shade trees
like Immortelle (erythrina) and inga. These shade trees provided habitats
for many migratory species of birds. And it wasn't only coffee and cocoa
grown on the estates, there was always some interplanting of food crops like
bananas, yams, citrus. But people planting cocoa nowadays are mostly
planting high density monocultures.
The Immortelle trees have finished blooming now, but it was spectacular at
the beginning of the year. Even on steep slopes high on the mountains you
could see flowering trees. It shows that these slopes were once cultivated
and then later abandoned as fertility declined.
I haven't been to Asa Wright for a very long time. Nearer to where I live
there is another old cacao estate that's been turned into a tourist
attraction. When I visited there last year I was told that they were still
selling cocoa beans. The cocoa house there looks in a state of disrepair
though. They probably don't dry the cocoa beans themselves. Many farmers
sell their cocoa beans wet to processors who do the drying etc. My brother
has some cocoa trees on his land and he sometimes sells some beans wet. Yes,
the dancing of the cocoa was used in the old days, I think to polish the
beans. I don't think it's done much anymore except maybe to demonstrate to
or to entertain visitors.
You knew Eckelberry? Wow. His paintings of local birds are legendary.
When I was a child at school we used to collect copies of his local bird
paintings. We always treasured those paintings of his.
Good luck with your idea for president.

Charles.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<From: Dylan Ford
<dford@suffolk.lib.ny.us>Subject: Re: [permaculture] Coconuts &
permacultureCharles - You needn't go too far to see Cabruca style coffee and
cacaoproduction, or at least where it once flourished.Off the Blanchisseuse
Road, north of Arima is the Asa Wright Nature Centre,at one time a working
Coffee and Cacao Station, and now an Ecotourism Meccafor naturalists. It is a
great destination for a day-trip (I would call fordetails - it is quite
popular now) but if you get there early morning it iswonderful for
birdwatching even if you never leave the porch. It has a greatview down the
Arima Valley, and if you are there in the proper season youcan see the
Immortelle trees in bloom. These pink and reddish floweringtrees are native
to Trinidad and were widely planted, apparently wereconsidered the perfect
overstory tree for shadegrown coffee and cacao.I don't know if the Coffee and
cacao are still harvested there, but on myfirst visit there some thirty years
ago I heard great stories about partiesthat were held to "dance" the cacao. I
believe the pods were spread beneathboards and then well-lubricated employees
and guests would dance upon themall night to break the husks. The details
have faded from my well-lubricatedmind.The Immortelle trees at Asa Wright
also provide homes to colonies ofOropendulas, worth the trip themselves. I
was lucky enough to visit theCentre because a dear friend of mine, Norte
American wildlife artist andnaturalist Don Eckelberry was one of the main
driving forces behind buyingthis property and gifting it as "forever wild" in
perpetuity to the peopleof Trinidad & Tobago, who taught him so much about
how to live.I have had a brief but memorable love affair with Belize as well.
Ah, theone that got away. dylanDylan Ford is the author of the proposal at
www.ideaforpresident.com , awebsite devoted to an idea that could provide an
avenue to address pollutionissues, food safety, social justice, prison reform
and healthcare.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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