permaculture

[Charles de Matas <cdematas@hotmail.com>]

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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