Today we traveled to Monteverde. Where we met Jerson and Don Guillermo. They run a farm and educational plant on Monteverde. They help educate really smart and humble students, like me. 

We took a tour with Jerson, where he told us all about the challenges farmers like him face. One major challenge is climate change. This is because a destructive fungus grows in warmer climates. 

Another challenge is trying to make their operation more sustainable. Even though it is expensive they would like to make as little impact on the earth as possible. To facilitate this they use many innovative ideas.

For one they make their own compost. Using the leftovers from the coffee processing and animal feces. Now that just sounds like normal composting but they also add lots of microorganisms to help neutralize the odor and make the soil even better (The compost may or may not look like steak depending who you ask). They also use methane to help power their kitchens. By using the poo of the pigs, they can create methane gas, that they can then burn to boil water. This is only slightly more efficient than using my mixed tape. All of these things help make their farm sustainable. 

I hope to learn about the struggles to be sustainable in Costa Rica as time goes on.