Today we made our first trip to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica to see a Heart of Palms farm. We are able to see the contrasts between growing the plant and growing coffee beans on the three farms we have visited thus far. One of the noticeable differences was the altitude at which the plants were grown. The coffee beans were grown at higher altitude and the climate that comes with that. Differently the Heart of Palm is grown at lower altitudes in much more humid climate, which was easy to see the second we stepped off the bus and felt the difference in the air.

Comparing the Palmito with my group’s topic of making, we can see the challenges and opportunities that come with growing the tree. A big positive to the plant is the ability to grow year round and have the ability to harvest palmitos every day of the year. One challenge I saw with harvesting of the tree is the complication of chopping up the plant to get to the actual heart of the palm.

The most exciting part of the day is the soccer game that most of us are attending later this evening. It is the semifinals of the Costa Rican league and will be super cool to see the different environments, especially as someone who has been watching soccer their entire life and experienced it in England. This was one of my bucket items, so I am super excited to cross it off and watch a great day.