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San
José, Costa Rica, Monday, Dec. 21, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 251
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Costa Rica
freezes Cuban migrant influx
By the A.M. Cuba staff*
Costa Rica has closed its southern border to Cuban migrants after a failure Friday to develop what the foreign minister called an integrated regional solution to the situation. The foreign minister, Manuel González, and President Luis Guillermo Solís returned unhappy from a regional meeting in El Salvador Friday afternoon. At a press conference Friday evening, González recounted the history of the government involvement in the Cuban migration. That started when investigators broke up a human trafficking ring composed of Costa Ricans Nov. 10. With the trafficking network rolled up, Cubans began to gather at the southern border, and Costa Rica agreed to provide them with seven-day visas. When Nicaragua quickly closed its border to the migrants, the Cubans were trapped in Costa Rica. Since then, what is now estimated to be about 6,000 migrants have been in the care of the government. Most of the migrants are in temporary government shelters near the Nicaraguan border. Solís and González returned to Costa Rica unhappy because countries involved in the Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana declined to address the problem at a meeting of heads of state. Solís said that he insisted at the summit meeting of Central American presidents that a humanitarian accord be found for the migrants. Because the proposal was not accepted he said both he and González left the meeting. Sources in El Salvador said that Costa Rica was pulling out of the organization in protest. Casa Presidencial explained later that the withdrawal only involved the political aspects of the regional organization and not the commercial, economic or technical. Casa Presidencial quoted Solís as saying he urged Cubans to decline to try to enter Costa Rica, and any that do illegally will be deported immediately back to Cuba. González pointed out that Guatemala and Belize already declined to participate in an air bridge to bring the migrants closer to the destination in the United States where they would benefit form a special 1966 Cold War-era immigration law. Cuban officials are asking the United States to change the law that provides residency to fleeing Cubans. The number of Cubans in Panamá at Costa Rica's southern border is believed to be much fewer since Ecuador instituted visa requirements for the island residents. The migrants flew to Ecuador to begin their overland trek that has now ended up in Costa Rica. Another meeting of technicians of the regional is scheduled for today. *This article first appeared in A.M. Cuba Friday evening. Offshore quakes report near Jacó, Quepos By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A 4.4-magnitude quake took place off Jacó at 6:49 p.m. Sunday, said the Red Sismológica Nacional. There also was a 4.3 quake in the same area at 11:31 p.m. and a smaller 2.5-magnitude aftershock there at 1:01 a.m. today. The Laboratorio de Ingeniería Sísmica at the Universidad de Costa Rica estimated the 6:49 p.m. quake at 4.2 magnitude. The locations were some 14 to 20 kilometers southwest of Jacó in the open ocean. That area contains local faults and also is subject to subduction quakes. There also was a 4.6-magnitude quake at 9:20 p.m. 78 kilometers south of Quepos, also in the open ocean, said the Red Sismológica Nacional. Money approved to move Canal 13 tower By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The legislature has passed a budget adjustment that contains a provision for the state radio and television system to move its transmission tower. The tower is in jeopardy from a landslide and possible future activity by the Volcán Irazú, which is east of the central canton of San José. The state system is the Sistema Nacional de Radio y Televisión, which issued an unusually candid appeal last week. It said that unless the transmission tower money were approved, it would be off the air for a year. In addition, the system said it did not have the funds to pay salaries or the mandatory Christmas bonus. The transmission tower handles the signals of both Canal 13 and Radio Nacional. Moving the transmitter was recommended by the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias after an Irazú landslide a year ago. A number of other firms already have moved their transmitters, including Radio Partes S.A., Canal 23, Radio Rumbo, Sinfonola, Prisa Radio, Extra TV, Radio Columbia, Faro del Caribe and Canal 50, said the system. Radio Nacional broadcasts on 101.5 FM. Costa Rica in accord with Pope Francis By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Officials said they appreciated a comment by Pope Francis Sunday in which the head of the Roman Catholic Church spoke of efforts to repair strained relations between Nicaragua and Costa Rica, in light of an International Court of Justice decision Wednesday. Vatican Radio quoted the pope as saying “I hope that a renewed spirit of fraternity will further strengthen the dialogue and mutual cooperation,” between the two countries and throughout the whole region. The pope spoke to those gathered beneath the window of the papal apartments in Vatican City. Vatican Radio said he appealed for peace in Syria, calling on the international community to realize in concrete action the endorsement of a U.N.-sponsored roadmap toward peace in the war-torn nation. He also expressed hope for a national unity government in Libya, said the Vatican. Casa Presidencial quickly issued a two-paragraph statement echoing the pope's sentiments on relations with Nicaragua. |
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Dec. 21, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 251 | |
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| Slight jump in the value of U.S. dollar captures attention
of expats |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Expats and others who receive their income in U.S. dollars will be focusing on the daily money market today. The price of the U.S. dollar jumped two colons Saturday, in part because of the announcement by the U.S. Federal Reserve that the prime rate would go up a quarter of a point. The decision Wednesday caused some impact all over the world. The Fed cut the rates to a record low range between zero and a quarter of a percent during the 2008 financial crisis in a bid to support economic growth, according to wire service reports. Many expats and importers have been unhappy for the last |
year
because
the colon has been held at an artificially low rate while the dollar
has increased against other world currencies. The Sunday quote at the Banco Central de Costa Rica was 528 colons to sell dollars and 540 colons to buy. That was two colons higher than Friday. In March 2014 the exchange rate was 557.62/572.44 Costa Rica has benefited from a cheap dollar because nearly all its international debts are denominated in the U.S. currency. The public has been barred from the Monex daily money market where dollars are bought and sold. Only banks are able to participate now. |
| Two lawyers sentenced to prison terms in separate cases |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Thursday was a bad day for two lawyers. In the Tribunal Penal de Pérez Zeledón Thursday one lawyer got seven years and six months for illegally exercising the profession while he was suspended from the Colegio de Abogados. In the I Circuito Judicial Tribunal Penal de San José another lawyer got 10 years for attempting to introduce cocaine into the San Sebastián lockup. The case in Pérez Zeledón involved Edgar Prendas Matarrita, who had been suspended by the colegio. He also was charged with fraud and falsification of documents. |
He was
accused of working as a lawyer from 2010 to 2013 while suspended. In San José, the accused was Willy Ruíz González, the former president of the Asociación de Estudiantes de Derecho of the Universidad de Costa Rica, said the Poder Judicial. The allegation was that July 10 a prison guard spotted Ruiz attempting to give a jailed client a small package that contained cocaine. The Poder Judicial said that the lawyer represented the prisoner in court and the meeting was a routine one. Both lawyers were ordered to be jailed for preventative detention while the sentences are reviewed. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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be
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Dec. 21, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 251 |
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| Researcher finds that coffee rivals caffeine in improving
endurance |
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By the University of Georgia news
staff
The caffeine in a morning cup of coffee could help improve athletic endurance, according to a new University of Georgia review study. Authored by Simon Higgins, a third-year doctoral student in kinesiology in the College of Education, the study was published in this month's issue of the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. To research the issue, Higgins reviewed more than 600 scholarly articles and screened them for those that focused only on caffeinated-coffee conditions, measured the caffeine dose and measured an endurance performance. Of these, nine randomized control trials specifically used coffee to improve endurance. "Previous research has focused on caffeine itself as an aid to improve endurance," Higgins said. "Coffee is a popular source of caffeine, so this paper looked at the research surrounding its ergogenic benefits." Looking at the nine trials, Higgins found that between 3 and 7 milligrams per kilogram of body weight of caffeine from coffee increased endurance performance by an average of 24 percent. The amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee can vary from 75 mg to more than 150, depending on the variety and how it's roasted and brewed. "This is helpful for athletes because coffee is a naturally occurring compound," Higgins said. "There's the potential that getting your caffeine by drinking coffee has similar endurance benefits as taking caffeine pills." In the nine trials, participants either cycled or ran after |
drinking
coffee. They then exercised vigorously and the results were
measured. In a majority of cases, endurance was noticeably improved
after the use of coffee. When researching the effects of caffeine from coffee, Higgins found two important discoveries: that caffeine from coffee has ergogenic benefits, that it enhances physical performance, and that more research is needed on the use of caffeine from coffee versus pure caffeine use. "While there is a lack of high-quality research on coffee as a source of caffeine, there is an abundance of research on pure caffeine," he said. "It's surprising how little we know about caffeine from coffee when its endurance effects could be just as beneficial as pure caffeine." Higgins said that coffee shouldn't be dismissed as less beneficial for endurance. He found that coffee appears to be just as helpful as taking caffeine in the form of powder or tablets. "There's a perception that coffee won't give you the same benefits as pure caffeine," he said. "New research could mean that athletes could have a cup of coffee versus taking a pill." Higgins says that more research is needed before giving official recommendations to athletes, especially since the amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee can vary depending on how it's prepared. "There is a caveat to athletes using coffee: Be careful because you don't know how much caffeine is in some coffee, especially when it's prepared by someone else," he said. "Athletes should run their caffeine use through their sports dietician as the NCAA lists it as a banned substance." |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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Colorado
S.A. 2015 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
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A.M. Costa Rica's
Fifth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Dec. 21, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 251 | |||||||
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| Iran unhappy with visa law and plans an official protest By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Iran is complaining that new U.S. travel restrictions on four countries, including Iran, violate the nuclear deal with six world powers. "This law certainly affects economic, tourist, scientific and cultural exchanges with Iran, and it contravenes the nuclear deal," deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday. The restrictions are part of the new federal spending bill President Barack Obama signed Friday. Visitors from 38 countries whose citizens do not need visas to come to the United States will now have to get one if they are also duel citizens from Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Sudan, four nations the U.S. says are known to have sponsored terrorism. They will also need visas if they have traveled to those countries in the past five years. Araghchi said Iran plans to take up the matter with the commission overseeing implementation of the nuclear agreement. Under the deal restricting Iranian nuclear activity, the United States is not to interfere with any trade or economic activity that could lead to normalized relations with Iran. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a letter to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that the United States will fully adhere to its commitments under the nuclear deal. He also reminded Zarif that the White House has the authority to waive provisions of the new visa law. Obama outlines his plans for the final year in office By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
President Barack Obama laid the groundwork Friday for his last year in office, vowing not to fade into the background but instead to leave it all out on the field in 2016. During a wide-ranging year-end news conference, Obama touted big wins for his administration, citing job growth, diplomacy with Iran and Cuba, the passage of significant climate and Asia-Pacific trade deals, a Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage and a congressional rewrite of the No Child Left Behind law. He also noted that nearly 6 million people have been able to sign up for coverage under his health care law so far this year. However, the president also said several challenges remained, the main one being the growing threat of the Islamic State group and the possibility of lone-wolf terror attacks at home, like the recent mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. Obama stressed the need to remain vigilant in the United States even as his administration works with the international community to squeeze the Islamic State. "Squeezing ISIL's heart, its core in Syria and Iraq, will make it harder for them to pump their terror and propaganda to the rest of the world," Obama said, using an acronym for the militant Islamist group. “Now, they are going to continue to be dangerous,” he added. "All of us can do our part by staying vigilant, by saying something if we see something that is suspicious, by refusing to be terrorized and by staying united as one American family." But analyst Anthony Cordesman with the Central for Strategic & International Studies does not foresee improvement in 2016. “We’re talking about a series of wars and violent movements throughout much of the Islamic world. Even if we could defeat ISIS tomorrow, by all the stats we have on terrorism, at least two-thirds of that volume of terrorism would go on because it’s driven by other movements,” he said, using another Islamic State acronym. Amid widespread fears about terrorism and extremists, Obama pushed back against critics questioning his strategy for overcoming the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. "There's only so much bombing you can do," he said. However, he said, "We're going to defeat ISIS, and we're going to do so by systematically squeezing them, cutting off their supply lines, cutting off their financing, taking out their leadership, taking out their forces, taking out their infrastructure." Thursday, U.S. lawmakers criticized the visa review process for people seeking to enter the United States. Obama said Friday that law enforcement and intelligence officials were looking for ways to better monitor the public communication of suspected terrorists. He said he thought the U.S. had struck the right balance in protecting civil liberties while ensuring Americans' safety. But he also warned that there were limits to what law enforcement could do. No government is going to have the ability to "read every person's text or email or social media, if it's not posted publicly," Obama said. Regarding the Syrian conflict, Obama said President Bashar al-Assad "is going to have to leave in order for the country to stop the bloodletting and for all the parties involved to be able to move forward in a nonsectarian way." "He has lost legitimacy in the eyes of a large majority of the country," the president said of Assad. Obama reaffirmed his determination to work with Congress to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba. "Guantanamo continues to be one of the key magnets for jihadi recruitment," Obama said, leaving the door open to closing the military prison by decree as a last resort. He said the center's population would be below 100 by early next year. The end of 2015 will mark a major transition point for Obama, who has one year left to try to complete any unfinished projects. With America facing a general election in 2016, in which candidates are elected in all or most constituencies of a nation or state, Obama is unlikely to roll out any sweeping new policy proposals. Earlier Friday, Obama pardoned two people and commuted the sentences of 95 others in an end of year act of executive power, the White House announced. Almost all of those receiving commuted sentences were nonviolent drug offenders. Many were convicted of distributing or possessing cocaine or crack-cocaine. The commutations, the most Obama has issued at one time, aim to build momentum for the president's broader push on criminal justice reform. The White House has been working with lawmakers from both parties in an effort to overhaul U.S. sentencing. Some 14 of Obama's nominations for top foreign policy posts and ambassadorships were left on the cutting room floor when the Senate failed to vote on them before closing its business for the year. Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican who is running for the GOP presidential nomination, has placed a blanket hold on all Obama political appointees to the State Department over what he called the catastrophic Iranian nuclear deal. Friday's inaction means Obama will have to resubmit the nominations after the first of the year. Democratic candidates agree on economy and Islamic State By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The Democratic presidential candidates said in their final debate of the year Saturday they are focused on the U.S. economy and defeating the Islamic State group as their top priorities. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said the United States cannot be thought of as the police of the world and that the fight against Islamic State needs a coalition that includes Russia and Muslim troops from the region. “My plan is to make it work, to tell Saudi Arabia that instead of going to war in Yemen, they, one of the wealthiest countries on Earth, are going to have to go to war against ISIS. To tell Qatar that instead of spending $200 billion on the World Cup maybe they should pay attention to ISIS, which is at their doorstep.” Former secretary of State Hillary Clinton also supports a coalition effort, and said there is a need for support from Sunni and Kurdish forces. She said it would be a strategic mistake to send U.S. ground troops back to the region, as "that's exactly what the militants want to see." The third candidate, former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley, highlighted the need to form new alliances for modern threats, and pointed to the work the African Union has done in Somalia. Mrs. Clinton, a frequent target of attacks by Republicans in their debates, called Republican front-runner Donald Trump the best recruiter for the Islamic State group. She said responding to terror threats with bigotry is not in the country's best interest. She said it is important to make sure Muslims do not feel marginalized at a time when the U.S. needs them most and invoked the lessons learned in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. “One of the best things that was done, and George W. Bush did this and I give him credit, was to reach out to Muslim Americans and say we’re in this together, you are not our adversary, you are our partners. And we also need to make sure that the really discriminatory messages that Trump is sending around the world don’t fall on receptive ears." She also said there is a need for increased vetting of refugees seeking to enter the United States, while O'Malley said if the refugee crisis gets worse, the United States should be accepting even more. Both Sanders and O'Malley advocated breaking up the nation's largest banks, saying they play a negative role in the nation's economy. Sanders, who prides himself on raising money from individuals instead of large corporate entities, said there is a need to deal with the "recklessness and illegal behavior" on Wall Street and to raise the country's minimum wage. Mrs. Clinton, too, said wages need to rise and that people need to feel like their hard work is being rewarded instead of feeling like the economic system is rigged. She also said she wants to build on the success of President Barack Obama's healthcare initiative, but that there is not enough competition or oversight of health insurance companies, and costs have gone up too much. Sanders advocated a universal healthcare system, citing higher per-person costs than places like Britain and France. He also accused drug companies of bribing Congress. The issue of gun control brought passionate responses from all three candidates, with O'Malley attacking Sanders' record and branding Mrs. Clinton as inconsistent in her views. Mrs. Clinton said she agrees on the need for common sense gun measures, and that Republicans will not admit a problem even exists. Sanders said nothing will be accomplished unless there is a consensus, and that he has stood up to the pro-gun lobby. Sanders was asked first to address the breach of a key Clinton voter database by a member of his staff, and apologized to her. She accepted the apology and said it was important to move forward. O'Malley, too, said there are bigger issues and the related bickering is the kind of distraction that plagues government. Late Friday, Sanders filed a federal lawsuit aimed at forcing the Democratic National Committee to restore its voter database access, which the committee had suspended after Sanders' workers improperly viewed proprietary information belonging to the Clinton campaign. As the feud erupted, the Sanders' camp acknowledged the breach and called its campaign staffer's role in it unacceptable. The staffer was later fired. Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon said the Sanders campaign had conducted 25 searches of proprietary information in a 50-state data base, after a committee digital firewall separating Clinton and Sanders accounts was breached. He also accused the Sanders staff of saving the Clinton data. However, the Democratic National Committee later agreed to restore Sanders' access to his campaign's data, after it said the Sanders camp had provided an accounting of how the Clinton information was used and whether it was disposed of. The squabble thrust into the open long-standing suspicions expressed by Sanders and his supporters that the national party is unfairly working to support Mrs. Clinton's candidacy. Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver pointed to the party's limited number of debates at low-viewership periods, like Saturday nights, as another example. With just six weeks before the Iowa caucuses, the first voting in the presidential candidate selection process, analysts largely agree that Sanders, who trails Mrs. Clinton by nearly 20 percentage points in voter surveys, must find ways to highlight his goals. But he must do so without antagonizing supporters of Mrs. Clinton, who is deeply popular across wide sectors of her party. Ahead of the debate in the northeastern state of New Hampshire, national polls indicate Mrs. Clinton leads Sanders by more than 20 points, with a slightly smaller margin in Iowa where voters will first have their say in the race Feb. 1. Sanders had a small lead in polls in New Hampshire, which votes Feb. 9. O'Malley has single-digit support in all of the polls. Sanders most likely needs a win in both states to mount a serious challenge to Mrs. Clinton, who will be heavily favored in the next state contests in Nevada and South Carolina, and in a Super Tuesday round of voting in 11 states March 1. Fact checkers cite errors by Democratic candidates By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Political fact checkers are debunking some of the claims by the three 2016 Democratic presidential contenders at their latest debate. The Washington Post, The New York Times, Politico and Politifact all said there is no evidence for the claim made Saturday by the party's frontrunner, former secretary of State Hillary Clinton, that the Islamic State group is showing videos of the leading Republican candidate, billionaire real estate tycoon Donald Trump, "insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists." The Post said Trump's anti-Muslim rhetoric has been referenced by Islamic State recruiters in social media, but analysts who monitor the jihadist group have not turned up any videos. "She just made it up," Trump said of the Clinton claim on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. Politico also disputed the claims by Mrs. Clinton that only 3 percent of her campaign donations have come from wealthy people "in the finance and investment world," saying the figure is about twice that, including money contributed directly to her campaign and an independent group supporting her bid to succeed President Barack Obama when he leaves office in January 2017. Politico noted that one of Mrs. Clinton's Democratic opponents, former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley, was wrong when he cited U.S. difficulties in Iraq and Syria, "where we've involved ourselves in toppling dictators without having any idea what comes next." Politico said that "is certainly true in Iraq," after the fall of Saddam Hussein, but "quite the opposite in Syria," where President Bashar al-Assad remains in power in the midst of a years-long civil war defending his regime. The Post questioned the claim by the third candidate seeking the party's presidential nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, that female workers in the United States are paid only 79 cents out of $1 compared to men. The newspaper said the 21-cent gap is accurate when compared on an annual basis, but that it is less than that when comparing weekly or hourly wages, and comparisons made more difficult by life choices men and women make in the United States, such as women tending to leave the work force when they have children. U.S. political surveys show Mrs. Clinton, Obama's top diplomat from 2009 to 2013, with a commanding lead in the race for the Democratic nomination. The surveys show Trump is outdistancing a large field of Republican candidates, with Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida his closest competitors. Spain's conservatives win but fail to achieve majority By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Spain's ruling conservative party won the most votes in Sunday's parliamentary polls, but a strong showing from two new opposition parties nonetheless threatens its grip on power. With nearly all votes counted, the conservative Partido Popular of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was winning 121 seats in the 350-member parliament, a tally far below the 186 majority it now holds. Rajoy's seeming natural ally, the new, business-friendly Ciudadanos party, was set to win 40. The same tallies show a bloc of leftist parties, including Socialists, the anti-austerity Podemos party, a former Communist party and two smaller groupings would jointly hold 175 seats. With several coalition scenarios possible, analysts say it may well take weeks or longer for negotiators to settle on what kind of alliance will rule Spain. But as the last votes were being tallied early Monday, it became increasingly clear that the days of Spain's traditional two-party dominance of political life is at least temporarily at an end. "Spain has changed," jubilant senior Podemos leader Inigo Errejon told reporters. "Many people have lost their confidence in traditional parties. The two-party system has ended." In pre-election surveys, Podemos was shown steadily gaining on the two major parties, providing evidence that the Spanish electorate had grown weary of traditional party rule. Earlier Sunday, Prime Minister Rajoy voted in a suburb of Madrid, telling reporters he was confident "people will choose what they think is best for their country." Rajoy's conservatives are seeking a second term, after a landslide win over the Socialists in 2011. Voters in Slovenia veto legalizing same-sex marriage By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Voters in Slovenia decided not to join many of their European Union partners Sunday by rejecting legalized gay marriage. Sixty-three percent voted against in a referendum defining marriage as a union between two adults, not necessarily a man and woman. Thirty-six percent voted yes. Slovenia's parliament approved a pro-gay marriage bill earlier this year but a group of conservatives gathered enough signatures to put the question to voters. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The
contents of this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río
Colorado S.A. 2015 and may not be reproduced anywhere without
permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Dec. 21, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 251 | |||||||||
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Patience is the key to compost success
Did you ever get pig-headed about something? (And don’t say, “no” because nobody is going to believe that.) I have been very pig-headed about my compost. I always do what I
That’s what I thought until I saw my friend’s garden. She takes her kitchen waste and buries it directly in the garden soil or one of her fallow elevated beds where it is quickly worked on by worms, bugs, and beetles. Her soil is ready for planting long before I am ready to use my compost. Dang, I have to change my ways. So that’s what I did this morning, I changed my ways. There was a big bag of veggie scraps in the refrigerator so I took them down and buried them in the garden beds. Unlike Shirley, though, I covered the bed with black plastic and weighted it down. This, I think, will hasten the composting process and make the soil available sooner, a good thing. With any luck, it will also inhibit weeds and their seeds, another good thing. But what about those clippings and leaves? We still have to go through the process of mixing them with manure and letting them mature, for nothing else than to kill the weed seeds and soften the nutrient content of the manure. This is especially important now that I will be using horse manure instead of cow manure. The difference? Cows double chew the grass so the end product is a better quality. Ah well, patience is a virtue in a gardener. But that gives rise to an impatient thought: Perhaps mixing the clippings with the manure then putting it directly on the garden beds and covering it all with black plastic would also work. Anyway, I have given up my pig-headed idea that what I learned from mom had to be right. Now I think that Shirley has the right answer. Time will tell, but I wonder what else I was taught was wrong. Since this is the tropics and not New Jersey, I probably still have a lot of learning to do. How about you?  Plant of the Week
First, many thanks to the people who wrote in to identify
last
week’s orchid. There are two names in contention (epidendrum eburneum and brassavola perrinii) and they are
such similar orchids that it is hard to determine who is correct. Here is a lovely little fairy lily (Zephyranthes) which grows from a bulb. The flower is about 25 centimeters (10 inches) tall and unscented but so far it has re-bloomed four or five times a year. Great for borders and full sun. Divide as necessary for more blossoms. If you would like to suggest a topic for this column, simply send a letter to the editor. And, for more garden tips, visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arenal-Gardeners/413220712106845 |
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