The Green Advantage

Invest in your future, then invest in your world.^TM

FIRST PLANTING COMPLETED

The 4,200 trees that were planned for the first year are in the ground. This  includes our trees and those owned by our participants.The species and quantities planted are 2,400 teak, 320 mahogany (caoba), 320 Spanish cedar, and 1160 surá. The seedlings were about 4 inches (10 cm) high when planted in July and August. Here is a photo of a 4" seedling as it was when planted.

And here’s one of the trees after 1 week. It has already put on another tier of leaves and is now 8" tall. It was amazing to watch the plants grow almost before your eyes.  When we mentioned the growth to Antonio, he was impressed that there was no transplant shock, but that the trees immediately started growing.  Normally, the first week the trees become a little yellow as they try to get used to growing outdoors, but because of the care given by Hector and the work crew and the quality of the soil, the trees just took off.  This bodes well for the future growth of the trees.

Expert Help Makes All the Difference

Much of our success is due to Antonio Rodriguez, our forestry engineer.  Antonio has 20 years' experience in forestry and has been overseeing teak plantations and multispecies plantations for more than 7 years.  When we contacted MINAE, they were very impressed that Antonio was working for us.  Much of the success we are having is due to his knowledge and Hector's diligence.

TREES KNEE-HIGH IN 2 MONTHS

Our partner and plantation manager, Hector Ramirez, is a trusted source of information about the area he grew up in. Mentored from childhood about the soil, climate, and growing conditions around Monterrey de San Carlos, he can still be impressed with the growth produced by  the combination of volcanic soil and tropical climate. No one was more amazed than he to find himself in early September walking through fields of young trees that came up to his knees—trees that we just planted in July.Hector reports that not only are the trees growing well upward, but the teak leaves are getting very large, and the foliage on all of the varieties is very healthy.

Hector has been doing an excellent job taking care of the finca.  We bought the finca we did because it was in such good shape, and with Hector's management, it is now even better.  The best thing is that he is always one or two steps ahead of us on the tasks that need to be done on the plantation.  He and Antonio talk frequently about the needs of the trees, and Hector always sees that the necessary work is done and done correctly.  He always makes sure that the workers know how to do the job before he goes off to do many of the other responsibilities that he has.

FINCA LEOLA IS NOW ON THE WEB!

We have set up a website and e-mail accounts under the domain of fincaleola.com. If you are a tree owner and would like a free e-mail account with us, please let us know. It is limited to the first 900!