Fuego de April

So we had a little kick off for the fool moon. It is cashew season, and our tree did us right this year.Have you ever danced by the fuego of the cashew?

cuatro minutos antes

and introducing....

Elle

Elle has been around for the last few weeks, and due to her amazing nature, has now been adopted, and is now cared for, by the folks here at Montezuma gardens. Very sweet, a little bit naughty, but throughly nice, she has been getting the word out about our great little place here, and the care that they show to those in need, and so, now we have someone who has adopted us:

Deja

Who absolutely refuses to leave, even though she drives Jack crazy. They're getting used to each other, though, and i think she might just have our back. She definately took care of the cows that showed up while i was away in Panama, and kept them from "disturbing" our yard.

Well, if she wants to work, we want to take care of her.

Working in the Garden

What is life like in the Garden? Varied and various. We are always experimenting with our grand terrarium, and each day there are newborns and new visitors, and we try to find the best locale for each. Here are two new Morpho larve ready for their first meal.

And, someone looking for a buffet:

Not to be outdone by one of our little friends, here's Luke working all the angles for dinner....

It's been a full month, and we were blessed with two amazing women who stumbled upon us while trying to get away from a less pleasant volunteer situation, but they quickly fell in love with the garden and the butterflies, and as the feeling was mutual, worked and played hard to keep everyone cared for and happy. Here is Elizabeth collecting Parides eggs:

All things change, and new adventures are just around the bend, but that won't stop Jack from doing his puppy dog best to keep you here as long as possible.


Photos in this post courtesy of Danielle Colvin

Pura vida

A weekend afternoon....... Just cause I can.

Summer flowers in the Garden

An adrenal rush to keep things active on a hot day.

"town"

New Butterflies

We have some new guests in the Garden:

The Caligo, or owl butterfly, is an enormous beauty, but considered a pest by banana farmers, because of their immense appetite:

They are rather quick on the wing, so here is one under glass:

And, we just recieved another zippy little Dryadula, who loves to hang out under our lemon tree

Work Stays

This is our Lab, where we raise the morphos, mural courtesy of Nasa.
This is our work stay room, with it's own bathroom and shower, and quite the deal for 250 a month, with breakfast and lunch for 20 hours of work a week. As a shameless plug, those who are interested can email josh@montezumagardens.com

The butterflies

This is our mascot, the blue morpho, who was kind enough to spread his wings and let us have a close up shot on one of our plantanos.







Keep yours eyes peeled because you never know what you will find in the garden:


The final instar of the Morpho

The Morpho Pupa

The Parides mating (male on the bottom)

Our Heliconiinae

Life out in the Garden

This is the entrance to the garden as of January of 2007, while we still have a long way to go, we sure have come a long way, baby. Mainly we go out on a day of discovery every day, reaping what we have sown, and getting to know the friends in the area who also enjoy our little slice of butterfly filled bosque

Daniel with his Motmot friend

Daniel has been with us for the longest, now, and due to his love, our garden has grown immeasurably