Guarding Eden

The Lord God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden in order to have him work it and guard (or watch over) it.

Genesis 2:15 (ISV)

The other day I was thinking about getting a tattoo again, just like I do about once or twice a year before I talk myself out of it. I texted a local friend and asked if they would ever get one, to which they replied with a picture of a freshly done tattoo of the above verse in Latin. I was shocked by both the idea that I had texted him right when he got one, as well as the idea of this verse. Many people who quote Genesis talk about certain topics such as creation or the fall, or perhaps even the origins of marriage; however few ever discuss the mandate to work and guard the garden that they were placed in. In fact, most environmental activists tend to be spiritually fluid or resistant, while Christians are scarcely represented at the forefront of any environmental issue. Which made me begin to think: Why Not?

Dole packaging plant | Limon, Costa Rica

I have been immersed in the ideals of permaculture, compost, sustainable living, waste reduction, and organic farming for the past 7 months that I've been living and working at this farm/school in Costa Rica. I have learned more about the ways in which people used to be connected to their food and their environment, and how little sense there is in the way the modern world currently lives. The idea of permaculture is ironically not a novel one, but the very normal and sensible idea that we should grow things in the natural way that they were once grown. You look at what occurs in natural ecosystems, and you develop your farm like nature would naturally grow- with complementarity.

Urban Vertical Garden in the university district near UCR in San Jose

This means you don't fill hundreds of hectares with the same single crop, which depletes the soil, then add chemically enhanced dirt, which runs off into the water, then spray herbicides because the poor plant can't defend itself, which mixes into the water system (already depleted from the irrigation of the farm), then contaminating any local communities who let's be honest have previously spent their whole lives healthily in this place until now. It means maybe you grow several different crops which don't compete for resources and deplete the soil. It means maybe you rest the land a bit by rotating what grows there rather than exploiting it. Maybe you care about your neighbors who are also humans and can't drink flammable water. By the way, this is science, not opinion. It is literal fact, not hearsay. There is a town in Costa Rica where it is illegal for the residents to drink the contaminated water from their sinks, yet somehow still legal for industrial farms to use said chemicals that are contaminating the water sources.

Check out the following:


Article from The Guardian on Pineapple Production

Video from The Guardian, also on Pineapple Production

Article by The Washington Post on Monocrops

Article from National Geographic on Water Shortage in California (One of the largest Almond Producers)

There has been a movement, albeit small, amongt some of the members of our younger generations to effect changes like this. More sustainability majors, more presidential candidates and international leaders building their platforms on these issues, more efforts to educate and connect people back to their food. I have seen more and more movies come out contemplating the results of our direction: Rio, Wall-E, and Interstellar, just to name a few.

We used to look up at the sky and wonder at our place in the stars. Now we just look down, and worry about our place in the dirt. --Cooper, Interstellar

And why aren't we more concerned? Why aren't all of us absolutely freaking out that we might be losing very one chance we have at creating and sustaining the healthiest this modern industrialized world could ever be? Why are we not crawling over ourselves to plant urban gardens and sustainable farms and food networks that don't poison those around us? Why are we not urgently reaching out to the rural and starving regions of society to share what we have learned and put our love back into the dirt that made us?

Why have we forgotten that we were brought here to guard the garden, the one thing that can sustain us physically?

Maybe it's one of those things you have to see to believe. At the sustainability school I have been working with for the past year in Costa Rica, we work with students to create hands-on experiences that complement the classes they take. The orange and mango farm is Rainforest Alliance Certified, we compost our food waste, the students and staff make a conscious effort to reduce energy use and everyday waste. We recycle what we can, and even take students to the local recycling centers so that they see everything come full-circle as much as possible. One of the most impressionable things, however, is when we visit actual organic farms. The students and I get to tour, dig, eat, taste, touch, smell, and be a part of these little slices of family-owned, honest, hard-working paradises. And what an experience that is. I have learned so much from working with these people, these eager students, and these families and their love and appreciation they have developed from working with the land instead of against it. I didn't know anything about gardening before working here, but now I simple cannot ignore how important this it.

 At the end of every day on the farm, the family welcomes us back anytime to volunteer work on the farm. I am sure that they would love it if you came, too. Here are a few examples of farms we have visited in Costa Rica and if avaiable, information on how to contact or visit them.


El Progreso

Coconut drinks after a hot day of work under the sun

If there truly is a slice of Eden on Earth, this would be an exact replica. They started out 30 years ago as a typical dairy farm, but after getting sick from the typical agricultural chemicals from running the farm, they turned to organic and sustainable practices to sustain their family farm. They love their way of life, they love the land, and the farm is such a lush place full of life.

I do not have a link to a website for this farm because it is completely off the grid. In fact, they don't even have a connection to the city electricity or water companies, because they don't use it. However, if you are interested in working with them, please let me know and I can get you in contact with someone to make it happen.

Cacao fruit, the seeds of which are processed to make cocoa for chocolate

Students working to make efficient microorganisms, which involves using the leaf litter from the forest and the microorganisms that naturally break it down to help make a healthy compost

The grey water from the farm passes through this lush constructed wetland to filter the water

Finca Organica San Luis

View from the top of the hill overlooking the entire farm

If this is what being a vegetarian is like, sign me up. Not only did we plant our own crops, but we ate a completely organic, vegetarian lunch made from everything grown right there on the farm. And it was TO. DIE. FOR. The family owns and runs the farm. They talked to us about the difficulties of moving from a conventional way of farming to an organic method, the value but also the hard work. The father and original farmer ultimately made the decision nearly 20 years ago to switch to organic practices after falling very ill twice due to the chemicals that traditional farmers in the area use to protect their farms.

Students planting small cabbage leaflings

El Toledo Coffee Farm

Coffee plants in the rain

This is an organic coffee farm near Atenas, Costa Rica that I have visited at least 6 times and I love every visit. The family owned and operated the coffee farm in a conventional way for many years before the father become sick twice from the chemicals. Due to health hazards, they had to find solutions, therefore they began to operate in an organic and more sustainable way. As time went on, they changed their practices such as processing the coffee without huge hoards of water out of financial and resource necessity, whilst learning at the same time that these economic and health friendly initiatives have also proven to be more sustainable for their farm in the long term.

The son, Gabriel, speaks English well and tours are offered in afternoons at the link above. Their coffee and treats are absolutely delicious and is definitely worth a visit.

Roasted coffee beans on a counter

Coffee plants

Finca Orgánica La Nueva Era




This farm was neglected and long forgotten when neighbor Johnathan and his brother leased the land for a few years in the hopes to restore the land and see it thrive. Tucked away just outside of Atenas, Costa Rica, you can volunteer your work and stay on the farm to help rehabilitate this land while enjoying nature and a killer view.





What Can We Do At Home

Recycle! Plant your own herbs. Re-use things or donate them. Think about your impact of consumption, food waste, trash. Turn your lights off. Walk to the store. Ride your bike to work. There are a wide range of small personal choices you can make in your daily life that can be impactful on a small or a large scale. Many choices like that can help reduce the slow degradation of the Earth that we are facing.




Local Recycling Initiative in Atenas, Costa Rica