As we climbed up the tierra blanca (white land) of the Irazú volcano, passing the district where solo rosas (only roses) grow, we approached the “Rinconcito Orgánico Irazú.” Going off the main road we looked for a black and white gate that marked our entryway into the first organic farm founded north of Cartago (the original capital of Costa Rica). We were greeted by the smiling faces of Don Rodolfo (aka Tigre) and his son Juan Pablo. Rodolfo, in his characteristically cheerful manner, welcomed us blithely, exclaiming, “¡Qué linda la vida!” If there was ever a phrase that summed up our visit, that would have to be it.

Rodolfo and his wife, Hannia, have been longtime friends of ours at “El Trueque,” the organic farmer’s market that we shop at weekly for our urban institute. We had been wanting to visit their finca (farm) for a long time, but because of schedule conflicts, we had never been able to. The visit was well worth the wait and was incredible inspiration.

Rodolfo and Hannia’s story was actually a very interesting one, a real life example of Joseph Campbell’s famous maxim, “Follow your bliss.” Rodolfo was employed as a financial analyst for one of Costa Rica’s national banks. As the days slowly and tediously passed by, he recalled his work in college, researching and interviewing organic farmers, and all the joy that it brought him. One day, tired of his work and the lack of satisfaction it brought him in life, he quit his job, declaring, “I want to live with the hummingbirds, the bees, the trees, and dedicate my life to agriculture!”

It was no easy start for them. When they acquired their farm, they had no water, no phone—no luxuries of any kind. They couldn’t even imagine one day acquiring the status of organic farming. But they made do with what they had, received a little help from some friends, and today they have an extensive organic farm, hold workshops on organic farming, and are a living inspiration for others interested in organic agriculture.

In addition to their organic agricultural practices, they also manage their own personal seed bank, as a means of preserving high-quality, organic seed strains for the benefit of farmers throughout Costa Rica. They also make seeds available to anyone who needs them and encourage people to try and propagate the seeds themselves. The impressive seed bank, managed by Hannia, had its humble beginnings in Hannia’s kitchen, but soon grew to be far too large to be contained inside the house. Now, Rodolfo and Hannia propogate 80% of the seeds themselves to continue the collection and to add to the variety of crops they can make available to the public.

As demonstrated in their selfless seed bank project, Rodolfo and Hannia make it a point to share their information with those who are interested in organic farming. Rodolfo commented that one can go to workshops for years and not really learn that much important information; that people are prone to keep their secrets because of competition. But Rodolfo saw it differently: we’re all in this together, and we have to teach each other so that we can regain the knowledge that our culture has lost, so that we can live in abundance.

Rodolfo showed us around every part of their farm, from the devices they use to measure sunlight, to their highly advanced greenhouses, their soil preparations—even preparing lunch for us and serving us homemade cheese made from the milk of their singing cows! It was a beautiful experience with beautiful people. ¡Qué linda la vida!