Hello!
I've just joined the list. I'm a raw beginner who got into orchids in
a very big way almost overnight. Over the years I've owned a few
orchids: some cattleyas, cimbidiums, dendrobiums, phalenopsis,
oncidium, and a couple of others. I fed them and took care of them,
but never did any real investigation and learning other than buying a
couple of popular, beginner-type books to help me keep them alive and
flowering.
opossums
In 2000 I retired and my wife and I left California where we had been
living and moved to Costa Rica where we've been ever since. When we
left the States, I gave my small collection of about 15 orchids to a
friend. Then here in Costa Rica, as strange as it might seem, we
hadn't bought any orchids. However, our farm here, which is about 25
acres, has loads of wild orchids growing on many of our trees and we
walk the property and visit the trees where we know there are
orchids. This has been a very pleasant part of our stay.
Then, about a week or 10 days ago, one of my Costa Rican friends told
me that his mother, who has been collecting and raising orchids for
about 20 years, felt that she just wasn't up to taking care of the
approximately 250 orchids she had. He asked whether I would be
interested in buying the collection. I was and I did. I now have
about 250 orchids and it looks as though I'm going to be spending a
great deal of time becoming proficient in the raising and care of
orchids. This is something I'm absolutely thrilled about. Obviously,
I have so much to learn that I could easily feel overwhelmed.
However, I've decided that I just have to take it one step at a time
and learn as I go. I know that I'll have a great number of questions
and am hoping that the folks on the orchid guide list won't think
it's too intrusive when I start asking.
Just as part of the introduction, I might add that most of my working
life I was a professor of Russian language and literature at the
University of Tennessee, Knoxville. I then spent several years before
retiring developing software. Currently I'm very occupied with
growing vegetables and fruits hydroponically here on our farm in CR.
My wife, Robin, practices animal rehabilitation. We have three dogs,
three horses, 6 bats (which can't be released), 7 guinea hens, and,
the latest, two orphaned grisons (in the weasel family), which Robin
is raising so that they can be released back into the wild. She has
raised and released many opossums as well.
Martin Rice
Santiago de Puriscal, Costa Rica
http://www.homeincostarica.net
BLOG: http://martinandrobinincostarica.blogs.com
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