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A New Look for our Cottage named Wood

admin — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:47:52 +0000

WE recently added a new roof to one of our Blue Mountain cottages named “wood” at Lime Tree Farm, apart from looking more “Alpine” the new roof keeps the cottage cooler in the hot weather & stops the water soaking through the hurricane proof slab top during wet periods.
With over 1500 screws & bolts we’re hoping this roof can survive a hurricane – lets hope we don’t find out too soon as hurricane season is once more upon us with an estimate of 16 major storms this season in the Caribbean area.
Blog by Charlie

Before improvements

New Roof makes all the difference!

CORAL RELOCATION – Please excuse me from Lime Tree Farm, I’m busy!!

admin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:01:25 +0000

Well it’s 2010, we had a BLUE MOON on new years eve, first time in donkeys years, pity is I wasn’t at Lime Tree Farm to enjoy it.
I’m in Falmouth – no not Cornwall but Jamaica trying desperately to move 25 acres of living coral before a huge cutter dredger arrives in Feb. to cut out a channel through one of Jamaica’s richest coral reefs for Royal Caribbean’s new state of the art cruise ship terminal on Jamaica’s north coast.
Environmentally this doesn’t sound to sound an idea but economically Jamaica cannot afford to turn this project away, even so NEPA – Jamaica’s National Environmental Protection Agency have demanded, quite rightly that the reef be moved rather destroyed & the Jamaican Government through the Port Authority of Jamaica have undertaken the biggest Coral Relocation in history – by far – who said developing nations don’t look after their environment

This is where I come in:- I work as a sub-contractor for a commercial diving company based in Kingston, Seaport Equipment Ltd, normally 1 or 2 days a week, we landed the contract & now I find myself as Project Manager for the Relocation works, with a team of 92 divers & boats crews – 11 boats & a huge amount of equipment.
In a nutshell we cut the the corals from the dead substrate/reef using hydraulic saws & chisels, load them into baskets & tow them underwater to the relocation site away from the dredge footprint & stick them back down again using cement & epoxy. Sounds simple? Trust me it’s not but we’ve now moved in the region of 60,000 corals over a 3 month period & we’re getting good at it.
The results are impressive, the almost dead reef we’re relocating to is a myriad of different coloured coral species & fish that are attracted by our work & turn the site into an open water aquarium of underwater life, octopus, turtles, dolphins, manatee & even a couple of sharks have passed by drawn by the commotion.
All of this is monitored by NEPA who work closely with us to resolve the various problems we encounter.
Our normal team of about 12 commercial divers has been suplimented by divers from all over Jamaica, now is not a good time to go diving from an all-inclusive hotel on the north coast, most of their staff have joined this effort to save the reef- 7 days a week from 5AM till 5PM these divers have become an organized underwater army, even surprising the big multi-national companies working on the project with their dedication & discipline.

If you planning a trip to Lime Tree Farm early this year don’t worry Suzie my wife & Rodger my business partner will take good care of you, please excuse me for not being there, I’m on a mission & I soon come, I hope!

Blog by Charlie

Diver at work

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Drought at Lime Tree Farm – A good Sign?

admin — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:41:14 +0000

After 6 weeks of Blue skies, temperatures in the 90s & no rain, we can safely say we are in a drought!
That might not be as bad as it sounds – we used to have hot summers like this before the hurricanes began 5 years ago, since then our summers have been spent watching the various weather systems coming across the Atlantic from Africa & wondering which one might “mash” us up!

No sign of one yet(touch wood) so we welcome the drought & our road is really good too.

Kingston & the coast is unbearable so the only option is to head for the hills & Lime Tree Farm with our cool evening breeze.

Nuff said!

Blog by Charlie

Lime Tree road - on a bad day!

Lime Tree Farm Closing for September.

admin — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 21:36:20 +0000

Due to hurricane season, the need for some paintwork & a break we’ve decided to close for the month of September.
I would like to apologise to anybody who was thinking of coming in September & ask you to re-consider your itinery!

CINCHONA BOTANICAL GARDENS – TAINTED!

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:16:49 +0000

I was recently forwarded an article in the Financial Times written by Ian Thompson. The former guest of LIME TREE FARM who forwarded the article & I agreed that the article did not do justice to one of the worlds more magical places.

Thompson tries to paint a picture of Cinchona as an oasis surrounded by theives & devestation – yes the Blue Mountains have suffered terribly from 5 hurricannes in 5 years but their beauty has been untarnished & is there for anybody who can be bothered to make the journey to see.

As for thieves – I know the odd Orchid Bloom is taken by a visitor but theft is NOT a big problem. Thomson also paints the”RASTA” picture – another favourite for journalists looking for an “angle” – Stamp the manager is not a Rasta & although one of the workers there is the others are not & do not spend their time lying about smoking “weed” – the beauty of the gardens is testament to their loving care, just talk with Albert or “Broke-up”, 2 of the gardeners & you can’t help but feel their enthusiasm for the place.

The Observatory House is not a victim of vandalism rather it has suffered from years of neglect by various Jamaican governments notorious for ignoring Jamaica’s rich heritage not to mention the hurricanes.

WHY is it that when journalists write about jamaica they can’t help but sensationalize the crime problem here – yes we have a social/crime problem here but then so do parts of any country in the world – London, New Orleans etc etc.

Cinchona Botanical Gardens are so far removed from this problem they might as well be in the North Pole & I’m afraid that the FT article has tainted the pure magic of Cinchona which can easily sustain an article in it’s own write without resorting to the normal sensationalism associated with Jamaican Press.

If you would like to see what I’m ranting about & feel the pure magic of Cinchona Botanical Gardens check out our website – www.limetreefarm.com – I’d be more than happy to take you there & show you how far removed from Thomson’s article it really is!

Blog by Charlie

BLUE MOUNTAIN PEAK RE-CONQUERED BY ANGLO FRENCH JAMAICAN TEAM on an excursion from LIME TREE FARM

admin — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:51:06 +0000

Blue Mountain Peak was RE-conquered recently on an excursion from LIME TREE FARM. May is not the best time for Blue Mountain Peak due to heavy rainfall & this year was no different.
Undettered by the weather some French guests were more than ready to take on the challenge, Pierre Roux, his partner Catherine, his son Arnoud & partner Victoria(our first Lithuanian guest) are seasoned hikers having done the Inca trail in Peru in 3 days instead of the normal 4 Blue Mountain Peak was a walk in the Park! Last but not least our neighbor Patty who had never done the hike before completed the multi-national team.

We set off from Lime Tree Farm at 430am after a cup of the worlds finest Blue Mountain Coffee & after an eventfull 4 wheel drive arrived at the trailhead at dawn – no rain yet but the clouds loomed ominously from the north side of the mountain.
The hike took a respectable time of 3 hours to the Peak where we were greeted by a light shower & heavy cloud cover. Sandwiches prepared by Suzie, Lime Tree Farm’s chef were eagerly desposed of before the return hike down the mountain trail.

The expedition was completed with another cup of the world’s best at Jah B’s guest house at the foot of the mountain.

Blue Mountain Peak

ROOM WITH A VIEW To Die For!

admin — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:25:54 +0000

We at LIme Tree Farm are proud to be able to announce the completion of a new room with a view to die for of Blue Mountain itself & the Cedar & Yallus Valleys. The room was added on-top of one of our existing cottages so as you can imagine the view is even more spectacular than before. Suzie our world renowned chef(my wife) & I plan to use this room in the short run whilst we rebuild the original Lime tree great house which has suffered in the past few years from considerable hurricane damage.