$399,000

Zapotal - Organic Farm

The owners have owned and farmed the land organically for 7 years. It has been certified organic for 4 of those years.

The farm is currently growing coffee, banana, platano, mandarina, apples, oranges, satsumas, avocado, guayaba, guava, guanábana, limes, lemons, potatoes, ginger, curcumin/turmeric, chayote, and a wide variety of other plants and trees.

There are various outbuildings including a large barn/open garage, a purpose built compost facility of 24 m2, a 60 m2 greenhouse, plus a small greenhouse for the house. Close to the house there is a laundry room and visitor facilities including a toilet, shower and kitchen. Below the house is a 12 m2 concrete shelter, which has running hot and cold water and could be easily used as an isolation room amongst other things.

There is a goat house which is designed to be easily converted into a house and is currently producing excellent organic goat milk, yoghurt and hard cheese. The goats are totally free range and probably have the best views of any goats in the country!

The location is in a traditional coffee growing area. It is at an altitude of 1250 meters and benefits from a nice cooling breeze. It's perfect for coffee and many other crops that struggle with the heat at lower altitudes.
An irrigation system has been installed to ensure that everything continues to thrive during the inevitable hotter, drier and longer summers.

The steepest contours of the farm have been planted with vetiver, to stop soil erosion and have started to be terraced, making it easier to plant and maintain. An internal road is well established and has numerous drainage channels to ensure that they remain in good condition and are usable all year round.

The farm is located in a quiet location with distant neighbours. The whole farm benefits from amazing, spectacular views, especially sunsets and of the distant valley below in the evenings.

The farm is in the foothills of the Chirripo mountain and the area is experiencing growth related to this, because of the recent opening of the second access point to climb the highest mountain in Costa Rica.

The main house is beautifully crafted, nearly entirely, from locally sourced wood, and all the services are installed to a high standard. Hot water is provided by a highly efficient solar panel and is plumbed throughout the construction. All toilets are connected to a large biodegester, with the greywater connected to a traditional style oversized soak away.

All of the principle constructions have oversized gutters, which are interconnected and exit a suitable distance away from the house and provide a spectacular fountain effect during heavy rains.

The mornings are filled with birdsong from a seemingly, ever increasing number and variety of birds. In the afternoons the birdsong is slowly replaced with the croaking of frogs from the lake.

The farm, the area and the country are open to a lot of opportunities, it just needs the right person to continue to drive this exciting project forward, in the direction that best suits the new owners.

The many possibilities for the complex include; an Organic Volunteer Farm, (which is a very popular activity for visitors from Europe as well as the US.) A Trout Farm, Tilapia Farm, Coffee Tours, Organic Farm Tours, Birdspotting, B&B Accommodation, a Restaurant or a Farm Shop are some of the many perfectly viable options.

Or, in these changing times, the farm also provides the perfect place to completely isolate a large extended family from the outside world, completely off grid. (A recent hydroelectric survey shows various options for powering multiple homes, with a potential output of more than 16 kw.)

The Covid virus has obviously put a pause on many people's lives and businesses and the farm is no exception, but one of the many things that people realise now, more than ever, is that eating and living organically is so important for their wellbeing. Organic food and land will be in greater demand as the world emerges from the pandemic in the coming months.

There is a 100% genuine reason for sale and this can be a turnkey operation to include a Kia truck, a Polaris quad bike and a huge variety of tools and equipment. The farm produces all their own compost, organic herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers, and all this equipment and knowledge can also be part of the sale.

More than $500,000 has been invested in the house, outbuildings, shipping container, land, internal roads, terracing, irrigation and fencing etc. However, the owners are motivated to sell and will listen to any serious offer.