The farm

A niche map, not a product catalog.

Garden, nursery, terraces and trees. Each crop holds a job. Birds and what is seen on the plot are evidence that habitat exists, not a tourism amenity.

Illustration

Section

From canopy to root.

Mango and cacao above. Plantain and chaya in the middle. Herbs and pineapple covering. Cassava below. The pile beside. The river at the edge.

Emergent

Mango, cashew

Shade and bird perch

Canopy

Cacao, soursop

Fruit and litter

Understory

Plantain, chaya

Leaf, microclimate, living mulch

Herbs

Culantro, chili, basil

Kitchen and insect flowers

Ground

Pineapple, peanut

Cover that keeps laterite from the sun

Root

Cassava, ginger

Store underground

Biota

Fungi, Atta, roots

Aggregate, aerate, hunt

Odum, in this list: each name is a job, not a shelf.

The farm in photos

Garden, nursery, compost and terraces.

Photos of Finca Hierbawena. Captions are of this plot.

View of Finca Hierbawena and the hills — The farm and the forest around it

Garden of kale, scallion and flowers — Organic vegetable garden

Pepper harvest in a basket — Pepper harvest

Pineapple harvested on the farm — Farm pineapple

Plantain and cassava just harvested — Plantain and cassava

Compost piles at the farm biofactory — Compost piles beside the garden

Residuos Dinámicos tanks and organics on the farm — Organics arriving at the farm

Guided visit in the garden — Garden visit

Straw-mulched terraces — Mulched terraces

River and forest on the farm — Water and forest

In the soil

Vegetables, fruit and tubers.

A living list of what we grow — read as strata, not a shelf.

Vegetables and herbs

Tomato Solanum lycopersicum Lettuce

Lettuce Lactuca sativa Kale

Kale Brassica oleracea

Eggplant Solanum melongena Chili

Chili Capsicum spp. Maize

Maize Zea mays Beans

Beans Phaseolus spp. Squash

Squash Cucurbita spp. Arugula

Arugula Eruca vesicaria

Culantro Eryngium foetidum

Cilantro Coriandrum sativum

Spearmint Mentha spicata Basil

Basil Ocimum basilicum Oregano

Oregano Origanum vulgare

Rosemary Rosmarinus officinalis

Scallion Allium fistulosum Chaya

Chaya Cnidoscolus aconitifolius

Fruit

Mango Mangifera indica Orange

Orange Citrus sinensis

Mandarin Citrus reticulata Soursop

Soursop Annona muricata Guava

Guava Psidium guajava

Spanish lime Melicoccus bijugatus

Pineapple Ananas comosus

Passion fruit Passiflora edulis Cashew

Cashew Anacardium occidentale

Peach palm Bactris gasipaes Cacao

Cacao Theobroma cacao

Tamarind Tamarindus indica

Blackberry Rubus spp.

Tubers and roots

Cassava Manihot esculenta Ginger

Ginger Zingiber officinale Peanut

Peanut Arachis hypogaea

Everything is fed with bocashi from the biofactory. No synthetic fertilizer. How compost enters →

Evidence

Birds of this plot, dated.

eBird hotspot Panamá Organic Farms (L65888765). List loaded from MyEBirdData. Observations May–August 2026. Not a tour in the menu: the upstairs of the same house.

eBird hotspot

Species	Scientific name	Place	Date	Count

Source: eBird / Cornell Lab (MyEBirdData), location Panamá Organic Farms. The species count is this table, not a slogan over a blank grid.

Also on the plot

Mammals, reptiles, insects and trees.

Green: seen on the farm. Earth: most recorded on iNaturalist within ~15 km. Reference photos: iNaturalist.

Niche experiments

Water, edge, pollinators.

Names that were already on hierbawena.com. Here they are not a regenerative brand portfolio. They are niche jobs.

Rice in chinampas

Water niche. Grain grows with the wetland, not against it.

Coquira

Forage and tree niche. Perennial gardens at the Coquira Soil Project.

Honey

Flower niche. Bees measure whether the landscape is alive.

Darién

Edge and restoration niche. Degraded land on a biological frontier.

Later / coming: cabins, a field school and a restaurant. They cannot be booked yet. Garden and bird visits are arranged on WhatsApp.

Contact Habitat