posted 27 minutes ago
Permi email
Hello everyone,
I’m looking for advice from experienced permaculture designers, PDC holders, Diploma practitioners, tropical agroforesters, horticulturalists and people with genuine hands-on experience farming in Panama or comparable tropical highland climates.
My family is planning to relocate from the UK to Panama. We have actually already left the UK and are here in Boquete. We want to
purchase approximately 10–30 acres around the Boquete area of Chiriquí to develop into a highly productive family farm based on permaculture, agroforestry and organic food production.
We’ve spent considerable time researching Panama and have decided to concentrate specifically on the Boquete region rather than trying to cover the entire country.
We’re not looking to live in central Boquete itself. Ideally, we’d like to be approximately 15 or 20 minutes +/- from the town centre, close enough for schools, shops, healthcare and community, but far enough out to have privacy, some land and a small number of local neighbours rather than being surrounded by development.
What we’re trying to achieve
Our ideal property would be:
● Approximately 10–30 acres
● Around 900–1,150 m elevation, although this is precisely what I want experienced people to challenge
● Ideally somewhere around 950–1,100 m if that really is the best compromise
● Warm and comfortable for humans without being relentlessly hot
● Preferably daytime temperatures broadly around 24–28°C
● Less oppressive humidity than the lower tropical areas
● Reliable year-round freshwater
● Ideally a spring or stream with dependable dry-season flow
● Deep, fertile, biologically active soil
● Good natural drainage
● Low landslide/flood risk
● Good solar exposure
● Useful natural microclimates
● Rural/private but still close to a proper community
The difficult part: we want an unusually diverse food system
We understand that there is no single elevation where every crop on our list will naturally thrive.
We’re therefore trying to find the best possible overlap between tropical, subtropical and cool/highland crops, and we’re very interested in using the property’s natural elevation, aspect, slope, wind, shade and water to create different microclimates.
Is a south east facing aspect here our best option?
Our current crop list includes:
Potatoes, cassava, carrots, cauliflower, apples, peppers, tomatoes, taro, herbs, spices, tropical fruit, mangoes, lime, lemon, coffee, bananas, papaya, coconut, vanilla, cacao, strawberries, olives, broccoli, beans, peas, grains and corn.
We’re completely realistic that some of these may be poor choices at our eventual elevation.
The objective isn’t to force every crop onto the property.
The objective is to determine:
What elevation and microclimate around Boquete gives us the greatest possible overlap between warm tropical crops and cool/highland crops?
Our current hypothesis
From our research so far, we’re particularly interested in the approximate 900–1,150 m elevation band, perhaps with an ideal target around 950–1,100 m.
We’re investigating areas including:
Agua Blanca, Las Huacas, Alto Boquete, Jaramillo Abajo, Palmira, Volcancito, lower Jaramillo/Los Naranjos and Caldera.
We’re particularly interested in whether a property with significant elevation variation across the land could be substantially more valuable to us than a property that is simply 15 acres at one uniform elevation.
For example, would a property running approximately 900–1,100+ m potentially allow us to deliberately establish:
● warmer tropical areas
● cooler vegetable-growing areas
● coffee/agroforestry areas
● shaded cacao/vanilla areas
● protected nursery/propagation areas
● different fruit-tree microclimates
rather than trying to make the whole property behave identically?
I also have a fairly technical background
I have an engineering background with substantial practical experience in air-conditioning, refrigeration and climate-control systems, as well as building and plumbing.
I’m comfortable with:
● HVAC/AC systems
● refrigeration and heat transfer
● humidity and moisture management
● airflow
● plumbing and water systems
● construction
● building services
● practical mechanical systems
I mention this because I’m comfortable with technical solutions and enjoy engineering problems, but I’m not looking to over-engineer the farm unnecessarily.
I’m increasingly convinced that the correct approach is:
property selection → elevation → aspect → water → natural microclimate → vegetation → passive design → only then appropriate technology.
I’d much rather select the right land than spend a fortune trying to make the wrong land behave differently.
That said, I’m very interested in sensible use of:
● greenhouses
● shade houses
● propagation/nursery structures
● passive solar design
● thermal mass
● natural and engineered ventilation
● windbreaks
● water harvesting
● gravity-fed irrigation
● contour/earthwork systems where appropriate
● agroforestry
● food forests
● protected vegetable production
● artificial lighting where genuinely useful for nursery/propagation
The questions I’m really hoping experienced people can answer
1. What elevation around Boquete would YOU choose for this particular objective?
Not simply the best elevation for coffee or vegetables, but the best compromise for maximum crop diversity + comfortable human living.
2. Is approximately 900–1,150 m actually a sensible target, or would you move that range higher or lower?
3. Is ~950–1,100 m potentially the sweet spot, or am I making an incorrect assumption?
4. Which specific areas around Boquete would you investigate first?
In particular:
● Agua Blanca
● Las Huacas
● Alto Boquete
● Jaramillo Abajo
● Palmira
● Volcancito
● lower Jaramillo
● Los Naranjos
● Caldera
I’d love to hear from people who know the microclimates, not just the names on a map.
5. Which elevation would you choose if you wanted to grow both tropical and cool/highland crops?
For example, where would you expect the best balance between:
coffee / bananas / cacao / vanilla / papaya / citrus
and
potatoes / carrots / broccoli / cauliflower / peas / strawberries / tomatoes / peppers?
6. Which crops on our list are realistically achievable around 900–1,100 m, and which ones should we stop trying to force?
I’m particularly interested in honest answers about:
● apples
● olives
● coconut
● cacao
● vanilla
● bananas
● papaya
● mango
● coffee
● strawberries
● potatoes
● brassicas
● carrots
7. How important is property-level microclimate compared with elevation?
For example, could aspect, wind protection, slope position, vegetation, water and exposure make a 900 m property behave significantly differently from another property at the same elevation?
8. Would you deliberately look for a property with 100–250 m of elevation variation across the land?
If so, how would you use that elevation gradient in the design?
9. What soil tests would you insist on before purchasing land around Boquete?
I’d particularly appreciate advice on:
● pH
● CEC
● organic carbon
● phosphorus
● potassium
● calcium/magnesium
● micronutrients
● aluminium
● soil depth
● drainage
● compaction
● infiltration
● biological activity
● volcanic soil characteristics
10. What would you investigate regarding water before buying?
We’re particularly interested in springs and streams.
How would you establish:
● dry-season flow
● wet-season flow
● reliability during El Niño
● upstream catchment conditions
● contamination risk
● flood risk
● spring recharge
● legal water rights
● whether gravity irrigation is possible?
A spring above the property with reliable dry-season flow would obviously be extremely valuable to us.
11. Are there particular geological, drainage, erosion or landslide issues around the Boquete area that an overseas buyer should be especially careful about?
12. If you’ve actually designed or operated a permaculture/agroforestry farm in Panama or a similar tropical highland environment, what would you do differently if starting again?
And finally:
If you had 10–30 acres and our exact objectives, where around Boquete would you personally start looking, and at what elevation?
I’m particularly interested in specific places, elevations, microclimates and real experiences, rather than generic advice that “Boquete is good for farming.”
We’re very happy to provide prospective property locations, maps, elevation profiles, soil analyses, climate data and photographs once we’ve narrowed down the best areas.
I’m also very interested in hearing from people with PDC/Diploma credentials or professional agricultural experience, but practical experience is just as valuable to us.
We’re approaching this as a serious long-term family project and want to get the land-selection decision right before we design the farm.
Thanks in advance to anyone willing to share their experience, particularly anyone who knows the Boquete area at the property/microclimate level.
If you’ve stayed to the end, thank you. We could really use your help. Maybe you know a permaculture pro, organic farmer, or someone doing something similar here in Panama Boquete that you could introduce us to, that would be invaluable.
Thank you so much
Chris and Lou.
