This Saturday Felix from work invited me to his coffee farm(s). Felix is part of a Farmers Co-op that does organic and sustainable farming of coffee and other crops.
Felix and his son Erich
Felix explaining the germination process. He has been farming for many years and is now experimenting with different crops. He is experimenting with germinating a different species of coffee as well as a type of tree that produces wood for furniture.
Felix then explained to me that he owns 4 small plots of land for growing his coffee. It is really hard (and expensive) to get big continuous plots of land, so as a small local farmer, he has had to begin by working with multiple small plots.
We then drove to one of Felix`s plots of land. Even in four wheel drive, the truck wasn`t making it the whole way. We left the truck behind and kept going. Not too bad of a walk by foot. Add loads of 100 lb bags of coffee and it gets a bit tougher...
Coffee (Avacado tree in back - heavily pruned to let light down to the coffee)
There`s such a huge price difference between different grades of coffee. What`s the difference between the good stuff and the bad stuff?
The good stuff and the bad stuff
A part of Felix`s sustainable way of growing is to grow other types of crops. These other crops are usually planted in the spaces between his coffee. This is a macadamia nut tree. He also grows avacados, beans, a plant used to make biodiesel, and peaches.
Walking back to the truck. Time to go to the next plot of land...
Felix grabbing a peach. We eat them before they are totally ripe. This isn`t uncommon. Alot of the fruit is stolen off of the trees.
Coffee pulps used to fertilize around the plants
Coffee drying patio at Felix`s house. High (export) grade coffee in front, low (market) grade in back. He leaves it out to dry for about a week.
High grade coffee. Still has the skin/husk on it. It will then be sent through a machine to remove the husk and then roasted.
Go to the Photo`s section (Month 4) for more photos.
For more info (or to buy Felix`s coffee): http://www.asgreenasitgets.org/felix.html