October is the wettest month in Costa Rica especially in the southern zone where our coffee farm in is located. After purchasing the farm on the last trip, the first order of business on this trip was to discuss the road and getting it graded with proper drainage. We saw the road at its worst during this very rainy season!
The road will be fixed during the dry season in December
Our lawyer and the electricity guy accompanied us on our rainy day visit to the farm. Our discussion also included bringing in pure potable water which runs from the top of the mountain range directly into small holding tanks and will come directly to our farm from approximately 8 or 9 thousand feet from the mountains in the La Amistad International Park. The electricity in Costa Rica is mostly hydro-electric and a new dam is in the works very close to us. The new dam will supply electricity for the entire country of Costa Rica and Costa Rica’s neighboring countries, Panama and Nicaragua . The energy will then be fully hydro-electric. Believe me, there are no water shortages here!
Business meeting with the lawyer and the electricity guy- We took care of planning for the road, the electricity, water and building a duplex for our workers on the farm as well as formed our corporation for the farm while on a short stint in Costa Rica for 2 weeks!
Rounding the corner to the finca (farm) low and behold it is coffee harvest time!
The harvest is in phases between the months of September through November for these coffee plants. We have about 9 acres of plants on our 60 acre farm. The workers were out on the acreage in the rain hand picking our shaded coffee plants while we visited our finca (farm). They arrived from Panama and cross the border into Costa Rica in September on foot. The Indians in Panama are from the Talamanca mountain range near the Amistad National Park which crosses into Panama and is home to many Indians. The Indians come to Costa Rica during coffee harvest time because they are paid a better rate for picking coffee.
It took a lot of coaxing to get this worker’s picture. She is very shy but managed to smile for the camera!
Only the reddish-yellowish coffee “cherries” are picked for harvest. The green coffee is left on the plant
to mature. The entire harvest should be finished around the end of November at the latest.
Here’s one row of our shaded coffee.
We are learning a lot about our coffee and the harvest. Some of the plants appear to be stripped of the coffee cherries a bit too quickly. We will change those methods for next year’s harvest along with the pruning methods and green fertilizer methods. Some pruning needs to happen on the trees above the coffee plants to provide more sunlight. Although these plants are producing quite a bit of harvest, through our new methods next year, the plants should appear to be healthier and more robust.
A farm companion stopped by out on the open pasture to greet us! She must know we are vegetarians because she was very friendly as were some other cows on the farm. The shaded coffee is in the background under the hardwood trees.
We are allowing the former owner to keep cows on the farm for the next few months and when we finally move to the farm, we will have a few cows, bull, goats and sheep on our vegetarian farm. We will take milk from some and they will all work on the farm to keep the pasture down and the jungle from overtaking the farm.
A hodge podge of green for the animals workers to maintain. This is at the end of some newly planted coffee
and into the pasture.
The next series of photos are a view around the farm and where our future house will be. Take a look around the farm!
Our frontal view from our future Casa Grande- the main house will be right around here.
We also staked out a pretty serious spot for our future home which we will build at the end of 2009. We plan to have a cabin built below it, both with views to the river. We will have to do some clearing in order for that to happen but we will replace the trees we clear with new ones. The ground is very fertile here. You only need to put a branch in the ground and it will start growing a new tree! We will also garden and grow our soil on the farm for our food. Dairy from the animals and garden food for us.
A bit of cloud break in the sky and our western view from the future Casa Grande.
Our pasture needs clearing to be groomed as the farms are above us. The Amistad park is right above the farms in the background and this is pretty much our eastern view from the Casa Grande.
Our award winning view of the waterfall. We plan to have the B & B cabin right about here. We are working it out for the Casa Grande to have this view too!
Cows in the lower pasture and the river below. Lots of brush around for the future goats to eat! Lots of pasture for the future sheep to eat! Lots of space for a few cows too! These animal workers will have a full time job on the finca (farm)!
Plenty of hydro power off the main waterfall! Our river will look different during the dry season, but the water will keep flowing!
A “bravo” raging river where our two biggest swimming holes are will calm down during the dry season and into the first part of the rainy season. The first hole below is approximately 40 feet across.
We hope you enjoyed this post and the updates on the farm. We are working toward our dream and only have a few short years to go! In the meantime, we will update you on the finca (farm) as we go along. Next year around March or April, you should see a graded road, electricity and two new worker’s homes. The coffee plants will be pruned then and flowering in the dry season. Until then as the Costa Ricans say and as always in our hearts and minds….
Pura Vida!
