Buenas dias! This is a continuation of several blog posts regarding our farm updates in Biolley, Costa Rica. We are excited about our new developments and are truly working our way to living out our perfect green dream! So, let’s get back to the farm with more updates and photos! Today’s post is pretty much coffee talk.
Good morning Biolley! Another great sunrise over the valley beyond!
Over to the east of the Talamanca mountain range lies the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. Our sunrises over the farm and the sunlight over the fields are truly spectacular! We stepped outside to catch this photo around 5:30AM. This is pretty much the hour the sun rises each morning year round. The sunlight on all that green is truly spectacular!
Heading back to the duplex. The agenda for today is to check out and discuss the coffee plants.
We have discussed the conditions of the plants and the very necessary thinning of the trees above the coffee plants that Ricardo and Rigo had to cut back due to the dryness of the coffee plants. Ricardo explained that there is only one time a year that the thinning of the shade trees takes place and the coffee plants that are dry need to be cut back to the stump. This usually takes place in January when the moon is full. Ricardo was able to cut back a good portion of the coffee plants that needed it, but he was not able to get all of them this time around. This is due to the fact that the last farmer did not take good care of the coffee plants and many needed to be cut back along with thinning of the shade trees.
These coffee “calles” (rows) have been cut back to the stump leaving three branches on each plant. This is for healthy growth and a good harvest yield.
The leaves are growing back, however Ricardo and Rigo will cut them back one more time before they let them grow again. This has to take place so that the coffee plants grow back hearty and thick. The shade trees for this particular portion of the coffee field have been thinned as well.The hundreds of banana trees are left alone to provide some shade and natural compost while the other trees and coffee plants grow back during the rainy season. The “leña” (tree trunks and branches) are left on the ground to provide natural compost.
When the Panamanian Indians come during coffee harvest time this year in October, they will use some of this wood to cook with. Rigo has his own small coffee farm and he has a place where the Indians stay during coffee harvest time. There some Panamanian Indians who come to harvest coffee on Rigo’s property, doña Elizabeth’s property and ours. There are 5 Indians and their families who come to hand pick the coffee harvest for our particular farms.
The harvesting months can start in as early as September and finish as late as early December. The Indians cross through on foot from the Parque de La Amistad Naciónal on the Panamanian side into the Costa Rican side and come down to Biolley and the surrounding areas to harvest the coffee. They say that they are paid much better in Costa Rica than in Panama for their laborious efforts. We look forward to learning more about them in the near future.
Here is a close up of coffee plants growing back. They will be cut back one more time before they are left to grow again. The plants that were cut back to the stump will take two years to produce an abundant amount of coffee cherries for harvest.
We have discussed with Rigo who knows more about the maintenance of coffee plants than Ricardo, his methods and the Kona method. He is pretty much using these practices now and he is familiar with the Kona 1-2-3 row method. We will begin to use this method next year except for the plants that needed cutting back this year and the trees that needed thinning this year will not be included in this coordination. I have discussed the 1-2-3 Kona method in previous posts but briefly will explain it again. The coffee “calles” rows, are cut back as such: 1st row completely cut back to a stump. 2nd row growing back after it was cut back the year before will produce some coffee cherries. 3rd row will produce a full harvest of coffee cherries and will be cut back the following year to become the 1st row and so forth. This allows the coffee plant to live a very long life and produce a healthy harvest.
Calles de café (coffee rows) under plenty of shade trees. These are very healthy rows of coffee plants.
You can see some dried out coffee plants in these calles de café (coffee rows)
We will leave these dried out coffee plants alone and see if they produce some leaves and coffee this year. It is too late to cut them back to the stump. According to Rigo and Ricardo, this must be done in January during the full moon and since they did not have time to get to all of these plants that needed it, they will have to wait until next year. Eventually, we will be able to coordinate our 1-2-3 method for all of our plants.
We are going to bring in natural organic fertilizer this year as all of the plants desperately need it! The last farmer has not done this for years. Eventually, with our new founded bio-intensive gardening knowledge from the states, we will figure out how to make a natural fertilizer for the plants. The leaves, trunks and branches of the plant need to be sprayed as well. Ricardo has mentioned there is an organic spray for them. This gives the plants and especially the leaves the necessary minerals they need to avoid disease and to supplement them with the necessary minerals they need to produce healthy leaves and an abundance of coffee cherries.
I will talk more about growing coffee plants in other future posts as I learn more about this. I am also talking to a few people around the Biolley area to try and get a collaborative coffee production going for fair trade, shade grown-bird friendly, organic coffee so that we can all use the pulp from the cherry to fertilize our coffee fields. This is supposed to be great addition to assist in a rich and fertile soil for the coffee.
This part of the open pasture needs grooming and our farmer friend who keep his 20 cows here will do this first thing along with keeping the lower pasture cleared. The hardwood trees in the background are pretty much shading the coffee plants and have some good value. We will plant many more on the property in the future such as Teak and Bamboo. Of course we will also plant more fruit trees and keep as many indigenous trees to the area on the property as possible.
The next trip to Biolley and on the farm will consist of sending soil samples from the farm in the coffee fields and in the open field so that we can have them evaluated for future fertilization and composting on the farm. It is a major production to prepare your soil and takes at least one decade to become somewhat sustainable with the soil. But for us, it is well worth the venture. We want to share this venture with our nearby farmer neighbors and anyone who wants to follow our learning curve here in Biolley and in our last stages of living in the US with our small garden we will grow there until we can truly retire on our farm in Costa Rica. Of course we hope this is sooner rather than later! The overall goal is to grow the coffee and our own food on the farm that will sustain us for nutrients and calories and provide enough yield for our workers too. We may sell some herbs and spices to local markets that are fresh and that are dried.
Banana Ramas! Hundreds of banana trees are growing and provide a natural canopy for the coffee plants.
Each one of these “ramas” of bananas weigh at least 75 pounds. We are allowing Ricardo to sell some bananas to the local farmers for their livestock. When we have the goats on board we will feed them bananas as well. Bananas are incredibly rich in nutrients! I would also like to try my hand at drying bananas to sell. We are going to make solar driers for the coffee beans so I’m thinking we can use them also to dry herbs and dried bananas to sell too.
The spirit of Pura Vida lives on in our hearts and in our minds….siempre!
