I went to the mill today.
I answer an important question (see Below)
Occasionally, someone will ask me what a coffee farmer does.
“I’ll find out and get back to you.” is my answer.
So I started to write down what I do so I can give an better answer.
Here are my findings:
I’m on the internet a lot. Some of it even has to do with coffee business. If I get an order for our coffee to be shipped out, then I can justify some of my time in front of the screen (they call it “screen time” and apparently I’ve got a lot of it).
I run around quite a bit. Post Office, hardware store, coffee mill and roaster. (in that order).
I farm sometimes. I constantly mow grass. I fix things that break. I do some fertilizing, and irrigating from the seat of the tractor. (I’ve been referred to as an “old fertigator”). I stake up trees, weed around them, and prune them. I take samples of leaves and cherry for pest inspection.
We pick about 8-10 times a year. On picking days I like to encourage the pickers as they work (rojo! No verde!). When the picking is done, I load the truck and take coffee cherry to the mill. I used to throw 100-pound bags around. Now I roll them gently onto the bucket of my loader and lift them carefully into the truck.
Mostly, I like the idea of farming. I really care about the health of the trees, the soil, and the quality of the crop. I appreciate good coffee and I think the best part of farming is being able to drink it whenever I want. (I do it a lot).
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