Visit to Jose's Farm (Part 2)

The man: The trail:
We were thrilled to be invited to visit Jose's farm. He is one of the strongest community leaders in the quest for quality in the Panamanian Comarca.
I had no idea what kind of hike it would involve. Let me just say I feel lucky to be alive and I wasn't even carrying a huge bag of coffee on my head.
Jose's farm is a beautiful mix of varieties of coffee trees, corn and bean production, and a small coffee nursery for others in the community. He has even created a pond where he grows and harvests Tilapia.

His enthusiasm and dedication to creating a better life for his community through better quality coffee is very inspirational, and we are happy to have the chance to partner with them.

Visit to Jose's Farm (Part 1)

Coffee de-pulper on Jose's farm. Some of Jose's family

Parchment evaluation

I am just returning from the Comarca where we have been participating in a Ngobe-Bugle coffee school. It is very exciting to see the people who traditionally travel great distances to harvest coffees in other countries taking a good look at their own coffee and learning how to get the best quality from their own farms.

I was honored yesterday with a Ngobe name, given to me by an elder woman in the community.

My name is Egida.

In these pictures we are doing a pre-selection of coffees based on parchment quality. Together, we selected the coffees that will go on for cupping.

...but I think it likes Panama better

coffee loves growing in Costa Rica

We have had a great time visiting small family farms in Costa Rica. We look forward to sharing these coffees with you soon.

You never know where life will take you...

...and apparently my life has led me to a blog. Please check back in every once in a while, and keep me company here on the interweb. The next month should be pretty interesting as I am traveling among 4 countries in Central America, learning and working with coffee producers.

Adios!

funny looking coffee tree