Entry 5 - At an organic coffee farm in Santa Maria de Dota

San Marcos de Tarrazu, 16 August 2007, 9:15 pm

Today was our first day heading to a coffee farm to work in the field.  At 5:00 am, I got up to shower and get ready for the day, do the wake-up calls, eat breakfast with my fellow participants, and head out to our first farm.

It is Día de la Madre, or Mother’s Day, in Costa Rica today.  It is a national holiday here, and public offices and banks—and many stores— will be closed for the holiday, which is recognized on Monday.  I noticed in San José last weekend, as well as here in San Marcos and the surrounding towns, that a number of stores have been promoting the holiday, and the shops have been crowded with last-minute shoppers, much like December in the US.

This morning, at 7 a.m. we arrived at the farm, an organic coffee farm in a heavily canopied rain forest high on the side of a mountain.  We parked our cars and hiked approximately 600 meters until we arrived at the farm (over 1 km roundtrip).  Unfortunately, the farmer, Arturo Segura, was away but had made arrangements with Natalia and Sebastian as to what work would be accomplished on the farm.

We split up into groups and began our work on this coffee farm:  one to perform analyses on the shade trees—no small task on an organic coffee farm in a cloudforest—and the other set about analyzing the coffee trees themselves.

The shade tree analyses consisted of taking a full-sunlight measurement and comparing it with the light under the shadow of the shade trees, measuring the density of the trees, and classifying the type of shade tree.  Since there were many trees, and they were far apart, this was no small task.  Also, because of the changing sunlight, a new full-sun measurement had to be taken every 15 minutes.  That group analyzed approximately 60 trees under Natalia’s direction.

I worked with the group that studied the coffee trees.  Sebastian randomly selected about 30 trees for our group to analyze.  We split into pairs, and—using the training we had been receiving over the past few days as well as a field guide of coffee tree pests and diseases—undertook this task.  Our responsibilities included identifying the type of coffee tree; measuring its distance to the three closest shade trees, along with listing the type of shade trees; measuring the height of the trees; looking for evidence of pests, disease, or nutrient deficiency, along with listing the specific problem; and counting berries and leaves on pre-selected branches.

A third pair took soil samples and cataloged them by using a GPS system to see how the soil is impacted in the areas near the coffee trees and shade trees.  Don Jorge, Natalia’s father who has been a coffee farmer since he was 14 years old, partnered with Roy on collecting soil and leaf samples.  Roy is one of the nicest people on this expedition (he’s from Indiana, not far from my home state of Michigan, and he is a sweet and loving father to his daughter Sydney, who will be three years old on September 13 this year, the day I turn 35.)

Around 11:30 it started raining, but we were determined to get as much done as possible.  Nobody complained or ran for shelter; we plugged along.  Around 12:30, though, it started raining too hard for us to continue.  The soil on the side of the mountain was getting dangerously slick and even our weather-resistant paper was becoming impossible to work with.  We decided to pack up, hike (slide?) back down the side of the mountain, and head back to the lab for lunch. 

A local family is going to be preparing our mid-day meals everyday, and today’s lunch was another example of delicious Costa Rican cuisine.  Don Jorge’s cousin, Mercedes “Merce” Mata, prepared rice with carrots and broccoli for the vegetarians, rice with chicken and vegetables for the others, very fresh pico de gallo (chopped cilantro, onions, and tomatoes), black beans or frijoles molidos, and blackberry fresco, a homemade fruit juice.

In the lab, a busy afternoon focused on inputting the data from all the field research papers and also separating the soil samples to send in for scientific analysis. 

I went with a group back up the side of the mountain to try to finish doing our field research on Arturo Segura’s organic farm.  It stopped raining so we took advantage of the opportunity to get back into the field.  Kristina, Jayne, Gabriel, and I went with Sebastian. 

Kristina is from Austin, and she and I have had some of the best connections on this trip.  She is married and has two kids: Alex, who is 16, and Shannon, who is 17 and started college the day Kristina arrived in San José.  She is fluent in Spanish and has ended up helping us interpret.  She has such a thirst for knowledge, a willingness to pitch in wherever it’s needed, and a great desire to work on her Spanish.  Her notebook is never far away, as she is writing down specific questions to work on mastering the language.

Jayne turned 20 the day before she arrived in San José. She is from Vancouver, is going to Arizona State, and has a great sense of humor.  She and I tease each other a lot—I love people who get my sarcastic humor and throw it back at me. 

Gabriel and I have also had a great connection.  We have a lot in common and frequently find ourselves off to the side of the group whispering inappropriate comments.  We’re the same age and have a lot of fun.  He lives in Boston with his partner Niko and works for Harvard Medical School in IT but was born in Puerto Rico.  It’s really great seeing him able to communicate with the locals, and since he shares the language he makes sure to meet every person we encounter.  Poor guy also ends up interpreting for us with everything from asking for towels from the front desk to ordering breakfast.  Thank god he’s here.

We plugged along for a couple more hours at the organic farm but when darkness started to settle in, we knew it was time to head back down the mountain to the lab.  We took an alternative trail, which allowed for some breathtaking views of the fog rolling in over the mountain into the valley.

After our field work, but before dinner, we all gathered in the lab to debrief from the day’s activities.  We also discussed one of the readings that was sent to us before we arrived, a well-known sociological research paper, "The Tragedy of the Commons" by Garrett Hardin.  We discussed the impact of the decisions we make locally, including all of our daily habits, on society in general.  As the paper indicates, you cannot continue to apply the same solutions over centuries; different situations and changes in society require new solutions.

For dinner, we were treated to pizza at Emiliu’s Pizza in nearby San Pablo.  Don Jose, who has been one of our escorts and drivers everyday on this trip, drove the vehicle I was in.  As we drove out of town, he showed us the house where his father lives and the discoteca next door that is owned by his cousin.  Don Jose was born in San Pablo but now lives in San Marcos.  He also told us he loves to dance cumbia and plays saxophone in a band.  He is a kind and gentle man who obviously has a strong connection with Natalia’s family—she calls him Papito.

Dinner was another great opportunity for us to get to know one another.  Once again, Don Jose and Don Jorge drove us and joined us for dinner.  This is definitely a fun group – we laugh so hard when we are together and are developing some friendships I am sure will last for a long time.

I fell into bed and immediately into a deep sleep for another 5 a.m. alarm.

Return to the Travel Blog Homepage to read more stories >
Read my other posts >