San Marcos de Tarrazú, 18 August 2007, 10:00 pm
This morning my alarm rang at my usual 5:00 time. We were scheduled to go to another farm today. All told, by the end of next week, we will have visited and analyzed 9 farms in 14 days.
Felix Monge’s farm in San Pablo de León Cortés was a great experience for all of the participants of the tour to see a very well run farm by someone who represents the “next generation” of coffee farmers in the region. Felix also speaks English very well, so for many of us it was the first time to ask questions and get information about coffee farming without needing an interpreter.
I also took a video of him giving a message to coffee buyers, which I’ll post on Gather.com. He said to pay close attention to certification when purchasing coffee, since coffee growers are trying to do right by their families and the environment, while ensuring a quality product for us. It was great to hear how meaningful these certifications are, especially to conscientious consumers who hope our buying decisions do make a difference.
Like many good coffee farmers, Felix has a number of other trees on his property, including some fruit trees. For a snack, he brought us some fresh jocotes from one of his trees. Jocotes are sort of like small apples, although not quite as crunchy or sweet. They are very fibrous and tasty. We ate them skin and all, fresh off the tree, disposing of only the pit.
We really came into our own today, working very quickly, surprising even ourselves and pleasantly surprising Natalia and Sebastian. We were able to finish at lunchtime without having to go back after lunch.
For lunch, we went back to the lab and were served a delicious old-fashioned Costa Rican lunch. The best way to describe it is like all the traditional foods we had been eating—rice, beans, eggs, plantain, chayote, beef for the non-vegetarians—but placed in between two thick tortillas. All this was wrapped in banana leaf and tied up, both to keep them hot and to be sustainable by not using plates. Jayne and Donna played cat’s cradle with the string, while Kristi made a Jacob’s Ladder with hers. She said it took her back 45 years.
We were able to have some time on our own, and then met back up for dinner in the pouring rain. The food was pretty good, the company was amazing, and the best part: ‘80s videos on the big-screen TVs all night long.
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