The beans have survived the year without fertiliser their size is testament to that. Without the use of pesticides we have been able to produce a crop that is as close to organic as our budget allows. Certification is a distant dream for the Knockrow plantation.
With a lot of support from the subtropical coffee association we were able to harvest and process our magnificent crop without mishap. Ron and his mighty machine made short work of the 15, 000 trees. The low yield on each tree meant the harvester was able to move through the rows at nearly 8 km/h.
The beans were then processed two ways. Wet and Dry. The wet processed beans were the product of Jos' water separator and pulping setup. Without the amazing effort Jos, Craig and Rob made on the day made on the day no harvest would have been had at all.
After sundrying on the shade cloth terraces for about two weeks the beans were ready for the huller. Corinne graciously allowed us to take over her state of the art hulling set up for the day and then plied us with ice treats that left us exhausted but satisfied.
The kids of course were wonderful throughout the long season, patiently waiting as I tried to fix the bloody tractor, talked coffee with other farmers or nipped out to do"just a couple of hours" slashing.
Many lessons have been learn with this years harvest, many of which will inform our work patterns for the coming year. The 2010 harvest is begining to look healthy already after an abundance of rain over the Christmas period.
