Earth Provides the Mocha

In a moment of silliness, we joked about having a “mocha garden” on the land: coffee, cacao, vanilla, miracle berry or stevia, cane sugar. So fast forward..there are a few 3-foot tall coffee plants, and last year we saw the first beans. AND now, there are 55 new seedlings which will eventually be translated to the sunny slope under lotus. This is part of the 5-year plan!

The crew started coffee in the nursery, and this week we began putting the plants into the sunny terraces below lotus house. Beck is getting masterful with the little tractor, sculpting dirt and stacking rocks. The walking path was also cut in (a full half mile loop, lined with @arati’s Keiki coco palms). We’ve started making our own mulch.

Give always this week: ghost peppers. Ping if you want some. They are soooo hot!

The earth provides. Thank you earth.

“Each coffee plant has an annual yield of 1-2 pounds of roasted coffee. Putting that into perspective, it takes 2,000 cherries (5 lbs) to produce one pound of roasted coffee.

Germination: It takes 2 months from seed to germination. After one year of growth, a seedling will stand about one and a half to two feet tall. In these early stages of growth, the juvenile plants require protection from high humidity and direct sunlight. It takes about three years for Hawaii seedlings to reach maturity.

When they begin reproducing, small groupings of fragrant white blossoms will appear. These sweet-smelling flowers are known locally as “Kona snow.” Once the flowers are pollinated, cherries will appear within 15 weeks. It will take another seven to 11 months for the cherries to fully ripen. A mature Hawaii coffee tree will stand at approximately 15 feet tall. They are capable of producing berries for 40-60 years!”