The Pony Express

In 2019, Maria and her family started buying and growing coffee. Previously, they had only grown corn and beans, but with a lot of effort over the last few years they’ve have been buying other small plots that already contained coffee plants and planting more themselves. In total, they now have 26 cuerdas (about 1.1 hectares) of coffee plantations.

Two years ago, the family bought the Sakchibal parcel, their most recent addition to the farm. Maria fought for the opportunity to buy the land. It’s a plot that’s far away from her house, so working it requires a lot of effort, but the family is willing to make it work.

For the harvest, the family moves the depulper to the plot they have located above Petatan. (Coffee harvested from other parcelas is moved to that farm to be processed, as well.) They start processing around 2 PM, hand sorting out defects, with the coffee resting in a large container to ferment. Fermentation lasts 24-36 hours and before the coffee is washed. It then sits for a second night in clean water to finish removing any trace of mucilage. The coffee is dried on a patio and monitored and turned constantly by Maria’s husband. It stays in the sun from 7 AM until 4 PM for about 4 days until it’s fully dry.