Hurricane Mitch

Harvesting Coffee

In Nicaragua, December is the month for harvesting coffee. Coffee is only grown in the high mountains where the climate is cool and it rains a lot. In our municipality coffee is grown in the highest part of the mountains near the community of Los Llanos. After getting out of class at the end of each school year, I always go to stay with my grandfather in the mountains to help harvest coffee.

This is how I harvest coffee: First, I tie around my waist a large basket where I can collect the coffee I pick. In the coffee fields I look for only the ripe fruits that have a bright red color. After filling up my basket, we weigh what I have picked to find out how much I have picked and how much they owe me. Next, we dump the coffee fruits into a machine that separates the skin from the seed inside. This is what they call the Seed of Gold. After separating out the seeds, they have to wash them well and leave them out to dry. Usually, the coffee finca owners sell the coffee this way to larger companies that toast and sell it in countries far away. However, many people also prepare fresh coffee at home. First they toast a small amount of beans on the comal over the fire and then grind it by hand or at the mill into a fine powder.

Harvesting coffee is very hard work. It takes a long time to fill an entire basket with coffee and then you have to be strong to carry it all the way to the weighing station where they pay you. And they don't pay well. However, I like harvesting coffee. It's fun to spend time in the mountains with my friends and I like to help my family pay for the expenses of my studies and of the our household with the money that I make. ~ Denis Joel