A large group of employees recently went to visit our farming partners in Guatemala at Finca San Jeronimo Miramar. The group consisted of baristas, managers, office and roasters, all enjoying the chance to see how the coffee is actually made. For several, this was their first experience on a coffee farm, while others, it was a chance to reconnect with the beautiful land and generous people!
Enjoy some of the pictures that help explain some of the different areas of the farm and how they are involved in creating all of the delicious coffee exclusively for DMC.
1.) Hybrid Nursery - an area near the main house on the farm. This nursery helps bring the new plants up to standard so they can be planted later into the fields.
Bourbon Faro
An heirloom bourbon from Finca El Faro
2.) Grafting - This technique is used to create new hybrids of plants, helping the farm to avoid disease and create new cultivars of coffee. This one has a robusta (used for rootstock) on the right & a soldier Catuai on the left. The end result is a tree resistant to rust & bearing tastier fruit.
3.) Copper tips - The end result of the grafts. Copper tips denote the rust resistant trees like robusta, typica, liberica...
4.) Cola de Goya - These red, palm like trees are grown to become Amarkers for lots of different cultivars & to allocate space throughout the fields.
5.) Volcanic Fields - A field of mature trees higher up the side of the Atitlan Volcano.
6.) Lake Attitlan Sunrise - The lake is drawn through the base of the volcano, purifying the water even further and utilized in most facets necessary on the farm.
7.) Sunflower & Tony - the AGM & GM of The Mothership at origin, in the volcanic fields.
