Coffee has become an indispensable drink for most of the people in the morning. The greatest majority have no idea how to process coffee beans and a lot of things behind this usual drink except the coffee lovers and specialists in the coffee field. In the past, I was one of them 😁, I just knew order a cup of pure coffee without skepticism about its quality. However, years went past and everything has changed to me. _
Well, I have been through the harvesting coffee seasons with local farmers then made the coffee beans for drinking (When I was a child, sometimes I helped my mother harvest coffee but that time I was too young to understand that work). To have such a great coffee product in the market, the farmers must to take a lot of time and efforts to take good care of the coffee-tree from the growing season to flower stage and fruit season in the end.
In Viet Nam, the crop time starts in the winter season, from November to the first month of the year, the farmers will havest the red coffee fruits which gradually turn red from the green in the color’s pod.
After harvesting, growers have to take into account the weather and the condition of coffee-trees to trim the branches, put down fertilize, supply enough water (usually 2 or 3 times in the dry season), get rid of buds… and wait for the day the trees have fruits and being ripe.
On December last year, I spent 4 days collecting the red fruits with 2 of my friends . I enjoyed sitting under the big sheet, used my hands to pluck off the fruits from all branches, from one to another trees in turn.
Landscape on the way to my garden
The first day of harvesting, we came to my garden at 8 am to get rid of fog
The second day of harvesting, the weather was more better with a lot of sunshine.
The third day of harvesting, I have to carry out bag of coffee.
The last day of harvesting, I was so happy to finish crop season 😁.
Up till last month, with one time of watering and putting down fertilizer, the coffee-trees in my garden have bloomed gradually. Fortunately, for the second time of watering, the weather has changed and rained these days heavily so I can take my time to do another work while seeing the weather. ^^
This morning, I dropped by my garden and watched out the trees as usual. The cool white color likely the snow were full bloom in all branches of cofee-tree. This is the sign I know that the raining these days has supplied a lot of water for my garden.
The flowers shed their perfume around which has taken bees and butterflies to take pollen and honey inside the centre of it. I wish I could pause this moment for a second then turned into one of the bees in order to feel the sweet from flowers.😌
Why is water so important for coffee-tree?
In my own experiences, water is always a difficult part in growing and caring coffee. Coffee-tree is a plant that needs plenty of water to stimulate blooming stage from its branches. If we supply a little water or water it in wrong time, this absolutely affects the process of producing fruits.
Although coffee-trees require a lot of water, it does not mean we can let them being waterlogged, so the drainage system is also one of aspects that I have to pay attention. My area just only has two seasons: dry and raining season, it means I have to stock the amount of water to support coffee-trees in the dry season.
This is the pond that I keep water to supply my garden
Why do I need to trim branches of this plant?
The fruits of coffee are brought forth from these branches, I need to clean the dry one, cut down the branches which are pointing the wrong direction and let new one with an excellent form can be created for the next season. Besides, coffee-tree needs sunlight to photosynthesize, it means I have to create enough space into the tree for that process. Notice that too much sunlight can harm the coffee-trees, I have to grown some high trees to shade coffee-trees in some certain conditions.
What will I do on the following days?
From this time, there is a few work I need to do till the next harvest season on December this year.
For more detail, next month, I will cut down the wild grass, will not let it rise higher than the coffee-trees. Then on June, I will put down cow dung to them in order to feed more nutrients and minerals for their growing and fruits. The last stuff I need to do is only about trim buds springing up from the tree-trunks. That is all I have to do 😄.
With a bit of patience, I am still lack of handle experiences with what happens in my garden, but I am not worry about it cause Whatever come will come!😌 Though I am living in the information technology age, not everything that I can deal with. I always conceive that the nature gives us life, so i should respect and live in harmony with mother nature. 😊
All our best wished at the weekend, love you all!