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Joe Checks In From Bolivia:

I am located 12 hours from La Paz, Bolivia, in the state of La Paz where lay several small communities and villages. Here in the southern end of the expansive Andes Mountain chain, life is hard and the challenges are many. This area's ecological designation, is known as "humid sub-tropic forest", elevations range from 1300 - 1800 meters (4225 - 5850 feet). The average size of the organic coffee farms here are 1.25 - 4.5 hectares (3 - 11 acres). The terrain is rugged and steep, and the forest is lush and beautiful. One of the main forest tree species here is Mahogany.

These coffee farmers are known as "Colonials". During the 1950's, wealthy and large land owners took over this region. They confiscated the properties from the native people, then enslaved the people by forcing them to work for them.
In 1991, through a governmental land reform, the larger landowners were made to relinquish their holdings of these small farms and return the rightful ownership back to the families whom originally owned them. These small farms still surround the parameters of the large landowners, but they are no longer reliant on the large landowners for their survival. They are independent and have title to their own land. They now have freedom to search for ways to improve their income, their own lives, and the health of their community.

There are 41 small coffee producers that participate in our organic coffee project. These coffee farmers have been working with a Bolivian organic organization to learn ways to improve their cultivation practices, increase production, and improve the quality of their product. With these efforts, they hope to receive a better price and help preserve and improve their environment. Organic Products Trading Company has made commitments with these growers, their families, and community leaders to support this project, not only by buying their organic coffee, but also working with them to accomplish these goals that we mutually agreed on:

Improve existing patios and build "wood-framed" raised structures for drying wet paragamino.

Coffee seed propagation and developing nursery stock.

Support coffee technicians in training farmers in better pruning techniques

Pruning forest /jungle trees to allow more sunlight (even shade grown coffee needs a minimum of 60% sunlight to grow well).

Support and promote better composting.

The coffee trees are older cultivars: Typica and Bourbon. During the harvest period there are three cherry pickings: March-April, May-June, and August-September. The coffee cherries are hand picked, usually by women in the communities when the cherry's reach full maturity, full red cherry. When the coffee tree is too tall to reach the cherries, ladders made of mahogany are used. The cherry pickers sometimes use a wooden pole placed in the crotch of two trees, then balance themselves on the pole above the ground to reach the higher coffee cherries. The coffee grain, or bean itself, is medium-large in size. The coffee is slightly spicy, full to heavy bodied, mild acidity and has a good balance. The coffee is available now, so don't wait to try this wonderful and unique coffee.