On our second day of being in Costa Rica, we headed up the mountain to Hacienda Doka, which is a plantation for growing, milling, and transporting coffee. The process of growing coffee is a lot different than I would have ever imagined. The process requires many different steps, all being done in an efficient manner. They have countless different tools and machines to determine if the cherries picked are matching the quality expected. And yes, I said cherries not beans. Coffee first begins their life on a branch, starting off as soldiers to butterflies, to mini trees. These min trees are then transported to a greenhouse where they receive water and sunlight required to grow. Though the climate and rain affects the production of coffee, it does not affect the quality. After the cherries are received, they go through a process called coffee peeling. They then go through a few more steps to peel the mucilage off the seeds and shed the parchment to get the final product we refer to as the coffee bean. Through the entire process, the mucilage and parchment do not go to waste and are reused to fuel the production of coffee. It is a very sustainable process, as the parchment keeps the fire going during the drying the beans and the water that receives the cherries is used for irrigation and cleaning. All of these technology amazes me since they are so efficient with their process and are able to create something beautiful from nothing. I think it is interesting that everything throughout the process is recycled and reused for good purposes. It keeps the process simple yet structured.

In addition to visiting Hacienda Doka, we also went to a strawberry farm. This farm was also in the mountain, but differed greatly from the coffee plantation. The process of planting and harvesting strawberry’s is much simpler and not as complex as the coffee plantation. The strawberry’s are planted in acres of land covered by canopies and since it is up in the mountain close to the clouds, the atmosphere is way more humid when it rains. The rain provides easy nutrients for the bushes and is good for the fertilizer and pesticides. Since the humidity causes fungus and mold, the farm has to use pesticides and fertilizer to plant the strawberry’s and keep them fresh. A strawberry plant is able to last about two years and the farm offers both organic and non-organic strawberry’s. The non-organic uses pesticides and fertilizer while the organic strawberry’s are planted in coconut fibers.

I am not so much surprised as I am amazed by the amount of work it requires to produce coffee. I always thought it was a much simpler process, and that it did not require the amount of machines and technology it actually does. I think there are always ways to improve something, but it seems that Hacienda Doka has successfully produced coffee for countless years and they have been able to complete it in a very efficient manner. As for the strawberry farm process, I think it is efficient and to the point. It is not too hard to maintain, just requires a lot of work and dedication. Overall, both of these processes taught me a lot about the production of coffee and strawberry’s that I wouldn’t think requires that much work and taught me to that small details in the production process matter.