After we packed up from our quick two night stay in Monteverde we headed to our final Coffee Farm, Life Monteverde. This place was so beautiful, and very insightful as an engineer. A lot of the other farms we had visited focused more on the business perspective of their coffee, and not so much the sustainability or engineering. At Life Monteverde we had a nice talk, tour, a little bit of manual labor, and coffee tasting (OF COURSE).

During our visit, we learned what a typical life of a Tico farmer looks like. This farm was especially different than the other ones because they had less employees, and they do everything manually. Tico farmers normally check on their crops, raise their animals, maybe plant new crops (we planted corn for them today), and just ensure everything is moving smoothly. Many farmers face challenges with sustainability on their farms. They have trouble combatting the usage of water, keep plants healthy, and in Monteverde, conserving parts of the rainforest. Life Monteverde has actually found some ways to stay more sustainable than others and I find that very intriguing. It was exciting to experience a day in the life of a Tico farmer and really understand why they love their job. Many Tico farmers grew up on the farm and have always worked, but I really love how passionate they are about their coffee and land.

Farmers and their families have been affected by the modern world. The main way is the fact that their are many more competing businesses from other countries. These products are normally cheaper for Costa Ricans than the product made in Costa Rica. An example of this are avocados from Mexico (cue that one commercial). Engineering plays a major role in farming in Costa Rica. As I said earlier, many farmers need to find process to maintain their environment. For example, the farmers at Life Monteverde use charcoal in their compost to maintain water in the ground. This helps with water usage, because it allows water absorption (which can then be used during the dry season, almost like a camels hump). Lastly, if I were a child of a Tico farmer I would look into finding other ways to maintain water and how to use the least amount of land for farming, so the rest can be conserved for the forests.

After we visited Life Monteverde we boarded the bus for a long journey back to our home stays in Heredia.