Mom, where do baby coffees come from?

There is a huge pile of dark black topsoil in Las Lomitas. Fortunately there is a road (of sorts) that leads towards where it rests. Unfortunately, the last little tail of the road ends at the base of an enormous slope about 100 meters downhill from where that beautiful dirt lies in waiting. A friend in town, Len, told me I could take as much as I wanted since he was done with it. So I and a couple of my gardening guys have been filling feed sacks and hauling them through the yucca fields and down the slick path on our shoulders. 100 pounds at a time, each sack gets chucked onto our car's roof rack every time I get a spare minute. We've hauled about 40 sacks so far and there is still at least that much again to be brought down.

However, this entry is not about garden, or the dirt, but the beautiful thing that the dirt was piled up for in the first place. Len is an exceptionally thorough cembrador and has a gorgeous coffee nursery in cultivation at the topsoil site. 10,000 petite plastic bags are currently full of that same soil and are functioning as 10,000 tiny cribs for 10,000 baby coffee plants. I have seen quite a few such nurseries, but never one so beautifully maintained or with so many healthy-looking sprouts. About one month out from when they were sown, you can nearly hear the little guys squealing with delight --well-rested, well-fed, and safe. He will grow these plants on in the shade of the dry tree fern fronds until they are about one foot tall and then plant them out into the surrounding hillsides. I thought this was an exceptional example of a common labor here in Las Lomitas and was worth sharing. Enjoy the photos below.