Other Crops We Grow on the Farm

One of our goals for the finca (farm) was to maintain a rich polyculture. When we purchased the land, some of the land had been (stupidly) cleared of foliage, including some of the old-growth trees that provide the natural shade canopy that makes our coffee so rich and prevents acid development in the beans. Shade allows us to grow a gentle cup of coffee.

Old growth trees provide shade for the coffee.

Because we had to provide shade for certain areas, we looked into what local crops we could grow that would offer both shade and food. Bananas are a natural pick. Our farm is too high to be the ultimate banana-growing environment. Bananas like heat more than coffee does, but we can still grow bananas, which we do.

Banana trees supplement the old growth canopy, some of which was cut away by previous owners.

Green bananas from the farm, ready to go to town. Strangely, Nicaraguans pay a premium for green bananas.

One of the parcels of land we purchased has mature papaya trees. Papayas also provide the ideal filtered shade for the coffee.

Big papayas, on the tree....

Field of papaya trees.

After we purchased the first piece of land that is now part of the farm, the price of beans and corn went up so fast that our workers were having trouble keeping up. We decided to plant some beans and corn on the farm so that they would have food they could afford, and so that they didn't have to go all the way to town (2+ hours on foot plus the bus) to get staples that we could grow on site.

Corn grown on the farm. Nicaraguans use young (not fully ripened) corn to make a popular beverage, so these were picked early.

Field of corn on the farm. Unlike the fields of corn you see driving through Indiana or Illinois, our corn field is far from flat,and it is a rich polyculture. No sprays are used to prevent the growth of weeds or insects. "Live and let live."

When we were in Matagalpa in August of 2010, we saw many women carrying baskets full o little baggies of fried, what looked like potato chips, on their heads. These women were like the Nicaraguan vending machines. They were everywhere. We bought some of these chips, which were malanga chips. They were kind of like potato chips, but denser and less greasy. Also, we noticed that the bag of malanga chips were still crisp after 3 days, while the open bag of potato chips we purchased at the same time were soggy.

Field of malanga plants on the farm. Malanga grows in the wet areas. Alex, our business manager, is in the middle of two farm workers.

Harvested malanga being bagged up for sale.

We loved the malanga chips. Nicaraguans also eat chayote, which looks like a thick-skinned pear, but is actually a vegetable.  More on that tomorrow....