More than 20 years ago, Marcia together with her husband bought a plot of land and over years of dedication, hard work and patience established a thriving coffee farm and built a warm and welcoming family home.
Progress was slow, and Marcia says: ‘Most of our money goes back into the farm and budgets are usually tight. Working with coffee gives us days of disappointment when coffee prices are low and we have to be artists to keep our expenses at bay. But it also provides days of happiness, especially when we produce quality coffees which are recognised making the effort worthwhile for me and my family.’
Picture: Homegrown vegetables to substitute the family income
Whilst coffee for export is the main income for the family, Márcia and her daughter, Andressa, roast their own coffee in 1 kilo batches over an open fire which is then sold locally.
Picture: Home-raosted coffee
We often hear about the succession challenge for coffee farmers. Not so for Marcia. Andressa, her 19 year old daughter, has already leased her first plot of land to produce coffee, and Bruno, her 14 year old son, plans to study agronomy.
Márcia is a true warrior and always is up for a challenge. So, it was no surprise to listen to the pride with which Márcia told us the story of how she had won a competition for the fastest coffee picker of Minas Gerais, Brazilian’s largest coffee producing state. Unbelievably she harvested with a hand rake 108 kilos of coffee cherries in 30 minutes!
Márcia harvested this microlot by selective picking. The cherries where then dried on African drying beds.
* * *
Enjoy tea rose aromas upfront, followed by red fruits and a rapadura-like sweetness in your cup.
