Our coffee farm would be located in the tropics, 20 degrees north and south of the equator. Ideally located near active or recently active volcanic activity so the oxisols receive nutrients and carbon from volcanic ash. Our seeds would be a local varietal that favors the climate near our farms location. The coffee farm would be small enough that it can produce a meaningful yield but still be worked by hand for less environmental impact. Since coffee plants prefer elevation they would be located on an incline, an area not many plants can grow in, around 3000-6000 meters high depending on local high and low temperatures and the location of the frostline. Local labor would be employed at fair livable wages with minimal machinery used. In addition the farm would compost, utilize rain water, minimize removal of local plants, produce as little waste as possible and ideally would have solar panels. The land would be terraced up the incline to trap as much water as possible and hopefully allow for dry farming with the aid of collected rain water. Dry grasses or hay would be lain between crop rows to catch and hold rainwater as well. Other local crops would be grown alongside the coffee but nothing that would produce a canopy too thick to allow sunlight for the coffee cherries to develop their flavor.
Since the cherries don’t all ripen at the same time the cherries would be picked by hand as they ripen to avoid waste by harvesting them all at once and tossing the unripe cherries. After the cherries are harvested they would be fully washed using a high efficiency, low water usage, coffee washing machine we heard about on our field study that washes many pounds of beans with just a liter or two of water. The beans would then be fermented to remove any remnants of coffee cherry fruit. After drying, the cherries would be ready to send out to buyers. Ideally a contract would be lined up with a buyer before the crop was finished for the beans produced and they would be bagged up and shipped out. Even more ideal would be a small coffee roastary attached to the farmhouse to allow for local coffee sales and less pollution from shipping overseas.