Four Acres Put to Work

This week, students in the Climate Change Mitigation program took a short field trip to a nearby coffee plantation in the mountain next to campus. Even though we had to sludge through a fair amount of mud and gravel to make our way to the farm, it was well worth the early morning hike.

At the "finca" or estate, we learned just how efficient a four acre plot of land can be. Mauricio, one of the many relatives that have tended the farm over the past century, explained the ways in which climate change has impacted his family farm over the years. He even mentioned that some of the changes have been beneficial to the plants, even if overall climate change is problematic as a whole, especially for some animal species. For example, he used the case of a rotating crop schedule in which coffee bushes used to bloom and fruit simultaneously, but now each coffee plant ripens at a different rate. This is great for tourists who want to see the entire lifecycle of the coffee plant, but not so great for harvesting at sporatic intervals. Changing temperatures and moisture levels have also contributed to some fungal overgrowth on the coffee leaves.

In order to financially sustain the farm, his family has also integrated a variety of other plants. Students were able to taste the fruits (pun!) of their labor. After a beautiful walk through the gardens replete with baby pineapples and pokey blackberry bushes, we snacked on freshly picked bananas, mangoes you could eat the skin right off of, and sweet limes. We also each tasted, with mixed reviews, a fresh cup of sugarcane juice. The real culinary geniuses among us added a spalsh of lime for some limonada. The trip ended with a short activity in which CCM kids wrote up brief observations of coffee bushes. These notes will be used to monitor harmful fungus and leaf-cutter ants developing on the crops over the next few weeks.

When we finally made it back to campus, everyone was ready for a hearty lunch, quick siesta, and engaging Spanish classes. This weekend we visited the on-campus integreated farm and headed out for an even more thrilling experience in the El Tigre Waterfalls. It was a glorious way to celebrate the past week, and we even saw a Morpho butterfly - a rare find specific to rainforests. Everyone is resting up after a long trek and horseback ride before we go Tarzaning through the forest tomorrow via zipline.