What’s better than a chore chart to ensure that the workers will be able to keep working? Um, well, if you’re working on a coffee farm, the answer to that question is SIX TONS of fertilizer. Yes, Russell just purchased five heaping pickup truckloads of fertilizer to be spread on the farm. He also purchased a lot of liquid fertilizer, vitamins, and insecticides to be sprayed from backpack sprayers onto the coffee plants.
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| The men mix up the exact combination of nutrients for our soil, before distributing the fertilizer |
Russell was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to purchase everything. He had been concerned that COVID-19 would throw a monkey wrench into the buying process. Fortunately, his supplier was eager to get such a large amount together for him.
The work has already begun. Even if Russell were staying in Honduras, this would have been on the “chore chart” for September. They are expecting a booming coffee harvest, thanks to a shorter than normal dry season. The plants from (planted in) 2016 and 2017 are expected to yield a lot of fruit this year. Even the more mature plants from 2014 and 2015 are producing more than last year. More coffee means more money that can be put back into the ministry.
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| Check out all the beans on this one coffee plant! |
This year, Russell will be making two trips to the States for the backpack collection trip. By the time the coffee harvest starts at the end of October or the beginning of November, he will be home. While he is gone, the coffee farm is in good hands. The crew knows what to do, but just in case, RJ is there to help the men keep an eye on things.
RJ gave me a little tutorial about harvesting coffee. FYI, you pick the red berries and there are no red ones yet. RJ was a man of few words for our phone call, but I was told he had just rolled out of bed and hadn’t had his coffee yet.
- posted by Christi
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