Eulalio García, Finca La Huerta

Sometimes it's tough: the leaf rust that can suddenly and viciously attack your farm, the chronically low prices we get for our coffee, or the large amount of work that exhausts us, especially during the harvest.

But when it comes down to it, there's nothing I'd rather do than be on the farm, tending to my plants, admiring them, even talking to them. My son and daughter were also drawn to the farm when they were little. In fact, my son Ever learned to be a construction worker but much prefers the farm, as does my daughter Mayorie, who became "addicted" to it from the age of twelve, by her own definition.

The three of us are able to manage the work for most of the year on our 7 hectares, but during the harvest season we need to hire help. We also have two very loyal and hardworking donkeys that carry the sacks of coffee from our land to the road, since even off-road vehicles can't access the last part and it's too much coffee to carry on our shoulders after a long day of picking.

At the end of the day, we all head home—donkeys included!—for a hearty meal and a well-deserved cup of coffee to recharge our batteries for the evening hours, when we work in our wet mill, drying our coffees. We have a solar dryer for drying specialty coffees and focus primarily on producing honey-processed micro-lots.

Sometimes we think about who drinks our coffee months after the harvest, or where they live, and, more importantly for us, what they think of the flavor and quality. It would be wonderful to connect with our end consumers and learn their preferences. In any case, we are convinced that our coffee is the best in the world, at least for us, when we enjoy it with breakfast to start another day full of energy.