Genaro Hernández
If I could, I would sleep on my farm too. My grandfather was one of the first people to bring seeds from El Salvador, about sixty years ago...
I always planted them eight meters apart because those plants grew so wide. The quality was superb, but nowadays we can no longer afford to work like that.
Years later, my father taught me the basics of coffee farming, and now I've been working my own land for 35 years. I also have some cows. Diversifying is important, as I have a lot of debt due to the chronically low coffee prices. Besides, I love taking care of my cows; they relieve my stress, and their presence helps me relax.
But I work much more on my farm; I have about 8 hectares and I need a few people to help me throughout the year, and at harvest time I need a dozen. These days it's very difficult to find enough people. In a way, that's an advantage, because with a smaller team we need to harvest three or even four times, so the grains we pick are perfectly ripe, picked at their peak.
My daughters used to work with me, but now one lives in California and the other in the nearby city of San Marcos, where she owns a cell phone store. My grandson, however, lives with my wife and me, and he loves coming with me when I bring him to the farm. I doubt he'll want to continue my work, though, because he sees how difficult it is.
He's only thirteen (in 2020), but I taught him to drive when he was just ten. Now he's really good at it, and luckily the police never stop him. In fact, we live in such a remote area that there really isn't any police. We don't need them either, as it's a very safe area.
Since I certified my farm for Fairtrade and organic through Cafesmo, things have improved somewhat. I'm now also working on microlots, and recently (July 2020) I sold some coffee to a roaster in Australia through Cafesmo. In the near future, the plan is to work with roasters in Europe and the United States as well, or even in Asia. I've been told that the demand for high-quality coffee is growing rapidly there.
Property details
8 hectares at 1250 - 1300 meters altitude.
Varieties: Obata , Parainema , Lempira , IH-café 90 , a little bit of Pacas too.
Shade from pines, plane trees, mandarin trees, lime trees, cypress trees, and also local trees such as pepeto and izote.
FTO Certificate .
This farm is certified by the Rain Forest Alliance .
