Diego Cardona

FINCA PUHUB´LAJ STORY

Diego Cardona runs a 1-hectare farm in the beautiful mountains of San Antonio Huista called Puhub’laj. It takes this name because it’s a place with forests, wild animals, springs, and streams, between mountains and rocks, a name that appears in the native Mayan language of the community, the Popti’ or Jakalteko. He tells us that his main motivation for growing specialty coffee is to improve his standard of living and provide education for his family. In addition to growing coffee, he also grows corn and beans to have another source of income.

To process the coffee of this harvest, Diego implemented the following process. The coffee is harvested when it has reached its optimal degree of maturity (red), it is pulped the same day it is harvested and fermented for 24 hours. It is washed to remove all the mucilage, and then it is put to dry. The drying process lasts from 5 to 7 days.

Currently, Diego has several varieties on his farm such as Bourbon 30%, Pache 35% and Caturra 35%, and his harvest in this area goes from January to April since the farm is found at about 1650 MASL. He is part of our Grower’s Education Program as a new farmer relationship in the region.