Sustainability at Finca La Cabra
Regenerative Agriculture & Sustainability
Regenerative Agriculture
At Finca La Cabra, we wholeheartedly embrace regenerative agriculture, focusing on soil health, biodiversity conservation, and sustainability.
By implementing practices like cover cropping, shade tree planting, and fostering mycelia networks, we enhance soil fertility and carbon sequestration while reducing erosion risks. We prioritize biodiversity by providing habitat for wildlife through shade tree planting. We also aim to reduce external inputs, fostering self-sustaining systems.
By embracing regenerative agriculture, we are not only ensuring the long-term viability of our coffee farm but also contributing to a more sustainable and resilient future for the entire coffee industry. At Finca La Cabra, we believe that by nurturing the land and working in harmony with nature, we can create a thriving ecosystem that benefits both people and the planet.
Sustainability Philosophy
Sustainability will also be top-of-mind when we construct our wet mill in the coming years. This mill will be very deliberate with its use of water, using it for coffee processing before returning the water to the nearby river. The wet mill be a very important addition to Finca La Cabra, and not just for its ecological properties. Finca La Cabra will be the first of my farms to feature an on-site mill. Not only will the addition of the wet mill allow us to streamline our logistics, it will also enable us to have much more leeway with our processing. We will not be able to facilitate experiments with different methods, introduce new processing styles, and employ all of our creativity to realize the quality potential of every cherry.
As someone who has devoted the last 10-plus years of my professional life to using processing methods and other techniques to produce exquisite coffees, I cannot express how excited I am to have this on-site washing station to help make our wildest ideas come true.
One technique I‘ve learned about—and that I have been very happy to try out at Finca La Cabra—is our unique planting method. Using our 20,000 seedlings at Finca La Cabra, we have been planting two trees per hole, rather than the traditional one tree per hole. This creates somewhat of a natural competition between the two trees, and we will allow the stronger-showing tree to grow out and reach a productive state. The other tree will still grow but will be kept shorter by pruning, but through a cyclical pruning, it will eventually grow out. Through this method, we will able to bring out the best of every tree at Finca La Cabra.
