Harvesting coffee, part two

In my previous post on harvesting coffee, I explained how farmers traditionally harvest coffee.

Or so I thought.

After farmers pass through their fields the first time, they return a few weeks or months later to pick up any beans that fell off on to the ground and missed the first time they harvested.

Here's how they do it.

They go through their field with a rake and make piles of dry leaves and beans every few meters. After they have made piles in all the rows in their field, they will go through with a sieve to separate the beans from the leaves and dirt in a process known as "blowing coffee."

I believe that it gets this name because they throw the beans and leaves into the air during the process. The leaves are lighter, less aerodynamic, and don't fall as quickly, whereas the beans come right back down.

Ivan, my host dad at this farm

Ivan, pictured above, and I were working on his uncle's property this day. All of his neighbors are his relatives, so they just rotate between each other's properties, helping their family member's get the most out of their coffee harvest as possible.