B. bassiana fungus

update 12/18/2010 by Melanie Bondera Thank you for all your feedback and input! We’ve sent the fungus off to several labs for identification. Farmers should go out and collect any b. bassiana fungus from their own farms before the harvest season ends and there are no more coffee cherries. Here’s my suggested collection procedure. Find…

Initial CBB Observation by KCFA Farmer

Melanie Bondera- November 2010 Beauvaria bassiana fungus and Coffee Borer Beetle I went to the CBB Farmer meeting at Yano Hall on Tuesday, 11/8/10. I was not satisfied with the material being presented, but was very curious about a comment by another coffee farmer. He suggested that we’ve actually had Coffee Borer Beetle for a…

Kona Coffee Farmer Costs

The Kona Coffee farmer farms under the US Department of Agriculture regulations, paying employees a fair wage, adhering to all the rules & regulations. The Kona Coffee farmer is an independent farmer, paying taxes, health insurance, property insurance etc Land is expensive in Hawaii Fuel and fertilizer etc. must be shipped long distances to get…

Bob Smith’s Fertiliser Distributor/Applicator Invention

Supplies Needed Beforehand Thin wall PVC Pipe, 1.5 inches in diameter, 21-24 inches long Two MacNut Bags (1 used for shoulder harness) Sash Cord for Harness – approximately 3 feet (or more) long Smaller diameter cord for securing PVC to bag – approximately 6 feet and also another 2 feet for securing bag to shoulder…

Coffee Mucilage

BEST PRACTICES: COFFEE MUCILAGE by Nancy Griffith (what I have learned as of Oct 18, 2006) After harvesting and removing the skins [pulping] of coffee cherry, the mucilage needs to be removed from the seed.  The soft and slippery mucilage is actually the fruit of the coffee, as opposed to the skin and the seed. …

Small Scale On-Farm Processing

BEST PRACTICES: Small Scale On-Farm Processing by Kenneth Sheppard 1/10/05. The following is my collective wisdom from having processed coffee on this site for about 8 years. Feel free to disagree with or ignore any of it. This workshop is to help facilitate the free exchange of ideas. The Pioneer Farmers got things just about…

Planting Panel Notes

BEST PRACTICES: PLANTING PRACTICES PANEL NOTES EMPHASIS ON NEW PLANTINGS Sally Rice:  As a “contract coffee farmer,” she works with planting raw land. She uses bulldozers to prepare soil well, she chips organic material, rather than burying it, to avoid pits in a few years when the organic material decays. She fertilizes before she plants…