Under the saman trees
This time we weren't there for the harvest, so it was a quieter visit than usual. An afternoon with Silvia and her family in Ciudad Bolívar, the small coffee town a couple of hours south of Medellín.
We spent most of it on Plaza Bolívar, under the saman trees. Twelve of them line the square, wide and sprawling, giving the place a feeling that's hard to put into words.
The saman is the symbol of Ciudad Bolívar, and sitting there you understand why.
Farmers, traders, people from all corners of the coffee world end up here at some point, over a tintico and a chat about the season. That's exactly how our afternoon went.
Afterwards we drove up to the finca. The trees are in bloom right now.
Small white flowers scattered across the branches, the plants quietly preparing to set fruit for the Traviesa, the smaller mid-harvest that usually falls in April and May here in Antioquia.
The thing on everyone's mind is the weather. Colombia has been in a La Niña cycle for a while, which in this part of the Andes means more rain and cooler temperatures than usual. Earlier this year Antioquia was one of the worst affected regions, and too much moisture during flowering can really hurt the quality of what follows. It's one of those things you can't control, only adapt to.
Silvia is doing exactly that. She's been making biochar on the finca, burning organic matter and working it back into the soil to build resilience over time.
She's also mulching with dried leaves to retain moisture and feed the soil slowly. Both are rooted in permaculture, and walking the land you can see it's working. The trees look healthy.
We're hoping to get back later in the year when the main harvest is underway. Until then, we'll keep the finca page updated with news from Silvia.