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905-681-3440 SHOWROOM: 4380 SOUTH SERVICE ROAD, BURLINGTON OR VISIT US AT WWW.MAINTEMP.CA PROUDLY SERVING HALTON SINCE 1987 SALES SERVICE TO ALL MAKES RECEIVE UP TO $3855 IN REBATES Eco Energy Rebates Eco Energy Grants set to expire March 31, 2011 OPA Energy Rebates OPA Grants set to expire December 31, 2010 Carrier rebates (Limited Time Offer O.A.C.) Call for details NO PAYMENTS, NO INTEREST FOR 6 MONTHS DONT MISS OUT Deal direct with the owner Expert, next day installation Factory trained technicians 100% satisfaction guaranteed 17 Thursday , Septem ber 16, 2010 O A KVILLE BEA V ER w w w .o akvillebeaver .co m By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF When it comes to harvesting quality coffee plants, its likely few people know more than Reynaldo Fiallos, a third generation coffee farmer, who visited Oakville this week. Fiallos is the operator of the Finca La Union farm in the Central American nation of Nicaragua. On Tuesday, he came to Oakvilles wholesale and retail supplier Reunion Island Coffee, which has a direct trade relationship with La Union. On his visit, Fiallos spoke with the wholesalers employees and visitors about what makes some coffees superior to others, including his own organically grown crops. Pick the coffee in the right ripeness. Dont mix (varieties). Learn how to ferment and how to wash coffee. Learn how to dry coffee. Thats what makes quality coffee, he said. He empha- sized that the drying portion of the process is the key point to producing quality coffee. The fruit gets picked, and then the seed inside (otherwise known as a coffee bean) is washed, then sorted to look for damaged beans, and then dried at his farm, Fiallos said. The process takes about a month and Fiallos said the drying is the most important, required to be done slowly and patiently. He added that coffee that is dried in a rush has a shorter shelf life. Our coffee is raked regularly. We move it at least every hour to get it dried evenly, he said. The seeds are dried on beds and, unlike in some other parts of the world, it is left uncov- ered so that it can get the most sunlight and air it can to dry. The farm was founded by Fiallos late father, Reynaldo Sr., in 1935, when he was a young man himself. The farm itself was the union of various neighbour farms. He said his farm has a good geographical location for the growing of coffee, with just the right altitude, temperatures and precipitation, which is a good base for the growth of the trees. Fiallos learned about preparation of cof- fee from his father, who learned from his own father. Each batch that is picked at his farm is kept separate so that the workers are able to keep track of every batch that is processed. Fiallos daughter, Maria, who came on a visit, added that keeping each batch separate allows them to pinpoint the exact location of a disease on a specific plantation, if there is any. She added large-scale mechanized farm opera- tions are unable to separate batches because their production levels are so great there would not be enough tracts of land to dry everything separately. Fiallos said his farm still has trees that were planted by his father, who passed away in 1982, and some trees are as much as 50 years old. However, after old trees are removed to make way for new ones, the earth first gets a treat- ment. New dirt is placed on the old soil along with natural fertilizer, in this case cow manure, and with compost. The compost itself takes a year to produce, most of it being coffee pulp. The compost itself has to be hauled to the various plantations by workers, which takes a long time, and therefore costs more to produce. However, Fiallos said the expensive proce- dure is necessary. Coffee is a plant that likes the sun and with more sun there is more production which needs more nutrients in the soil, he said. Maria compared growing coffee to a womans pregnancy. If a tree doesnt get enough nutrients it will drop its fruit, she said. Another important component of growing coffee is the sun itself. The various varieties of coffee plants are spaced out at different inter- vals, depending on how much sunlight is required. Furthermore, other trees, which grow throughout the plantation, are pruned so that the coffee plants can receive more, and also an even, amount of sunlight. Another important component for Fiallos is keeping the biodiversity of his land intact. He does this by ensuring the native vegetation is there to sustain the wildlife, which can offset some of the crop destroyers. Climate, on the other hand, is a force that cannot be controlled. Fiallos said temperatures have been on the rise and since 1998 there has been a reduction in rainfall so that hes had to create an irrigation system to keep his plants hydrated. However, a new problem this year is that there has been too much rain. Its a big problem. The ground is so soft that with minimal wind the big trees fall down. Fiallos has been exporting his coffee to Third generation coffee farmer reveals secret for quality brew Reynaldo Fiallos