Costa Rica Jardin de Aromas
Farm Notes
(Credit Sweet Maria's)
As you enter the gates of Jardin de Aromas, the stunning floral gives meaning to the "garden of aromas" name. There are coffee shrubs too, of course, but the brightly colored bougainvilleas offer splashes of color to the pathways throughout the farm. Jardin is truly one of the most beautiful of the larger farms in terms of the grounds, as well as organization on the part of owner/operator Carol Binden. The farm is broken into several plots, the names coinciding with the surrounding flora: papaya, aguacate, quizarra, carrizal...etc. Carol explained how they prune their coffee trees in 5 year cycles, with a complete replant after 4 cycles. You can see this as you walk the farm, rows of coffee at varying heights, a physical representation of the tight order that is kept. The latter is also apparent as Carol explains her lot numbering system, numbers assigned to each day lot from each individual plot that follows the coffee from the day is is picked, to when it is finally bagged and stored in her storage facility. The farm sits on the low part of the slopes of Barva Volcano in Costa Rica's West Valley, affording nutrient rich soil from age old mineral deposits from ancient volcanic eruptions.