ONA - Colombia Finca La Merced - Colombia - Washed - Colombia, Castillo

Don Roberto Giraldo Lopez – known simply as Giraldo to his friends and loved ones – has been growing coffee throughout the department of Nariño, Colombia for the last 12 years. He used to be a frijol (bean) farmer, a crop widely cultivated throughout the municipality of Yacuanquer, where Giraldo’s Finca La Merced is located.

Unfortunately, bean yields only one harvest a year, while coffee can have up to two harvests – sometimes within less than twelve months. Once Giraldo realised this, and began hearing murmurs in the community about the prospect of coffee growing, he switched crops and never looked back.

La Merced spans a little over one hectare, but Don Giraldo makes use of the space. He also grows a variety of plantain called plátano guineo (guinea plantain), and plants corn alongside his Colombia variety coffee trees, which helps with pest control and keeps the feisty green parrots that terrorise this area with their loud squawking and insatiable hunger – luckily, they haven’t developed a taste for coffee cherries.