Coffea arabica

HOW long could you go without coffee?

With the recent climate change induced flooding shocking everyone, how resilient are our supplies, really?

If the trucks stopped for a while the shops would be empty of essentials very quickly and I imagine coffee could be a rare luxury.

In good news, coffee grows really well all by itself in this area.

So well, that it’s considered a sleeper weed.

Net trees while they are in fruit to prevent birds from spreading the seeds in the cherries which they are quite attracted to, and which then germinate and grow almost anywhere they land, because coffee happily grows in the shade.

How many trees?

One mature tree gives 250 – 600 grams of dry green beans each year.

Each tree can be kept pruned to 3m.

How long to a cuppa?

At least four years to maturity from seedling and the tree should last ten to fifteen years.

It can also be grown from cuttings.

Most dropped coffee cherries will germinate so there should be no trouble in replacing trees.

What it hates

Frost. Even short periods below 0°C will defoliate the bush.

That’s bad, really bad!

Waterlogging. A well drained soil is essential.

They have no tolerance for soggy ground.

Wind. The bush is a bit sensitive to wind damage.

Wind also knocks off the flowers or cherries that would otherwise become your beans.

Which one? That’s easy.

Due to climate requirements, C. arabica is the only species used for commercial coffee production in Australia.

Home preparation of coffee beans to drink is a bit of a process.

You might need a coffee to home-prepare coffee!

The coffee bush will flower over a period of time and the cherries which contain the coffee beans (the seed) ripen throughout August to October in this area.

This means they will need to be regularly picked over the season and can’t just be gathered in one session.

Once picked, they will need soaking, peeling off the fruit, soaking again, drying (unless you’re ready to roast immediately) and roasting.

I hear a popcorn maker is goldilocks for roasting coffee beans.

Green beans can be dry fried in a frypan over a flame.

There is also oven roasting.

There’s more!

Go to www.wherefishsing.com and look under Bello Food Gardening.

Supported by Bellingen Shire Council via the Bellingen Shire Disaster Recovery and Resilience Grant Program Funding.

 

By Fiona MORGAN