This is the final instalment of my account of the 2023–24 growing season at our family farm in El Salvador. We’ve followed the trees through the work of the year. Now comes the part everyone has been waiting for: picking the coffee cherries.
Harvest is exciting. It’s also when the decisions we made months earlier meet the weather, the condition of the trees and the work we can do today. We won’t know everything about the coffee until it has been processed and tasted, but we can give it a good start by paying close attention to the fruit we pick.
When does coffee harvest begin on our farm?
For the season I’m describing, we expected most picking to take place from December through January, with some areas possibly continuing into mid-February. That is our farm’s schedule for this harvest, not a fixed date for every coffee farm or every year.
October and November felt quieter than the rainy season, but they weren’t idle. The team continued checking the trees, managing weeds and maintaining roads so people could reach the different areas during harvest. By late October, we were watching how the cherries were developing and planning where pickers would need to go first.
My father, Mauricio, was in El Salvador overseeing the harvest that season. Knowing the farm well matters at this point. One section may be ready while another needs more time.
From left to right: Beatriz (My sister), my dad and my aunt at the farm last week.
Why do we pick the same trees more than once?
Coffee cherries on the same farm—and sometimes on the same tree—do not all ripen together. Variety, elevation and the timing of flowering can all affect when a section is ready.
Our plan that season was to make three picking passes:
- First pass: Pick the ripe cherries and leave fruit that still needs time on the tree.
- Second pass: Return when more cherries have matured and collect much of the crop.
- Final pass: Clear the remaining fruit as we finish the harvest, then sort it according to ripeness and quality.
That last distinction is important. “Pick everything left” does not mean sending every cherry into our highest-quality lots. Fruit collected at the end can include cherries at different stages of maturity. We sort it rather than pretending it all belongs in the same coffee.
Several visits take more planning and labour than one sweep through the trees. They also give the fruit more opportunity to reach the ripeness we’re looking for.
What does a picking day look like?
During this harvest, approximately 50 people worked across the farm. Pickers moved from tree to tree with baskets at their waists, choosing mature cherries by hand. As baskets filled, the fruit went into bags for collection.
I can describe that in a sentence, but doing it across steep ground and many rows of trees takes skill and stamina. The team has to notice what is ripe, work carefully and keep going as different sections become ready. Those people are central to the quality of our coffee.
Before the cherries were weighed and sent onward, the team also removed unripe fruit by hand. Keeping it separate helps us send a more consistent selection for processing. An underripe cherry cannot be made ripe later by the mill or the roaster. Coffee Quality Institute’s guidance likewise identifies picking ripe cherries as a way to avoid immature beans and processing problems.
What happens after the cherries leave the farm?
Picking is the beginning of the next stage, not the end of the journey. Selected cherries go for processing. Depending on the lot, the fruit and seeds may be handled in different ways before the coffee is dried, milled, evaluated and eventually shipped as green coffee.
If you’d like to see how one of those decisions works on our farm, I’ve written about making natural process coffee on raised beds. For a broader look at how harvest timing and picking can change from one year to another, read our newer coffee harvest season guide.
And if you’d rather begin with a cup, our El Salvador Bourbon is grown on our family farm and roasted by us in Calgary. You can check the product page for its current availability.
Looking back at these harvest photos, I’m reminded that a finished bag tells only a small part of the story. It doesn’t show the return trips through the trees, my dad watching which areas were ready, or the team sorting cherries before they headed to the mill. I’m glad I could bring you along for this part of the year.
Until next time,
Alejandro
Hydrangeas at the farm.