Three words hold up the farm.

Finca Linda Morena is a specialty coffee farm on the slopes of the Fuego volcano, Antigua Guatemala. We are the first generation to work it with this vision, and it is led by women. Everything we do fits in three words.

  1. ISustainable
  2. IIRegenerative
  3. IIIResilient
Coffee plants with green cherry at Finca Linda Morena, with the Fuego volcano behind.
Green cherry beneath the Fuego volcano.
A woman from Finca Linda Morena checks a coffee plant among the farm's vegetation.
Women at the core of production.

Sustainable

Sustainable, for us, means being able to do it well year after year: with people, with money and with the land. The farm is led by women, with roots that bridge cultures, and we work alongside industry experts to learn faster than we would alone.

We don't cut corners where quality is at stake: one more pass through the trees to pick only ripe cherry, time to watch the drying instead of rushing it. Where we do save is by sharing: road upkeep and what we learn about the soil with neighboring farms.

Who
First generation, led by women
With whom
Neighboring farms, industry experts, IWCA
What we don't change
Selective harvest and unhurried drying
A path between coffee plants under native shade trees at Finca Linda Morena.
Coffee under the shade of native trees.

Regenerative

To regenerate is to give the soil back more than we ask of it. That is why we care for shade and ground cover instead of pushing this season's maximum yield at the expense of the next.

We are preparing a new plot without clearing it. Native trees have grown there since long before us: they give shade, their roots hold the soil on the slopes and the diversity they keep helps hold pests at bay. First we map what already grows; then we decide what to plant around it.

Soil
Volcanic, with ground cover and organic matter
Shade
Native trees, managed on purpose
New plot
Being mapped · no clearing

Resilient

This season it rained less, and for longer stretches, than we are used to. We noticed it first in the soil. We put our attention there, not only on water: more cover and mulch on bare sections, because covered soil keeps its moisture. The shadiest plots held up best.

We are also testing, on a small scale: an experimental canephora lot and a few new arabica varieties suited to our altitude and soil. It isn't a change of course; it's learning before we need to.

  1. 87.63 pointsOur natural-process lot in SCA cupping.
  2. New plotWe began preparing it without clearing.
  3. Canephora trialA small lot to learn from.
  4. DroughtSoil first: cover, mulch and shade.
  5. CAFEX, IWCA boothWith other women-led farms.

Recognitions

  • Yara AwardWe represented Guatemala among 35 young leaders inspiring agriculture in Latin America.
  • IWCAMembers of the International Women's Coffee Alliance.
Read the Dogma See the coffee beans Farm journal