Tree felling and weed clearing

We have had David and some of his socios on the job of opening the coffee land up to a bit more sun as well as clearing the weeds away and mounding them up as compost around the base of the coffee bushes. Over the many years that the land had been left to abandon before we bought it and began using it for small scale coffee production, the trees had grown to the point where the canopy blocked so much light out that many of the coffee bushes could scarcely produce fruit at all -- even with the careful tending they have been getting,

With David and his family moving in next door and looking for work it has been a good opportunity to make a start on taking some of the "high risk of falling in windy weather" trees out, and thinning branches on other trees. We will plant fruit trees and more banana palms and some smaller and manageable decorative trees to replace what is coming out.

I took some pictures today of David's recent work -- all done with axe, machete and hoe. Two big trunks he has taken out will be perfect for making timber to strengthen their home. A friend with a chain saw will come on the weekend to cut the large trunks into usable timber. The rest is going for firewood, because there is no electricity, and Cecilia does all her cooking and water heating by fire.

I also took a few random pix of some bushes and trees we have planted recently,