The first pick of the new harvest

 It's the coffee season again, although a little later this year than normal. The coffee seemed ahead of schedule in October, but a spell of cold weather slowed the maturation down. So instead of having the first pick in mid December it was at the end. Hopefully, the next pick will be here in a fortnight or so.

To keep it simple, the words precede the photos.

So, things were looking bright and fresh when we arrived, last summer's paint holding up well.

We headed back behind the casita and open air kitchen to where the main area of coffee begins.

But only after doing a double take at how much the lychee tree has grown in the last year.

Meanwhile, the palms have pretty much reached the height they will grow to.

Meet the slowest picker in the team. He's a good boy for wearing his hat.

It's been a great year for bananas, one of coffee's favourite companion plants and good for shade. 

Everyone comes picking. 

And before you know it the picking is done -- just a couple of hours today, and a couple of sacks. The next pick will start to get serious as the bulk of the crop should come on quickly from here.

Maybe the best part of the picking is to get to eat afterwards. Cecilia cooks a fabulous pot of beans and chili seco, with a little carne to round it out.

While a tired picker kicks back in the hammock waiting for the food to be ready.

Open air kitchens are so good -- plenty of room for cooking, eating, and convivencia. 

It's pretty good, and tortilla make great cutlery.

Comida buena, tan saborosa.

Roll on the next pick. 

Now all that needs to be done is to process the beans -- the long slow part that will start on the morning with putting the beans through the despulpadora. Picking is the easy part, apart from putting the fermented beans out to dry. The rest is pretty serious work when done by hand.