COFFEE BREAK PART 4

Have you get a cup of coffee this morning?
I made a cup of coffee milk this morning...
How about you?

Yesterday we got coffee beans.
So... What will we do with the coffee beans?
Some farmers (I think most of them) will sell it as soon as possible.
Just a few of  farmers keep their coffee on the stockroom or barn.
We use to save a little bit of our product to make our own coffee powder (home made coffee drink).

Dried broken coffee fruits

  

Dry coffee beans

 

Roasted coffee beans

In modern method, selected coffee beans will roasted on the rotated oven.
Then we put it into the coffee grinder machine and then packed.
In traditional method, selected coffee bean will roasted on crockery frying pan until the color turns dark brown  or black.
Some of coffee farmer still use traditionally process by using  big mortar and pestle that in Java are called lumpang (mortar) and alu (pestle).

My little stone mortar and pestle

Coffee grinder is only used in  the urban area, in many coffee shops.
But peoples usually using instant coffee from markets and coffee shops.

Traditionally grinding...

The result of traditionally process is coffee drink that have grout (sediment) in the glass if it's diluted into boiling water.
That is Indonesian traditional  coffee drink.

In Central Java, traditional coffee maker usually use roasted corn or rice as added blend to reduce caffeine effect from coffee powder.
It's blend more safe for our stomach.

Traditional coffee blend...

TRADITIONAL HOME MADE COFFEE...

Wish you all enjoy this coffee break... and get more benefit from a cup of your own coffee.
Start the day with coffee... for you all coffee lover.
Thank you...

COFFEE BREAK PART 3

On the harvesting season, my family always spent the afternoon on the coffee garden.
After my parent went home from their work, and the children (I'm 5th from six) went home from their school, we all went to coffee garden that was located about 600 meters from our house.
But in holiday, we went there from the early morning.
At the harvesting season, we could see coffee fruits are dried by the sun.
Farmer that doesn't have drying floor, usually dry coffee on the road side.

There are two type of coffee processing, wet process and dry process.
Most of Indonesian coffee farmer (robusta) use dry process.
In dry process, the whole of fresh fruits are dried (the black one - on the plastic mat).
Then the dry frufits are milled  and hulled, so... we get coffee beans.
In wet process, the fresh fruit are soaked for about 12 hours on the water and than that are milled to peel the outer skin (the brownish black on the round bamboo tray). 
We get partially peeled coffee fruits.
After that the coffee are dried.
Then the dry coffee  are milled and hulled, so... we get coffee beans.
My family usually process the coffee fruits traditionally.
We used big stone mortar and big teak wood pestle.
Right now the coffee farmer usually use miller and huller machines.

Drying coffee (wet process)

  

Coffee fruit are peeled partially

 

coffee bean

We get coffee bean right now, so... next we will process the beans into coffee powder.
I hope you enjoy this coffee break...
See you...

COFFEE BREAK PART 2

Coffee (Coffea sp) is a perennial plant. 
The plant is a shrub or tree of the Rubiaceae family. 
It's start fruiting on the 3rd years after planting for arabica coffee, and 4th years for robusta coffee.
Optimum yield will be obtained from 5 years old after planting.
Both of them are the most popular coffee in Indonesia.
For the first fruiting for arabica, each plant can produce about 1-2 kilograms of fruits or equal with 0.2 - 0.4 kilograms of  dry seeds (coffee bean). 
The optimum production is about 5 kilograms of fruits or equal with 1 kilogram of dried seeds (coffee beans). 
The peak of economic life cycle is in 5 -7 years old, but if it's pruned it will live and produce longer until 20 years even 50 years.
Coffee plant will produce twice a year.
Harvesting season occur during transition period between dry season to rainy season or rainy season to dry season.

We pick the mature fruit repeatedly during harvesting season for about 2 months.
We just pick selected fruits.
Only dark-red mature fruit will picked.
Except on finale harvesting.

Cluster of  immature fruits (arabica type)

Cluster of immature fruits (robusta type)

Can you find the differences between both of them?
Robusta leaf is bigger, thinner  and wider.
Arabica leaf is look glossy and rigid.
But robusta fruit is smaller.
Skin of robusta fruit is brighter.
The robusta tree is higher more than 4 meters.
And arabica tree just  about 2-3 meters in high.

starting preliminary harvest

 Lets choose... and pick the mature fruits

selected fruits

Over ripened fruits... ready for finale harvest

Finale harvest yield,...so varies on quality, needs to select more.

I wish you all enjoy this coffee break, and follow the next part. 
Have a nice coffee...

COFFEE BREAK PART 1

Do you like coffee?
Are you coffee lover...?
Coffee morning... it's my daily activity.
I'm a coffee lover...
Coffee - addict... I'm not sure...
But I never spend my day without a cup of coffee.
I'm sure you all ever drink coffee.
But, have you ever seen coffee plant?
My parent have a tiny coffee plantation. 
My childhood is on coffee environment.
Right now, in front my front yard there is a coffee plant
Every time the coffee plant is blooming, my memory back to my childhood.
Coffee flowers are so fragrant and stand on for three days.
There are three types of coffee plant in Indonesia.
These are arabica, robusta and excelsa.
Arabica is a little/dwarft type of coffee. 
It's growing well in high land tropics.
Robusta is a high type of coffee.
It's growing well in low land and middle land tropics.
And the last, Excelsa is a huge coffee tree. 
It's so rare, and exotic coffee plant, look like a teak tree.
Sometime I visit my parent plantation, especially on harvesting season.
But I haven't been visited there for about a year.
I love coffee... and I'm longing for coffee fragrant...
My parent planted robusta type.
This is  my parent's coffee plants.

mix cropping : coffee, caladium, banana and Albizia

Coffee will grow well in part shady area

Flowering...

Flowering coffee plants...

Robusta type

look like jasmine...

Fruiting and flowering stage at the same moment

Arabica type (I took this picture in front of Paninggaran tea factory)

I'm glad if you all enjoy this coffee break.
See you  on the second part ...

FLOWER OF THE WEEK - BILIMBI

There are something different on my bilimbi.
I'm finding red-maroon color on that bark.
Wow... my bilimbi is blooming.
That barks are full of flowers.
I have a bilimbi on my front yard.
Bilimbi (Averrhoa bilimbi) is well known as cucumber tree or tree sorrel.
In Indonesia it's called belimbing wuluh or belimbing asam.
That flowers have a lot of usefulness.
We usually use that flower  infusion to reduce cough, gingivitis and thrush.
High vitamin C source...
If we put the red flowers onto the hot-warm water, the soaking water will change into reddish color. 
That's red flowers are sought as the ingredients of natural red dye for traditional textiles.
The leaf infusion is a remedy for coughs and is taken after childbirth as a tonic. 
Bilimbi leaves decoction is taken to relieve rectal inflammation, rheumatism, high blood pressure and parotitis.

A cluster of flowers...

Flower... flower... flower...

Flowering bark

Green leaves with reddish shoot

ROAD SIDE FLOWERS

I got beautiful and bright Sunday afternoon yesterday.
I could enjoy the sunny and warm weather outside in my home town after visiting my father.
I saw colorful flowers decorating so many road side.
They're interesting me.
I couldn't stop make any shoots through my cell camera. 
I couldn't let through that moment.
Enjoy and admire the God's creations...

Bud of Nusa Indah  merah / Ashanti blood (Mussaenda erythrophylla)

Blooming Ashanti blood

Kembang geni  (Pachystachys lutea)

Kenikir hias / Cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus)

Colorful zinnias and cosmos

Kembang kertas / zinnia (Zinnia elegans)

Legetan (Spilanthes acmella)

Kembang kertas / Zinnia

Kenikir hias / Orange Cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus)

unknown flowers

Mondrengan (Galinsoga sp)

Bunga pentol korek / Gomphrena (Gomphrena globosa)

RAISED BED UPDATE - SEPTEMBER

Sunday morning is the best time to 'play' on the garden.
So many vegetables look so green and plentiful.
Grasshopper, caterpillar, worm and aphids are serious disturbers right now.
Every day I can pick so many kind of vegetables there.
Pick... pick ... and pick...
This early morning, my garden is getting drizzle.
That is cooling and refreshing  my  garden.
Thanks God...
My kittens are already on the path way.
Lets play...

Epson... my funny kitten is ready to follow me playing  on the garden

flowering sword beans

ready to be picked

green amaranths  as 'gift' on cauliflowers bed

so vigorous....

higher.... bigger...

little suspect

Grow... grow...

bigger head

Climbing....

'baby' cucumber

blooming.....

first corn flower and rain droplets

Messy...

flowering and fruiting...

green onion

Lets pick...

flowering cosmos (Cosmos caudatus)

needs support...