Finca El Jardin
Through the use of biodynamic practices, all components of the farm are connected by energy and spirituality.
Looking from the outside at the coffee plants inter-mingled with fruit trees on the mountain slopes, Finca el Jardin appears to be quite similar to other farms in San Luis. However, this farm harbors some unexpected surprises.
To begin, Finca El Jardin is owned by an American named Gregory Paradise who bought the land in 2003 as a conservation effort. It was previously damaged by cattle grazing and later by the application of incredible amounts of chemicals to eliminate grass and grow coffee. After he purchased the farm, Gregory continued to produce coffee, but refused to use chemicals. He was then very successful in selling coffee to the Santa Elena Coop until it closed for good in 2012. This is when a close friend of Gregory's, Noam Sirota, offered to run the farm, so that all the hard work that had been put into growing coffee and ameliorating the land would not be lost.
Noam moved from the Monteverde zone to San Luis to care for the farm and began to explore different farming philosophies. Eventually, the biodynamic method of farming developed by philosopher, Rudolph Steiner, caught his eye. The Biodynamic approach is a spiritual and mystic farming method that encourages all components of the farm, such as the soil, coffee, trees, grass, and animals, to be connected by cosmic energy that the farmer helps harness.
Cows are a key component of these
cycles. Parts of the cow are used in
several mixtures that biodynamic farmers create to boost the nutritional value of compost and aid in the growth of grass that animals graze on. A mixture Noam makes called BD 500 is cow manure placed in a cow horn on the 21st of September and removed on the 21st of March. Dates of planting and recovering these mixtures correspond with the equinoxes, as do many other activities on the farm, from cutting grass to harvesting fruit. The BD 500 is then mixed with rain water and sprayed over the grass, which is consumed by the cows. The manure the cows produce will be used for more BD mixtures, thus creating a nutrient-rich cycle that fertilizes the coffee.
Finca el Jardin is MAOPAC certified organic and is in the process of becoming certified biodynamic. The farm also offers artistic workshops, enjoys receiving volunteer students, and even has its own brand of coffee -- Paradise Coffee.
"To be an organic farmer is already a difficult feat, but being a biodynamic one requires even more passion and determination. Finca el Jardin is not concerned with producing great quantities of Paradise Coffee. We care about the quality of our product and the relationship we have with the land. We really believe in our practices and the positive effect they have on the ecosystem and energy of the farm."
-Noam Sirota