It’s predicted that we’ll get a break from the rain for a while. The material removed when stumping the “class of 2019” was finally chipped and spread out to return nutrients to the soil and to mulch (retain moisture & help with weed control).
Usually there are 8-9 flowerings in the year, each about 2-3 weeks after good rain. It’s about 210-220 days from flowers to ripe fruit. That’s why harvesting happens in multiple passes. We’ve had about four rain periods already in the 2018-2019 season. The second flowering, after about three inches of rain before New Year’s, was a good one, meaning harvesting will start in July.
Below are some photos of trees that were taken (i) before blossoms opened, (ii) in full blossom, and (iii) after blossoms dried & fruit was starting to form.
This sheet shows last year’s flowering and expected ripe coffee. In the end, we had about three good harvests. The last harvest, before Thanksgiving, wasn’t of good enough quality to be included in our estate roasted coffee. At that point, we strip picked all the fruit at all ripening stages to control the coffee borer beetle.
We still have a market for our low quality and strip-pick coffee, but we don’t get much. Which companies are using it for what products? Kona coffee and Kona coffee blends are not all equal!
A side note about the recent winter storm(s) … I happened to be in Maui on the days the winter storm made national news (Feb. 11). Snow fell at Haleakala and at Polipoli Spring State Recreation Area at 6200 feet, which might have been the first time ever. Back on the Big Island earlier that weekend, the summit of Mauna Kea measured one gust of wind at 191 mph!