You can start a small crop at your homestead if you don't want to move to a remote high-altitude location.You will need to know how to harvest coffee beans.The coffee bean is inside the coffee cherry, which grows on the tree.It's a good time to harvest coffee because most of the cherries are ripe.Coffee growers use a variety of methods.Home growers don't have the crop size or the need for more mechanical harvesting methods, but the more hands-on methods can certainly be executed by home growers.
Step 1: The coffee cherries are ripe.
The ripe cherries should be left on the tree for later harvest.Ripeness is determined by appearance and touch.The fruit needs to be squeezed.It will be a little soft if it is ripe.Coffee cherries are bright red and glossy.Put cherries in a basket.
Step 2: Remove the cherries from the coffee tree.
The ripe as well as the unripe berries are removed by one sweep of a branch.Commercial growers use machines.When the majority of the berries are ripe, this method is used.The cost is worth it for commercial growers who find the stripping method more cost effective than the time and financial investment involved inselective harvesting.If you want to harvest by hand, you can grab a branch and slide your hand forward to knock the cherries off the tree.
Step 3: Take the coffee cherries.
The cherries that have been knocked to the ground can be gathered with a rake.You can collect the cherries by placing a sheet under the tree.It will be easier to pick them up from the ground.
Step 4: Pick out the coffee cherries.
The ripe cherries should be separated from the unripe cherries.Remove leaves and branches that may have been mixed in.The refuse can either be thrown out or composted.
Step 5: Coffee cherries can be removed by a machine.
Coffee cherries are removed from the trees by harvesting machines.The machines shake the berries to the ground.The machines sweep the berry off the tree.
Step 6: The berries should be chewed.
To separate the coffee bean from the fruit, squeeze the cherries.
Step 7: The beans should be soaked.
Some meat will remain on the beans after they have been separated from the fruit.If you want to separate the fruit from the bean, soak them in a bowl or bucket of water for a couple of days.The fruit can be thrown away if it floats to the top of the bowl.
Step 8: The beans need to be dry.
Depending on the weather, it can take between 10 and 30 days to dry the beans.It is worth the wait.In the shade, place the bean on a wire mesh or concrete.To make sure the beans dry evenly, stir and rotate them several times a day.The outer skin of the beans can easily peel off.