Interview with a coffee farmer-Dago
The coffee cherries Dago is holding are the coffee beans of Troubardour Coffee.
Daguito is a very special part of our farm, Finca Noemy. He's a laughing morning-to-night, only-see-the-positive, natural-living kind of guy. He works hard, and is strong like a beast. He is sixty-seven years old and you can see he profoundly enjoys his work and his life. I've been out with him planting coffee plants and I can very honestly say that he's a buddha-farmer, because when he is with the plants he is only with the plants. He's fully and absolutely only in the present moment. He's not worrying about what he doesn't have or what he could have had, his mind and his eyes are both in the same moment in time. Dago is just enjoying his life from the morning to the night. His small joys come from walking around town in San Miguel saying hi to all his friends, playing a buck or two on the lottery (in Costa Rica it’s called Chances) and the occasional drink of rum or ‘guaro’ with a good friend.
Our farm is small, and Daguito does a lot of the work there right now, aided by more seasonal workers when harvest season comes. But when I'm there I always see him and make a point to spend time with him. Here are some questions that even though have very simple answers, show the wisdom of simplicity that many of us are striving for.
How many years have you worked at Finca Noemy?
Not many, 21 years.
What have the plants taught you about life?
Oh my god! I have learnt so much from them! I talk to the plants! I sing to the plants! And they are blooming so much right now, we're having a great harvest, and next year if God wills we'll have an even better one!
So it really works to talk to the plants?
Yes! You have to talk to them, sing to them, and give them a little bit of water which is very important. Your life is with them. Their flowers are so beautiful! They are the ones that give life to you! They give life to you!
What does it feel to be a coffee farmer?
I personally feel extremely proud to work here at the farm. I don't really function well in the city, but in the country, I know my way well! I can find the seeds of a plantain plant and bring it home and plant it and eat it, or you give it to other people — even if they are not friends with you, you can give them seeds so they can grow their own food. It's just like that! That way you don't have to worry about anything!
It's a beautiful life! I go to the street say hi to people, and come back, and when I have to do some work I do it. I used to live in the city when I was young but I didn't like it. I've got 40 years of being happy living here in the country.
What's it like when you're doing heavy manual work.
[laughing] Well it's hard. Sometimes you just have to find ways of figuring things out, but you just get it done. It's just what you do. You just do it.
How do you define happiness?
Happiness finds you.
Why is Troubardour coffee so delicious? What makes it so special?
The quality of the coffee is everything. The love which you work into the plant is so important, that's why you have to sing and talk to them. The plants will give you whatever you ask them.
I was walking near the top of the farm this morning and I was just thinking that all those big trees didn't exist 40 years ago. They've grown so much. I walk through the orange trees and they are full of oranges, and the guava trees loaded with fruit, and all the coffee plants blooming with coffee cherries. It's so beautiful, because what you put in, comes back to you as the fruits of your labor — It makes you proud.
How do you feel knowing that the coffee beans you helped plant are now traveling around the world as people begin buying Troubardour Coffee for the first time?
Imagine how I feel. So beautiful! How happy! May God help us sell more coffee as you go forward.
Is there a message you would like to tell people who are reading this around the world?
That you should buy Troubardour Coffee from Finca Noemy, so you can see the quality, the taste and the smell!
Oh and viva Costa Rica! Pura Vida!
