Grow Your Own Coffee

 I like getting up when it's quiet and having that first cup of coffee. It gives me time to savor the taste before the day unfolds (or the craziness begins.) During this downtime, ideas seem to fly through my head. 

One thought recently was about growing my own coffee.  Had no idea what it would take or even if you could grow coffee. So I took my trusty laptop and did some research. Seems you can grow coffee-if you are willing to wait.

Coffee takes 4 years to reach maturity and 6 years to produce enough coffee beans to make it worth your time. Now I haven't had a plant live for longer than 2 years…let alone 6 years or more.

But if you plan on growing one of these plants, make sure you look for a dwarf or bush type variety. Coffee plants can grow to 40'+.  The coffee plant also likes high humidity and 60-80 degrees which makes sense since most of the world's coffee growing is done in areas where there are lots of jungles.

Lots of plant supply houses like Gurneys  sell coffee plants. Cost is about $9 a plant, less if you want to start your own mini coffee plantation.  And if you are really patient you can even start growing the coffee plants from seed. 

 With no green thumb(s) it would be an exercise in futility.  So for those of you who can make things grow, it may be fun. For me, I'll buy my beans already grown and in a bag.

Not your usual grind,

Two tips of the coffee cup one to   Phil Lempert, the Supermarket Guru  for sharing how to grow coffee on your own and to Ana Labate  for her photo of the coffee plant and ripe coffee beans