Women in Stem Take a Trip to the Farm

Last week we had the pleasure of visiting a farm here in Monteverde. Hermida, a local woman who has spent her life farming all sorts of products from coffee to avocados, owns the farm. Hermida was a great example of a woman who has worked hard to establish a thriving business and life for herself. She talked about the different methods she uses on her farm to make it as sustainable as possible such as planting a wide variety of crops, composting unused plant material, and harvesting/planting by hand. 

Hermida began our tour by offering us some of the bananas that she grew. They were a smaller and sweeter variety of bananas than the students had tried before. Hermida told us that she grows many different banana species on her farm, while the bananas we can find in a US grocery story are all one species. 

She showed us where she grew the bananas and explained how she uses the shavings from the banana tree and the remnants of dead banana trees to fertilize the coffee crops. 

After we learned about the bananas, we walked around to look at her avocado and coffee plants. She even let us harvest some of the avocados to take home! 

After Hermida gave us a tour of her farm,  we got to see where the coffee beans are removed from their husks and then dried. Creating the coffee which we all know and love. Akeena even found some old sugarcane stalks outside the facility! 

Before we left, Hermida gave us some bananas for the road, jackfruit, and even the avocados we harvested.