Homegrown Coffee
We may soon be able to enjoy homegrown American coffee from California. Jay Ruskey from Santa Barbara an organic farmer has successfully grown and harvested coffee and has been selling it in the Santa Barbara farmers market. It took him years to do it along with The University of California, the project was started in 2001 with seeds from Central America and help from an advisor. Ruskey also grows lychee, longans, avocado and citrus and hopes that the coffee will be a new crop for the area.
The coastal region of Santa Barbara actually has ideal conditions for growing coffee with a good climate and shelter from frosts from the mountains. It was attempted to be grown in the 1870’s but due to high labor costs and low production the venture was abandoned. He now has 470 trees and plans to plant more varieties of coffee he also wants to start a Santa Barbara Coffee Growers Association. He still has much to learn and needs to perfect the roasting process but this is indeed exciting news for American lovers of gourmet coffee.
Source:
- http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/03/food/la-fo-marketwatch-20101203/3
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