Last Monday I went out with a family in a Kichwa community to harvest guayusa on their farm. Runa was hosting a group from a Canadian tea company, David's Tea (they just opened in NYC as well, check them out!), and they came along for the harvest, too.
We arrived at the office at 7am and drove out to the community, which is about 20 minutes away, accompanied by a harvest field technician. The farmers were there waiting for us and we trekked through the traditional jungle farms, chakras, to get to the guayusa trees that we were going to harvest from.
When we got to the guyausa trees, the farmers had cut down branches for us to pick the good leaves from. The leaves must be green and free of any spots, rips or holes.
We saw (and were bit by) many different kinds of bugs along the way...
Guayusa is not the only crop that these farmers cultivate, they also grow coffee and cacao (for chocolate). Here is a picture of their cacao trees (this is what the cacao fruit looks like as its grown on small farms in tropical countries...the seeds inside of this fruit are used to make chocolate):
The farmer we were working with showed us some flowers:
We picked five sacks of guayusa from the five trees that the family has. Cass and I helped bring the sacks back to their house using baskets carried with a strap our heads (the farmers must have strong necks!).
Here is all the guayusa in white sacks, ready to be taken to the factory to be dried and processed.
The farmer made me promise that I would send her a copy of this picture of us with the guayusa tree in the background :)
It was definitely a lot of fun and a great learning experience to see first hand where Runa's guayusa comes from and the process that the farmers use to harvest it. If any of you come down and visit me, I can arrange for you to go out with a family and harvest, it is a great experience!
Love you,
Aliana
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