Farming Notes
All of the information below was provided by CP Escobar and his team at Finca Las Marias (via his team at Forest Flame). It was originally written in Spanish and then translated by the team here at Peregrine.
The heyday of Finca Las Marias dates back to the late 1800s, under the direction of its former owner, Dr. Pío Romero Bosque, who was actually president of the Republic from 1927 to 1931. Dr. Romero Bosque’s family maintained the property until the 1980s when it was impounded during the Agrarian Reform that occurred in El Salvador, retaining only the right of reservation from that moment on.
In 2010, the current owners bought the reserve right from the children of Dr. Pío Romero Bosque and began the process of replanting the entire Estate, replacing old Bourbon plantations with new varieties such as Bourbon 300, Catuai, Villa Sarchi, Marseillaise, Pacamara, Gesha, Yellow Bourbon, F1, and Obata. At that time they also began reseeding of the traditional Red Bourbon. They later acquired plots from neighboring farms, currently forming a property of 350 [acres], of which 180 are completely renovated and 88 are planted with old Bourbon.
When acquiring Finca Las Marías, the current owners found twenty families of settlers who lived in very poor conditions. His first action was to change these conditions immediately. Electricity was installed and spring water was brought closer to the people. Twenty concrete homes were built with a drinking water system, electricity and sanitary service. The settlers have seen their lives transformed.
Secondly, having detected that the closest health unit was until then in Jayaque, Finca Las Marias built a complete health clinic that currently has a full-time nursing service, and a doctor who attends the clinic twice per week. In this clinic, health consultations, medication delivery, vaccination days, cytology, laboratory tests, and health care talks are constantly carried out. Additionally, nutritional help for children and assistance of pregnant women is carried out for the entire area. This clinic provides service not only to the farm workers, but to the entire community.
It is important to mention that, at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, Finca Las Marias clinic gave talks, distributed masks, and sanitizer to members of the community, and monitored the temperature and health of the workers daily. As a consequence of this care, no settler on the farm suffered from COVID.
Third, the Farm had a small school on its land with poor infrastructure, without drinking water and with poor quality energy service. The school enrollment and attendance of children in the area was very low. In support of the community, Finca Las Marias completely remodeled the school, installed water and electricity, built bathrooms, and purchased school supplies and computers. As a policy of the farm, workers are encouraged to take their children to school, which has allowed two attendance shifts to be managed today. The salaries of teachers have also been absorbed.
During the cutting season, it was observed that workers who came from outside brought their small children and left them in the streets of the farm in the care of their siblings. For this reason, Finca Las Marias installed a daycare so that small children are in the care of a social worker and a nurse who feed them daily as part of their care.
At the end of each harvest, Finca Milan celebrates a gratitude party for all the workers and their families to whom it provides food, fun, and gifts.
At Finca Las Marias, much attention is paid to the well-being of the workers and the quality of the coffee. The Escobars are firmly against using any type of dangerous pesticide, while also equipping workers daily with uniforms and the proper protective equipment to carry out their tasks.
Carlos Escobar’s coffee is carefully grown in the Quezaltepec/El Balsamo Region of El Salvador. In this unique microclimate, the coffee benefits from high altitudes, volcanic soil, and attention to detail. All these factors bring out its exquisite flavors. This exotic Gesha grows at around 1,400 meters above sea level. Currently, the farm boasts both a Rainforest Alliance and CAFE Practices certification.
