If there’s one plant Australian’s rely on, it’s coffee. Jerry shows us how to grow it, and just what you need to do to turn your coffee berries into a morning cup. Subscribe 🔔 ab.co/GA-subscribe
Nationally we consume 1.96 million 60-kilogram bags of the stuff each year, with the average Australian drinking close to 2kg of beans annually.
The majority of Australia’s coffee is imported, but it is grown on our shores commercially in tropical areas like the Atherton Tableland. But you can successfully grow coffee right down to chilly Melbourne. Australia’s first coffee plantation was in temperate Sydney.
Coffee trees produce edible, red, fleshy fruit called “cherries”. What coffee drinkers crave is actually the seed, hidden inside the fruit.
Growing Coffee:
Jerry says the first thing to understand when growing coffee is “your biggest enemies are drought, and sunburn”. “They need some protection from strong, western sun” - Jerry’s plants are shaded by a fence and neighbouring trees.
Jerry’s noticed coffee really struggles to fruit well in Brisbane without good water supply, so he waters when the weather is “hot and windy”.
In warmer areas where there is enough rainfall, coffee has become an environmental weed; including in both Queensland and NSW. Birds eat the berries and can spread the plant near and far. If you want to grow coffee, check it’s not a concern in your area, prune to keep it to a manageable size, and harvest the fruit before the birds get to them.
Prune after fruiting to increase the airflow through the plant, ensuring the fruit grow and ripen successfully, and to ensure next year’s crop.
After flowering, Jerry fertilises with iron chelates and potash to encourage fruit formation.
Jerry’s not the only one who’s a coffee addict. “Occasionally the fruits get discovered by possums and flying foxes”, so to control their habit Jerry nets with wildlife friendly netting.
Cultivars:
Jerry has two varieties: “First Fleet”, named for how it arrived in Australia, which is can get between 2-5 metres when established, with dark red berries.
Jerry also grows the “Kamerunga Dwarf” cultivar, developed by Queensland’s department of primary industries. It has yellow cherries and can has grown in ground to half the size of ‘First fleet’.
Propagation:
Coffee can be grown from fresh seed, sown on top of seed raising mix. Jerry says they need “occasional moisture” when germinating, about 2-3 times a week. He says it’s easier to dig up seedlings that have germinated at the base of the plant.
Roast your own coffee:
Jerry’s currently picking about 2kg of beans a fortnight from his Kamerunga Dwarf. How do you go from these strange little berries to a strong espresso?
1 - Pick and wash the cherries
2 - Remove the bean from the fruit of the cherry. The flesh of the fruit is sweet and can be eaten fresh or dried (Jerry puts in his muesli).
3 - Place your beans in some water, leaving them to ferment for a week. Change the water when it becomes cloudy overnight
4 - Strain and dry the beans on a tea towel
5 - Put a wok on the burner and get it as high as it will go. Dry roast the beans in the wok while moving constantly and monitoring the colour constantly. If you don’t have a wok you can use your oven, a pot, an airfryer or even a popcorn maker. Remove when an even dark brown
6 - Take the beans off to cool
7 - When cool, place the beans on a flat surface inside a tea towel, and run a rolling pin over the top to separate the beans from their outer skin
8 - Remove beans from skin fragments.
9 - Store in an airtight container, or grind and make yourself a cuppa. You’ve earned it!
Jerry says “It's a bit of an effort to make, but the rich, strong, bitter flavour is as good as any I have bought.
Featured Plants:
Coffee ‘First Fleet’ - Coffea arabica cv.
Coffee ‘Kamerunga Dwarf’ - Coffea arabica cv.
Check before planting: this may be an environmental weed in your area)
Filmed on Quandamooka, Turrbal & Yuggera Country, in Brisbane, Qld
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4 окт 2024
