March 2011 Coffee News

-Worst of Winter Photo Contest
-Guillermo on the Coffee Farm
-Open House Coffee Brunch - March 19 and other great events

Well it's still winter here in Minnesota (surprise, surprise!) We feel a bit foolish having more or less predicted the end of winter with our "Worst of Winter Photo Contest" and then getting another 15 inches of snow and plenty of cold days since then. Still it was a fun way to document what has certainly been (and continues to be) an impressive winter. We give links to photos we received below. We also have news from the coffee farm and more details about our Open House Brunch, coming up in 2 weeks on Saturday, March 19 from 10 am - 1 pm. Please let us know if you'll be able to join us.

Worst of Winter Photo Contest
MPR Meteorologist Paul Huttner is predicting that this may well end up as one of the snowiest winters on record in the Twin Cities. With another big snow storm likely next week, it is clear we have not yet seen the "Worst of Winter" (but hang in there, it does sound like a real Spring Thaw -- along with major flooding, could be coming soon). In any case, we had fun receiving snowy photos and awarding a few coffee prizes. We have posted most of the photos we received on Flickr for you to see them too and one contributor's photos are available on Picassa. Enjoy! And keep taking those photos. Whether you are loving this snow or are making plans to move to Florida, you have to admit this is one winter to remember.

Guillermo on the Coffee Farm
Guillermo (the lucky guy) has actually been missing out on our latest winter adventures while he's been down in Honduras visiting the coffee farm for 20 days. In the 22 years that he's been in the United States, he has often dreamed of spending an extended amount of time back on the family farm. With encouragement from the rest of us, he took advantage of a slow time at his University job and some extra vacation days and flew south. Cell phone coverage from the mountains is poor, but we have had some news from him. It sounds like the weather has been fabulous (of course)! He has been enjoying the time with his family -- waking up for early morning coffee with his mom, helping his dad milk the cows, and working with his brother to repair a washed out mountain road and prune coffee trees. He has also spent a lot of time fixing up a small cabin on the farm, working with a few neighbors and his brother to lay cement floors, build rough doors and windows (some from recovered fallen trees from the forest), and prepare the plumbing for the bathrooms. We're hoping it will be ready to house visitors to the farm in the near future.

Open House Coffee Brunch - Saturday March 19
Talking about visiting the farm, we are hoping to see many of you at our Coffee Open House Brunch in two weeks, where you can escape the Minnesota cold for a few hours. We'll have hot coffee and waffles, lively latin music, photos from the tropical rain forest, and information about opportunities to visit the coffee farm yourself. We hope you can join us on March 19, 2011 from 10 am to 1 pm at Prospect Park United Methodist Church (22 Orlin Ave SE in Minneapolis, off University Ave just west of Hwy 280).

We are preparing a complimentary brunch of homemade waffles, Pasture's a Plenty sausages and coffee. We'll have real maple syrup, but if you have another favorite waffle topping that you'd like to share, feel free to bring it along. (If you would prefer gluten free waffles, let us know and we'd be happy to provide them). At 11 am, for those who are interested, we'll talk about eco-trips to the coffee farm. We hope you can join us even if you don't think a trip to Honduras is in your future. And please feel free to invite your friends. Just please let us know if you are coming, so we know how much coffee to brew and how many waffles to make.

Other Great Events
A couple of other great events to get on your calendar (both events have new web pages and opportunities to volunteer):
-The World Jubilee Fair Trade market on April 2nd in St. Paul.
-The Living Green Expo on May 7-8 at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.