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Our Vision
Our vision is to contribute to a more environmentally sustainable world through the provision of a community space, which serves not only to provide restaurants and households with local and organic products but also as a learning center offering permaculture courses and volunteer opportunities for everyone interested in learning more about sustainable agriculture. |
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History of the farm
Caoba Farms was founded in May 2004 by Alex Kronick, the farm’s owner and operator. Alex is from Guatemala, and the land (approximately three acres) was formerly used to grow coffee and roses. When Alex took over the property, seeing a need for new varieties of produce in the area, in particular diverse salad greens, he decided to convert the space into an organic farm. It all started with growing arugula, and in the decade-plus since, the farm has come to produce and sell over 100 different organic crops commercially. Caoba Farms now consists of two fully operating farms with a total of 45 acres. Today, the farms supply top restaurants and hotels in Antigua and Guatemala City with fresh, organic produce, as well as stocking the Caoba store and providing ingredients for fresh farm-to-table meals in the Caoba Café. |
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Who are we?
Caoba Farms is much more than ”just” a family of organic, sustainable farms. Our farms have become community gathering points, offering tours, volunteer opportunities, weekly farmers markets, a farm-to-table restaurant, a store, and much more. Apart from producing a big variety of crops, Caoba Farm also houses several types of animals--rabbits, chickens, ducks, quails, pigs, lambs, and goats--to provide the farm with manure and products, as well as make good use of garden waste. We produce our own organic fertilizers, harvest our own seeds, and continually enhances the biodiversity--flora and fauna--on the farm. We have water catchment systems to make the most of the water we use, and we work to find productive avenues for the waste we create. In the center of the farm, we practice bio-intensive agriculture, using space-saving double-reach rows. These beds are regularly revitalized with our special composts and homemade fertilizers, and they are used for large-scale production. Crops grown in these gardens include a mix of salad greens, as well as cauliflower, carrots, eggplant, fennel, and much more. In our experience, this is the healthiest way to grow organic vegetables successfully for distribution. Around the farm, we have designed food forests, with dozens upon dozens of different food-producing and medicinal plants that operate largely as a self-sustaining ecosystem, from which we can harvest or leave to simply grow wild. These ‘forests” increase the farm’s biodiversity, yield low-maintenance produce for us to sell, provide habitats for beneficial animals, and make the space much more beautiful than the average farm. Apart from the above described types of farming, we also work with land management, aquaponics and biodynamic farming techniques. Please visit our farms to learn more about what we do! |
©stevelandis and caobafarms 2014
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Reviews |
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Certificate of excellence
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