Today I planted a cacao tree. I must have planted around 70 this year and I am very satisfied with the progress. These trees will probably start producing around 2027 and will be pumping out about 5 lbs. (+/-) of finished chocolate per tree annually. With 200 trees that’s 1000 lbs. of chocolate!
It’s going to be while till we can make more chocolate too… The beans we are harvesting now will be fermented, dried, and aged till at least August. I’m glad that I got our hands wet in chocolate making on a small scale. I did indeed eat a lot of chocolate in the past several months. Someone has to do this difficult task!
Originally posted on 2021-12-26, part of the daily planting journal behind Ha’a Chocolate’s food forest on Hawai’i Island.