Giuseppe and Rosa Bianca Carlo-Stella have a fabulous garden filled with vegetables, herbs and fruit. They even have a mini coffee plantation in their backyard! Giuseppe and Rosa harvest the red coffee berries and extract the seed, which they use to make their own delicious coffee.

Plant details

Common name: Coffee

Botanic name: Coffea arabica

Description: Bushy, evergreen tree which may reach about 5m x 3m (15' x 10') when mature. It has glossy, green leaves and fragrant white spring flowers. The berries turn a brilliant red when ripe. Each berry contains two seeds. The seeds are extracted, dried and roasted to make coffee beans.

Varieties:

Several dwarf varieties are available. These are suitable for growing in the home garden o in large pots. C. arabica KM35 grows to about 2m (6') and has dark red fruit. C. arabica KM36 has a similar growth habit to KM35, but the fruit is yellow in colour.

Best climate:

Coffee grows best in warm, frost-free areas of Australia.

Good points:

useful for homemade coffee attractive evergreen shrub good screen plant fragrant white flowers valuable commercial species

Downside:

frost sensitive seed grown plants take 6-8 years to produce fruit (but if you buy a plant from a nursery you'll only have to wait about 3 years).

Care:

Coffee likes fertile soil, steady mild temperatures and protection from frost. Plants can be propagated from cuttings or seed. Prune trees to shrub height to make berry picking easier.

Getting started:

Coffee plants are readily available through your local nursery. Expect to pay around $25 for a plant in a 200mm (8") pot.

Copyright CTC Productions 2002