Coffee Plant

Steve got me a coffee plant yesterday and I'm so excited! Yes, it obviously needs quite a bit of TLC, and no, I am not green thumb, but I'll try to nurse it back to life a little.

One of the volunteers that Steve oversees at work had this plant that she was getting rid of and once Steve found out it was a coffee plant he knew I would love it. Coffee plants produce coffee beans (well, duh!) and normally it takes about 3 years to get enough beans to make a pot or two of coffee. The lady that gave the plant to Steve has made coffee with the beans once, so I'm sure we have quite the wait until I can roast up some joe.
The process requires stripping the beans once they're ready and then soaking, drying and of course roasting. Since I like to roast my own coffee anyhow, I've got that down, but the rest of the process should be interesting!

I'm hoping the plant won't grow too much as it's already pretty huge and I have no clue where I'm going to put it in my house - especially since it's not exactly pleasant to look at. I read somewhere that if you live in a climate where you can plant the coffee plant outside, it can grow as high as 40 feet!

Anyway, I'm super excited. I know it sounds stupid, but I really love coffee. Everything about it actually - the taste, the smell, the intricate process of roasting it just long enough after the first "crack" of the bean in order to have a perfect batch...it's all so fascinating to me! So, all the being said, I'm excited to learn something new.

PS...Check out strawberry daiquiri mix in the picture to the left of the coffee plant in my extremely messy kitchen. We bought 4 bottles of this stuff for a total of $1.97 over the weekend on clearance at Costco! Sweeeet! Maybe summer time is over, but that doesn't mean the daiquiris have to go away! :)