Gloria’s farm, El Nogal, which means "the walnut tree" in Spanish, spans just one and a half hectares – a common size for the region, where farmers cultivate and process coffee on small parcels of land. Situated at an impressive 2,000 meters above sea level, the farm is nestled in the rugged hills surrounding El Tabor. I’ve walked similar steep hills on Colombian farms, and boy oh boy it is hard yakka.
Gloria, a lifelong resident of El Tabor, is part of the respected Gómez family, well-known and admired within the local coffee-growing community. She and her three siblings began their coffee-growing journey at their parents' farm, La Argentina. Over the years, each of them managed to save enough to purchase their own plots, though they still collaborate to oversee their shared plantations during the harvest season.
