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Volker Lehmann, the owner of Hacienda Tranquilidad, has a formal educational background in tropical agronomy and years of experience in Bolivia and elsewhere. He selects seeds from pods from trees he knows to abundant producers, germinates them in his nursery (where he also grows teak, cashew, acai, and several other plants) for interplanting outside of the core chocolatales where the wild trees are found. I was part of a crew of four people tasked with planting about 220 seedlings in an area of mixed varieties of plantains and bananas.

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Volker Lehmann, the owner of Hacienda Tranquilidad, has a formal educational background in tropical agronomy and years of experience in Bolivia and elsewhere. He selects seeds from pods from trees he knows to abundant producers, germinates them in his nursery (where he also grows teak, cashew, acai, and several other plants) for interplanting outside of the core chocolatales where the wild trees are found. I was part of a crew of four people tasked with planting about 220 seedlings in an area of mixed varieties of plantains and bananas.

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Six cacao pods harvested on the Hacienda Tranquilidad outside of Baures, Bolivia. There are four or five different varieties of wild cacao growing in Bolivia. The colors of ripe pods are yellow and green, with orange being slightly over-ripe. Unlike many other varieties of cacao, there are no reds to be seen anywhere!

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Six cacao pods harvested on the Hacienda Tranquilidad outside of Baures, Bolivia. There are four or five different varieties of wild cacao growing in Bolivia. The colors of ripe pods are yellow and green, with orange being slightly over-ripe. Unlike many other varieties of cacao, there are no reds to be seen anywhere!

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… the tree, not me! This majestic wild cacao tree is probably hundreds of years old and is still very productive. Unlike virtually all other cacao varieties, which grow from a single trunk, as you can see there are dozens of trunks and new shoots called chupons. In a “modern” cacao farm the chupons would be pruned. On the wild cacao trees they are not as the unproductive chupons will simply wither and die.

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Volker Lehmann, the owner of Hacienda Tranquilidad, has a formal educational background in tropical agronomy and years of experience in Bolivia and elsewhere. He selects seeds from pods from trees he knows to abundant producers, germinates them in his nursery (where he also grows teak, cashew, acai, and several other plants) for interplanting outside of the core chocolatales where the wild trees are found. I was part of a crew of four people tasked with planting about 220 seedlings in an area of mixed varieties of plantains and bananas.

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Discover Chocolate and Live La Vida Cocoa - TheChocolateLife.com

Volker Lehmann, the owner of Hacienda Tranquilidad, has a formal educational background in tropical agronomy and years of experience in Bolivia and elsewhere. He selects seeds from pods from trees he knows to abundant producers, germinates them in his nursery (where he also grows teak, cashew, acai, and several other plants) for interplanting outside of the core chocolatales where the wild trees are found. I was part of a crew of four people tasked with planting about 220 seedlings in an area of mixed varieties of plantains and bananas.

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Though I was told that the seeds of the wild cacao were very small (they are - I will post a photo soon), it never really sunk in what that meant in terms of pod size. This pod is an average size for one of the varieties of wild cacao that grows. If you refer back to the photo of the six pods you’ll get an idea for how small even the biggest one is (and it is above average in size). You have to harvest a LOT of pods in order to get even a decent amount of fresh cacao to sell.

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I went out with a family group of four harvesting pods. In several hours we collected six sacks. We then set to opening the pods and removing the seeds. We collected these in small bowls where we worked and when we filled the bowls we moved them to a sack tied to a tree. Under the sack, the lead harvester (the father, Angel) dug a small depression with his machete and lined it with some leaves. Juice from the pulp from the seeds dripped into the depression and a cup was made by scooping out the interior of one of the emptied pods.

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Six cacao pods harvested on the Hacienda Tranquilidad outside of Baures, Bolivia. There are four or five different varieties of wild cacao growing in Bolivia. The colors of ripe pods are yellow and green, with orange being slightly over-ripe. Unlike many other varieties of cacao, there are no reds to be seen anywhere!

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Six cacao pods harvested on the Hacienda Tranquilidad outside of Baures, Bolivia. There are four or five different varieties of wild cacao growing in Bolivia. The colors of ripe pods are yellow and green, with orange being slightly over-ripe. Unlike many other varieties of cacao, there are no reds to be seen anywhere!

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Discover Chocolate and Live La Vida Cocoa - TheChocolateLife.com

Though I was told that the seeds of the wild cacao were very small (they are - I will post a photo soon), it never really sunk in what that meant in terms of pod size. This pod is an average size for one of the varieties of wild cacao that grows. If you refer back to the photo of the six pods you’ll get an idea for how small even the biggest one is (and it is above average in size). You have to harvest a LOT of pods in order to get even a decent amount of fresh cacao to sell.

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Discover Chocolate and Live La Vida Cocoa - TheChocolateLife.com

Though I was told that the seeds of the wild cacao were very small (they are - I will post a photo soon), it never really sunk in what that meant in terms of pod size. This pod is an average size for one of the varieties of wild cacao that grows. If you refer back to the photo of the six pods you’ll get an idea for how small even the biggest one is (and it is above average in size). You have to harvest a LOT of pods in order to get even a decent amount of fresh cacao to sell.

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Discover Chocolate and Live La Vida Cocoa - TheChocolateLife.com