I was very surprised to learn more about the cocoa plant. It is something most of us eat every single day in some way or another, but rarely do we ever think about how or where the cocoa comes from. The rainbow of flowers we see in gardens go through many stages before blooming, and cocoa goes through the very same process!
Cocoa is best harvested in hot and consistent temperatures. That is why the United States has very few cocoa farms! Ghana provides the perfect temperature for this plant to flourish. However, it takes a very long time to grow, so farmers have other crops, too. Around cocoa farms it is common to grow bananas or plantains, which grow much faster, and the leaves also provide shade for the cocoa plants. Suprisingly, cocoa does not need a lot of sun to help it grow, just a warm climate. The giant banana leaves scattered around cocoa farms give give the cocoa plants the perfect shade. The leaves also help the seeds to dry, which speeds up the process of harvesting.
Cocoa has a protective outer coating that is hard enough so the outside world doesn’t tamper with its seeds. While it does get softer the riper it gets, it is still protective enough to keep out bugs or other harmful parasites. It even acts as a pillow to cushion the cocoa from a hard fall from the top of a tree. The cocoa fruit is also rooted by another food, the cocoa yam! In addition to being another food to eat, the cocoa yam keeps the cocoa fruit rooted and secure in the ground since it is very dense. It’s a two for one deal!
