Ayrlego

[COR - Mar FB1] Cocoa Plantation, King's Harbour

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Dirk's previous story can be found here

After the placement and construction of North Head Battery, Captain Dirk Allcock has taken some well deserved leave in the environs of King's Harbour. Since arriving on Cocovia, Dirk has been fascinated by the commodity that gave the Island it's Corrish name of Cocovia - cocoa.

Cocoa is prepared from the seeds of the Cacao tree (also known as the Cocoa Tree). So Dirk found a native guide, and together with another Cocoa enthusiast he meet in the settlement, one John Cadbury, he has set out into the hinterland to find this miraculous tree.

They didn't need to go far! The island was named for the abundance of this very tree, and the name soon proved appropriate. Dirk was instantly fascinated by the examples they found, as was John, but both men for different reasons. Dirk's interest was scientific, John's commercial. The two came to an agreement were Dirk would fund the setting up of first a plantation, and later a processing factory. The enterprise would be managed by John. So while John set out to clear a small patch of land to begin a plantation, Dirk made a study of the tree. The following sketch and description is from his notebook:

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The Cacao or Cocoa Tree is a small understory tree that is abundant through the Crown colony of Cocovia. The tree thrives in the shaded understory of the Jungle and mature specimens seem to range from about 10-15m in height. The leaves are alternate, entire and unlobed and are between 10-40cm long and 5-20cm broad. Unusually the flowers and seed pods grow directly from the trunk and larger branches of the tree. The flowers are small and pink in colour, and appear to be pollinated by a species of small fly. The pods range in colour from red, yellow, green and brown. Mature pods contain around 20 to 60 seeds or 'beans' encased in a white pulp.

After a week, Dirk met up with John on the site of the newly established cocoa plantation and John gave Dirk a tour of the operation. As only mature trees produced seed pods, John had found a plot that already contained a number of mature trees. The jungle was being thinned out but some larger trees were carefully left to provide filtered light for the cacao trees. Seedlings were being collected and grown in pots for later transplanting into the ground.

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Mature pods are first collected, then smashed open with a machete.

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The seeds and pulp are then placed in large barrels to ferment. After about seven days of fermentation the beans are removed and must be quickly dried. Drying is achieved by spreading the seeds out in the sun for five to seven days. The dried beans can then be packed and sent for further processing.

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Overview

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Hi All! Here is my attempt at a cocoa plantation, I believe the first here. I wanted to focus on the process here and my next planed build is a factory to complete the processing of the cocoa beans. As always comments and criticism welcome!

Oh and here is a reference pic!

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Edited by Ayrlego

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This is fantastic! Great work detailing the process, I found it very fascinating, but of course the build takes the cake! :thumbup: That tree especially, but the other details are great as well!

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Fantastic. Those cocoa plants are just amazing, so much dedication into the research and the build.

Also it really has a wildish flair, not like a flat plantation but rather like using and expanding on what is already there, like one would do on a newly discovered island.

Just great.

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Thanks Kai and Elostirion!

Also a note for leadership - before I license as a plantation, I was wondering if by chance I had maybe uncovered one of the bonuses for Cocovia????? pir_laugh2.gif

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Awesome build! I can't quite figure out how you attached the pods to the tree though....

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Awesome build, I like the level of detail you went into in describing the processing and you've captured the likeness of the trees fantastically.

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Fantastic! I love it! :pir-wub:

Your cocao trees are a near-perfect portrayal of the illustration. I don't hardly think they could be built any better. But I'm also curious as to how you attached the pods...

The entire landscape looks great, and matches the clearing methods of the story perfectly. It has a wonderful jungle feel to it, and the description of the processing and accompanying details are nice. I also really like your base approach, since red and white tend to be more visible than black anyway. It's a good way to use all three colors.

I can't imagine consuming the early crude forms of what eventually evolved into chocolate. A few years ago my siblings and I visited Jungle Jim's International Market in Fairfield, Ohio, which is basically the Taj Mahal of grocery supermarkets. After having perused the mind-boggling collection of calories - including some of the largest and most diverse selections of cheeses and wines in the whole world and virtually every type of ethnic food you've never heard of - we found ourselves in the midst of the chocolates section. I've seen more chocolate in a candy store, but never so diverse a selection as what Jungle Jim's had - I think if it existed, they had it. I prefer dark chocolate and bought a great big bar of some 70% cocoa dark, then an equal size 85% cocoa, and finally, just goofing off with my brother, we decided to get a big bar of the 99% cocoa stuff despite the label suggesting that it was an acquired taste and that you should work your way up. (Why did we do it? Because we could!) That night we sampled the goods around a campfire. I was pretty sure I could just chow down on the 70%, and I was right - it was wonderful. The other chocolate lovers among us thought it was pretty good too. I was a little more cautious with the 85% - it was noticeably stronger, to the point I didn't truly enjoy it. Some of the others wouldn't try it after sampling the 70%. Then my brother and I decided to try the 99% - just a tiny little bitty piece to be safe. Yeeeeee-ow!! Oh...my...goodness. I have never tasted anything so bitter in all my life. On the scale of dreadful foods it was right up there with green persimmons (which I have accidentally tasted - when ripe they are fabulous). Besides my brother-in-law, no one else would try the 99% cocoa after our reactions. Afterward I had a whole bar to eat, and the only way I could do it was to break off a big piece and pile as many milk chocolate chips on it as I could to dilute it. It took a few months.

So what does this have to do with your creation? Not much, really, but I'm pretty sure I would not have viewed cocoa as a delicacy if I had lived back then - until someone came up with a good way of processing it into something more palatable. But I'm going on too long here.

Excellent work, and I look forward to seeing what you have in the works! :classic:

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Excellent job. I would prefer a purist solution to connect the pods to the tree, but your results looks really good. The ground is especially nice with the various shades of green. It is also nice to see the whole process represented.

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Awesome build! I can't quite figure out how you attached the pods to the tree though....

Awesome rendition of a cocoa tree!

I'm thinking some blutack there perhaps?

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Thanks everyone!

Awesome build! I can't quite figure out how you attached the pods to the tree though....

But I'm also curious as to how you attached the pods...

Excellent job. I would prefer a purist solution to connect the pods to the tree, but your results looks really good.

I'm thinking some blutack there perhaps?

Well this is embarrassing! pirate_blush.gif So I um... cheated. CelesAurivern is absolutely correct - I used blutack.... pirate_blush.gifpirate_blush.gif The trees took over three times as long than all the rest of the build to get right, and I think most of that time was spent trying to find a way to attach the pods. I tried various combinations of clips and rods amongst other failed solutions. I too would have preferred a purist way! But in the end I gave up and whacked a bit of blutack to the back of each pod (you can see it in the tree picture). If anyone can think of a way to do it I'd be very interested in your solution!! This one had me beat! pirate_classic.gif

@Captain Dee

I think the strongest I've tried is around 85%, which was not very sweet at all! Basically I agree, the anal retentive historically accurate part of me rebels at the idea of us developing the concept of modern chocolate so quickly. However, it had already been introduced by Tomsche in Quinnsville, and everyone loves chocolate right? So I decided to try and show the process as accurately as possible. My next Cocovia build will be a factory where the process is continued, roasting and crushing into powder and butter. Then maybe mixing with some sugar and milk to make a type of chocolate. But I haven't completed my research for that part yet! My plantation/factory manager's name is Cadbury after all!

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This is a very nice build! The foliage is great. I just really like the flow of minifigs and what they're doing.

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Really nictree, and all the processes on the plantation are very good shown

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Montoya has been reading your notes on the Cacao-tree with great interest, and hopes that Cpt. Allcock will indulge him in a visit to see the plantation, and, more importantly, those fascinating trees. Especially a closer observation of whether the very unique reported taste attracts some specific birds and beasts, and how this affects the spread of the seeds woudl be most interesting!

(In fact, convincing Montoya that not awaiting an invitation might be considered impolite was trying work, but luckily an interesting seal showed its presence in the harbour, distracting him somewhat!)

Further, Cooke would like to stipulate that any extra lumber produced from the clearing of the plantation be shipped to King's Harbour, as building materials are scarce._

___

Great build - The tree is excellent (and I can't think of a better solution for the seed pods... Although in principle, I too would prefer purist solutions pirate_tong.gif ), and the idea of establishing the plantation around an existing tree - it is very fitting for a frontier settlement, and I really like the composition of the build - nothing is in the way, so you can see everything, but it doesn't look bare.

As others, I love how you have depicted and described the whole process - it makes for a fascinating read.

pirate_blush.gif

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:pir-wub: Beautiful build, Ayrlego, very nice vegetation, and those trees are superb! pirate_satisfied.gif Excellent job describing and showing the process as well, and awesome photography as usual! Looking forward to the factory! pirate_wink.gif

@Captain Dee, pir_laugh2.gifdefault_roflmao.gifdefault_iamded_lol.png Alright, remind me not to try anything that strong then! (Just one more reason to be happy you live when you do... default_laugh_new.gif)

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Oh, make no mistake, I'm not suggesting that no one should have refined chocolate in this historic setting. It makes no difference whatsoever to me. In fact I was thinking of doing with it something myself. I just told that little story to illustrate how far it's come from being an exotic food to something normal, found virtually everywhere. :classic:

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Definitely one of the best and most suitable agricultural builds yet here in BoBS :classic:

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This is beautiful. The way you depicted all steps of the production is superb. Now I want immediately to build my own plantation. Sugarcane of course. And then a rum destillery. Captain Morgan's rum destillrey. Hehe.

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Thank you everyone for the comments!!

Montoya has been reading your notes on the Cacao-tree with great interest, and hopes that Cpt. Allcock will indulge him in a visit to see the plantation, and, more importantly, those fascinating trees. Especially a closer observation of whether the very unique reported taste attracts some specific birds and beasts, and how this affects the spread of the seeds would be most interesting!

(In fact, convincing Montoya that not awaiting an invitation might be considered impolite was trying work, but luckily an interesting seal showed its presence in the harbour, distracting him somewhat!)

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Don Montoya's wait is over as Dirk gives him a tour of the plantation and allows a close examination of the Cacao trees therein!

Edited by Ayrlego

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Dear Cpt. Allcock,

It was with the utmost pleasure I accepted your invitation, and I must say that it did not dissapoint! Of particular interest was the curious bat and the birds who seemed attracted to the trees, and I will certainly study the spread of the seeds more closely.

The strangely bitter seeds where highly fascinating, and one wonders the beasts and birds seemed to enjoy them so. I do hope the foreman will not be too industrious in keeping them away from the plantation, but perhaps they are better studied on wild trees.

On a sidenote, whenever it will be to yours and Sir James' convenience, we should meet and sign the founding charter for the Royal Society's new world branch.

Your servant

Don Isaac Montoya

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The accuracy of the cocoa tree some brilliant thinking. Top notch effort.

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