Our latest farm visit: Aromatics in Catalonia

Last week, we travelled to Catalonia to visit different farms and learn about their aromatics cropping. We visited five farms, three are located in the province of Girona, one in Barcelona and the last one in Lleida, within the Pyrenees. The five farms differed greatly in terms of soil, climate and altitude, but they also had a number of points in common.

They are small farms of approximately two hectares cultivated with aromatic and medicinal plants. They implement several regenerative practices to improve soil quality, water retention and biodiversity while enhancing the aromatics production and the economic resilience. One of the examples grow lavender in keyline design, to promote equal distribution of scarce water on the plot, we could also see intercropping for natural pest management and mulching to improve the water retention and soil quality. Another very interesting practice is the integration of livestock in the aromatics orchard, in this way donkeys or sheep eat the weeds and provide nutrients to the soil without eating or damaging the aromatic plants.

The farmers themselves were not only responsible for planting and managing the crops but also for harvesting, processing and selling. We could see the infrastructures they use to dry the plants in order to sell them as infusions or condiments and the distillers used to get essential oils and hydrolates. 

We would like to thank the producers who have taken the time to show us their aromatics production.