In March we planted a whole range of different fruit and nut trees on the land: Orange, Lemon, Apricot, Pear, Pomegranate, Almond, Walnut, Olive, Kiwi, Grapes to name a few. In total, over 200 saplings were planted.

We also welcomed two new helpers - Angelique and Rolf - who will be working alongside Scarlett, Chris, Inma, Ian, Patrik and Tomas across all the various aspects of the Casa Amelia business.

This spring, Andalucia has had much more rain than in previous years, which has been perfect for getting our new trees well established. The whole valley is green and dotted with wonderful colours from fantastic wild flowers including orchids, wild pea, gorse and more.



On the land, there are many wild plants which will give us food for free! Wild leeks, Thyme, Rosemary, Fennel, Borage and Rocket will all be great for La Cocina.

As well as planting all the trees, Patrick, Tomas and Rolf spent March and April preparing the vegetable terraces (R1 and R2), and began to create a series of pathways.

Work on the vegetable terraces came to an unexpected halt in April. The building materials that had been delivered (fence posts and fencing) were stolen just a few days after the delivery. Someone cut through the chained off entrance track and took everything - enough material to fence off the two 50x4m vegetable terraces.




On the brighter side, some of the trees began to bear fruit - only a couple of months since they were planted. We have plums and peaches hanging from the young branches of several trees. And many other varieties are in blossom for crops later this year.



At the beginning of May Chris and Scarlett started to plant vegetables on terraces R1 and R2, despite the lack of protective fencing (the boys will have to tread carefully when they finish that job off).

We are now growing Courgettes, cucumbers, onions, aubergines, red peppers, lettuce and tomatoes. So, later this year salads and meals from La Cocina will not only include local produce, some of the ingredients will also be organically grown Finca crops!