Our story starts with stone.
The stony, dry, and poor soils of Paros are the offspring of the mountains and their ancient relationship with the salty winds and intense sun of the Aegean. At πεtra farm we see farming and agriculture as a great environmental responsibility; we are committed to preserving the island's beautiful environment and culinary heritage.
We strive to be stewards of the land and practice sustainable agricultural principles inspired by agro-ecology. We see our land as a complex and productive ecosystem that requires fine-tuned and creative management to ensure the best possible outcome for both the environment and our crop quality.
We focus on the production of perennial Mediterranean crops, which are very well-suited to the micro-climate of the island. We specialize in the cultivation of dry-land crops and as a result, we use very small amounts of water to sustain our crops. In fact, the lack of irrigation is a key factor in the increased intensity, intricate flavour and aroma of our products.
Πέτρα (Petra), which literally means stone, is the name of our grandparents' village in Cyprus from which they were displaced after the 1974 Turkish invasion. Due to the ongoing occupation of northern Cyprus, the village remains in the demilitarised zone and cannot be visited. As a result, in 1986, our mother and her parents chose Paros as the place to pay homage to their origin story, and transplant Petra to our new home here.
Our grandfather, who was a devoted forester, developed the land at πεtra from an arid landscape to the luscious paradise that it is today, thus establishing the blueprint for future generations.
Our farm started on 5 acres of land in the dry and rocky terraced soils of Kolymbithres with 100 olive trees and 200 grapevines. Since Alkis took over the management of the family farm in 2015 the farm has grown significantly and the crops have been diversified. πεtra farm is now 24 acres large with terraced agricultural land in both Kolymbithres and Lefkes.
Over the last few years, as πεtra farm has grown, we wanted to share with you a little more of what πεtra has to offer. We began offering tours and tastings, renting out the estate for weddings as well as accommodation, and opened up our little shop in the village of Naousa to sell our organic and handmade products. We are also part of the work exchange program for 'Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms' where we host volunteers who work on the farm for several weeks at a time. Learn more about each of these new ventures, below.