THE FARM
πεtra is a family-run sustainable farm located on the beautiful island of Paros, Greece. We specialize in the production of Mediterranean crops that are well suited to the distinctive microclimate of our land. From the olives, capers, oregano, lavender, figs, grapes and other herbs that we grow, we produce a wide array of high-quality packaged products that embody the flavours of Greece through their taste and aroma. The whole cycle of production, from cultivation, harvest, processing, and packaging takes places at the farm, allowing us to oversee and control the quality of every item we produce.
How We Fertilize Our Crops
We never use any chemical fertilizers to fertilize our crops. Organic fertilization of the soil is not just about providing a quick dosage of nutrients to a plant’s roots; actually, it is about building the overall health of the soil. Healthy soil, rich in organic matter and soil microorganisms is essential for the health of our crops. We use compost that we make on our farm, local animal manure, as well as manure from our chickens.
In addition to applying compost and manure to our crops, we have a rotational grazing system for our chickens. The chickens are strategically allowed to roam in specific parts of the farm during certain parts of the year. While grazing they eat the weed seeds and weeds that grow and deposit their manure throughout the farm.
One of the beauties of working with nature is bearing witness to, and participating in the different seasons and their transformation. Each season has its own unique character, as well as its accompanying duties on the farm. This is what you can expect to be working on at the farm during each season.
Spring is a beautiful time on the farm when everything is sprouting to life. In March we till our vineyards, weed the capers and herbs, and start to monitor the crops for pests: after all some of the insects that come to life are also after our tasty plants! This is also the time of year that we plant our veggies garden and sprout saplings in our greenhouse. Come April we start harvesting our first capers and by the middle of May, as the green fields of barley are turning to gold, it is time to harvest the oregano, sage, lavender and mountain tea.
Summer is marked by long, dry days with high temperatures and northern winds. During the early summer, the caper, caper leaves, and sea samphire harvests dominate the labour on the farm. The end of the summer brings with it a definitive aspect of Mediterranean agriculture: the grape harvest! We monitor their sugar content carefully in order to harvest at the point where our wine will have the desired alcohol content.
As Autumn approaches and the first rains appear it is time for the olive harvest. We harvest our olives when most of them are still green before they turn purple. This allows for an oil of lower acidity and higher quality. We begin our harvest at the end of October and harvest by hand. At the end of each day, we take our olives to the state-of-the-art olive press on the island where they are cold-pressed, and then stored in sealed, stainless steel containers to prevent oxidation and degradation of quality.
On the farm, winter is the time for pruning and fertilizing our crops. We apply manure to the olive grove, the vineyard and the capers and the rain carries the nutrients in the manure into the soil in order for the crop roots to be able to access them. In January and February, we prune our crops to keep them healthy and productive. We value all the rich carbon and nitrogen that they contain, so instead of burning them, we chip the prunings and turn them into nutrient-rich compost.