My name's Toni and I manage the small family farm that my parents and grandparents ran all their lives. I'm a member of the CABET brand, which is part of the Agricultural Cooperative of Bétera (COABE). I'm very lucky since, together with other COABE partners, we are starting and leading the conversion to organic project, which reflects my love of the countryside and the lessons we can learn from Mother Nature every day. Ever since I was little, I've been in contact with the countryside. I fondly remember those years when the family would get together to help our grandparents grow their oranges. I still remember the scent of orange blossom when I was picking the fruits and then selling them. The interest in agriculture got stronger and stronger, and I decided to dedicate my life to the countryside. In the cooperative, I found a place where I could develop professionally and share my passion with other farmers. All the farmers in CABET are dedicated to the countryside because we want to preserve our ancestral knowledge and develop a sustainable production that protects our biodiversity and provides fresh fruit with an authentic flavour and aroma, harvested directly from our trees. When you eat my fruit, whether it's mandarins, oranges, pomegranates or persimmons, it's easy not to fully appreciate the work involved in growing it. Our top priority is to grow and sell fresh and nutritious food that wouldn't reach your table without our hard work and dedication. Every day, my team and I are out in the field working hard to grow the fruit! But it's not as straightforward as planting a seed and watching it grow. Our typical day goes like this... We get up early and start work straight away to make sure that the crops don't overheat. Then we water them. Especially on days of extreme heat, irrigation is crucial. We water the fields with a drip irrigation system, so we take advantage of every drop of water. After this, and always in line with organic farming practices, we spend much of our time weeding, fertilising and nourishing the trees, and preventing and controlling diseases and pests. When the fruit is ready, we kick off the harvest season. There's a lot of happiness and excitement when we pick the fruit, but it's also hard work. Once it has been collected, it's time to wash and/or pack the fruit for sale, distribution and transport. As you can see, my team and I have full-time jobs that we're passionately committed to. We often don't have the weekend off or a holiday because the crops don't look after themselves or understand what a 9-to-5 job is. For us, CrowdFarming is a source of inspiration and motivation, as it allows us to meet the consumers of our products, to which we have dedicated so much time and love.

Finca CABET was created at the Agricultural Cooperative of Bétera (COABE) in Valencia. A thirteen-strong group of farmers and the Agricultural Cooperative contributed their land, dedication and enthusiasm to start this organic farming project that will grow and incorporate new farmers. There are currently twenty-six plots of land totalling 28.67 hectares, most within the village of Bétera, plus one in Vilamarxant, three in Marines, three in El Puig and one in Llíria. We grow different varieties of pomegranates, persimmons, mandarins and oranges. We've reclaimed traditional cultivation methods from more than one hundred years ago, such as pruning and hand-picking the fruit, and we use these methods, alongside machinery and other techniques, to protect and improve the environment. We routinely implement biological control by introducing natural enemies into the environment for pest control. We also introduce and encourage hedges, shrubs, foliage, plant cover and safe weeds, along with islands of vegetation, green corridors, field borders with wildflowers, etc, to establish a reservoir of predatory or parasitic species of pests. This means that by increasing the diversity of natural enemies, we can decrease the density of pest populations. The plots of land are located at the foot of the Sierra Calderona, considered the 'green lung' of Valencia. These mountains attract the gentle and humid Levante winds from the Mediterranean, and water from the River Turia channelled upstream from the Benagéber Reservoir and reaching our fields by gravity, so there's no need for water consumption from wells or electricity. We also use the 'regulated deficit irrigation' technique, which saves water with respect to conventional cultivation. All three of us on the team are qualified engineers. We run our farmers' plantations according to organic farming criteria and ensure that all operators working on the land comply with all legal, social and environmental requirements. We believe in not wasting food, but we also want to offer the best fruit possible, so any pieces that fail to meet our quality standards will be used to produce juice. We follow strict protocols on internal and external ripeness, analytics, etc, which mean that when our fruit arrives at your home, you'll appreciate not just the dedication and passion of our farmers, but also the flavours, aromas and colours of our land.