I studied labor relations and worked in the department of administration and finance in several companies for years. In 2013, we started planting our first pistachios with already grafted trees and in 2016, I decided to dedicate all of my time towards this project because this is what I like and what I’m passionate about. The farm is in the village where I was born and raised, this region has suffered from depopulation a lot and with the help of CrowdFarming we hope to support the rural area, generating value in this territory. CrowdFarming to us is an opportunity to be able to offer our pistachios directly from our farm to your home, without intermediaries, just how we always wanted it to be. This motivates us to offer quality products and share our trees with those that want to take part in this project. The farm Doña Amor is a family project. This farm has been in my family for more than 60 years. Back in the days, my family was dedicated to livestock and conventional farming. It is located in a region traditionally used for the cultivation of cereals. After studying the climatic and agronomic conditions we decided to plant an alternative plant, the pistachio tree, and fulfill our dream: to create a unique ecosystem that cares and respects the environment, cultivating organic healthy food with a high nutritional value. I'm in charge of organising the everyday work at Doña Amor, which varies according to the time of year. Broadly speaking, the tasks of the farm can be described as follows: In winter, we start pruning in December and continue until the end of February. There are a lot of trees here! In spring, we draw up an organic fertilisation plan based on the deficiencies detected in the studies carried out in August of the previous year. The fertilisers are applied either directly to the leaves with a spray or into the soil dissolved in the irrigation water. Ricardo is in charge of all this. The vegetation cover grows up to the spring. Before the summer, we incorporate the vegetation cover into the soil with the help of the tractor. In the near future, we'll leave the vegetation cover all year round, controlling its growth with a cutter. At the end of June or the beginning of July, we perform green pruning on the young trees so that the branches can grow and enter production earlier. In the month of August, we directly graft the trees on which grafting failed for some reason in previous years. We also carry out maintenance tasks such as removing the grass that grows near the tree, placing and changing stakes and protectors, maintaining drip hoses, etc. And then in October the long-awaited moment comes: the harvest! We collect the nuts with a manual shake-catch harvester, and an umbrella-shake harvester or tarps, when the pistachios ripen. The pistachios are then processed, peeled and dried, picking out hollow, open, or closed shells and mottled pistachios. Once this process is over, we prepare both the individual bags and the outer boxes for delivery. For this step we work with a job placement centre for people with disabilities, who do an outstanding job.

The farm Doña Amor owes its name to its location, Doña Amor. Our parents referred to this area that way and we decided to keep the name which we've always known it by. It’s located in la Bóveda de Toro (Zamora), in the Guareña region, very close to the river Duero. Our farm can be found within a protected natural area of Natura 2000 (Special Bird Protection Area) called “Las Llanuras del Guareña'' known for hosting important populations of steppe birds like bustards, grey eaglets and little bustards. The farm is full of life and truly organic, visited by animals such as partridges, hares, rabbits, foxes, wild boar, snakes and voles. The farm is only 23km away from Toro and part of the Duero-Duoro route. The farm is 27 hectares wide and at 748 meters above level. 7,000 trees of the “Kerman” and the “Lost Hills” varieties grow there. These varieties are known for the size of their fruits, their intense flavor and the whiteness of their shell. Being a dioecious plant, there are two types of trees: the pollinating male and the producing female tree. In between we plant covering leguminous plants each year to avoid erosion, keep nitrogen, build up organic matter in our soil and serve as a refuge for animals and insects. Doña Amor is exposed to excellent climatic conditions for this kind of cultivation which requires long and warm summers and cold winters as well as strong winds in the flowering season to assure the pollination of all trees. The Toro region meets all of these requirements and thus ensures an excellent quality of our pistachios. What's more, to guarantee an excellent harvest, we have an innovative solar-powered irrigation and fertigation system. We can control irrigation from any device with an Internet connection, thereby optimising the consumption of both energy and water. We use sensors to measure humidity and a mobile-enabled weather station that gives us data on precipitation levels, wind speed and direction, humidity and atmospheric pressure. Our trees consume approximately 3,490 litres each per year. In addition to irrigation and fertigation, the solar energy generated means that our facilities are energy self-sufficient. We're a zero-waste company and we strive towards waste reuse. For example, the pruning remains are crushed and incorporated into the soil as organic matter. The hard shells of the closed pistachios are crushed and then used as an exfoliating material for cosmetics. Furthermore, we use smaller or mottled pistachios to make other products such as cream or oil. Meanwhile, we take advantage of the manure produced at an extensive sheep farm in the village to make compost that we use as a base fertiliser. Our farming project is based on: 1. __Innovation:__ We use new agricultural technologies. Moreover, renewable energy is used for our intelligent irrigation system as well as for self-consumption in our facilities. In doing so we optimize the use of resources. 2. We are working according to the guidelines of __organic farming practices__ and are in the final year of transition towards receiving the organic farming certificate. This way we care for and protect the environment. 3. __Circular economy:__ We value all residues generated on our farm. We organize our resources in the most efficient way possible and are free of petrol-based plastics. My husband and I work full time, and our children help us out when they can. We have Ricardo's help throughout the year. More labour is required on certain occasions, so we temporarily contract two people to help us with tasks such as pruning, grafting, picking, etc. We always try to hire locals, as the area is severely affected by rural depopulation. In addition, our idea is to extend the contracts over time. To carry out the packaging of our pistachios, we also hire an external company, which works with a wide range of employees to perform this task. At Doña Amor, not only do we comply with the employment requirements established by the collective agreement, but we actually improve them.