My name is Rainer Sühling. I grew up on a farm in the Münster region together with my siblings. It was a given that everyone helped out on the farm, so I got to know and love working in nature and life in the country from an early age. As the firstborn, my brother took over my parents' farm, and I had to go my own way. After years of working in Germany, the chance of a position in the tourism sector in Spain arose. My wife Gaby and I decided to take up this challenge. So, we came to Malaga on the Costa del Sol. We quickly fell in love with the country and its people, and a desire grew to one day run our own farm in order to live and work there. In 2014, the time had come. With our team, which consisted of local farmers, we started to create all the conditions for growing avocados. In 2016, we were able to plant the first trees. "Finca Dos Arroyos" was born. Today, everyday life for us means planning the upcoming work and carrying it out ourselves, or instructing the necessary employees. Gaby takes care of the administration, while I take care of the irrigation and all other day-to-day work. CrowdFarming offers us a platform to get in touch with like-minded people who value sustainable farming and fair product sales. Thanks to the individual relationship with the farmer, the customer learns more about the product, its creation, its origin and all the steps. For us, it means making a contribution towards combating mass production and ensuring more sustainability.

Our farm is called Dos Arroyos, because the property is surrounded by two streams that meet at the entrance to the farm. You will find us in a unique location in the Guadalhorce Valley in Malaga, one of the most fertile regions in the Mediterranean. It is one of the few areas in Europe where it is possible to grow tropical avocados, thanks to its special microclimate. My wife Gaby and I started here in 2014 and have fulfilled our dream by taking it over. The finca used to be an orange farm, with a few avocado and mango trees. Due to the poor condition of the trees, it was necessary to replant. We decided on avocados because we are big fans of the fruit ourselves and the conditions for growing avocados are very good here. Since we started, we have relied on the advice and help of local farmers, who support us with their labour to this day. We have no permanent employees; rather, the work processes are planned together as required and then carried out using the relevant specialists – for example, weed control, which has to be carried out three to four times a year. We use handheld strimmers to cut back the weeds. They are removed by hand around the trunk. The cut grass is left on the ground to form a humus layer, which also stores water for irrigating the plants. The entire plot is surrounded by a wide belt of reeds that lines the streams and serves as a habitat for many insects and animals. There is a lot of life here! Our neighbour Jose, the beekeeper, who pollinates our trees with around 30 colonies, sells the honey that is produced at local markets. Because it is very important to us, we have cultivated our produce in line with ecological principles and regulations right from the start. The foundation of the farm is a natural water source, which supplies the trees with water by means of a water-saving drip irrigation system. A young tree needs about 15 litres per day, while a full-grown tree needs about 50 litres per day. We do not use any deep wells that would pollute the groundwater. In addition, we have a lake that is fed by rainwater, which we use as a reserve for the summer months. We generate the electricity for the irrigation pumps via our 10KW photovoltaic system. All of our organic waste is composted and reused as fertiliser. This creates a closed cycle. Only flawless, hand-packed fruits are dispatched. Fruits that are not perfect are processed into oil. Avocado oil is one of the best vegetable oils in the world. We all look forward to sending the fruits of our labour straight to your home, and we hope we can share our mantra with you: BACK TO THE ROOTS – BACK TO NATURE.