When my father died I decided to dedicate myself to the care of the farm, otherwise the land would probably end up being abandoned. So in 2007 I left teaching at the university and took charge of everything and the first thing I decided was that the crop had to be organic, because I can't see any other way to produce the food we consume. Since 2010 we have the seal of organic production. Because I care not only about people's health, but also about the health of the planet. We are putting it at risk because of the ways and customs that we have developed in our society, in which the only thing that has counted is progress at any cost, even risking our own health and the survival of the planet itself. We have learned a lot and now we only need the weather to help us and not be against us. My children are joining the project now and we are very excited about the opportunity that CrowdFarming gives us, to be able to send you our lemons so that you can enjoy their quality just like we do.

Our farm is a family farm, which has been producing lemons since the 1980s. The farm is named "El Carrascal" after the large century-old holm oak (Quercus ilex) that grows next to our warehouse. It is located in the municipality of Fortuna, Murcia, a lemon growing area par excellence in Spain. The lemon grown in our Mediterranean climate conditions gives an adequate and appreciated level of acidity. It is also a low frost risk area which makes the lemon tree develop very well. For all these reasons, in this area the whole environment is a general landscape of lemon trees. In order to promote biodiversity, we have gone from having only lemon crops to having, in addition to lemon trees, limes, grapefruits, oranges and tangerines. The change to organic farming was difficult, due to the general lack of experience and because there were additional problems, such as a heavy frost that destroyed the trees and we almost had to start over. So it has been very difficult for us to get the farm as it is now, but I think we have finally achieved what we wanted. In addition to the adult trees of the Primofiori variety, in 2018 we planted a total of 900 verna trees which, although still small, are already beginning to produce fruit and will soon be adults, so that we will not lack lemons all summer. In addition to lemons, we have recently planted grapefruits, oranges and tangerines, which will soon start producing as well. The rootstocks for our varieties mainly provide quality at the cost of slow growth. Although it is true that trees can last up to 60 years, it depends on different aspects whether their life is more or less long. Ours have gone through a lot of stress, with several very heavy frosts that left them completely dry just as we were beginning the transition to organic farming. This made this process very difficult and its recovery was very long and costly, increased by the lack of knowledge that still existed at that time about the procedures and ecological resources to be applied in a similar situation. Some trees of the Finos variety did not resist and we had to cut their trunks to raise from the same foot a new tree but one that conserved its traditional characteristics, something very important for us, since they are the ones that give them their great quality. In the Verna variety, we finally had to decide to make a new plantation in the part of it where they did not manage to recover and there we planted first grapefruit, of the Rio Red variety which is a particularly sweet and juicy red grapefruit. In this process of renewal, we have successively planted mandarins and oranges of very diverse varieties to extend the harvest as much as possible over time. We have planted these varieties where the lemon trees were no longer able to grow, because it also happens with the aging of the tree, which reaches a point where the graft on which it has grown ends up making it difficult for the sap to pass through so much as to cause its death. We are now raising trees that are two, three and four years old. Some of us are grafting them from Verna lemon over orange foot, as this is what produces a top quality lemon. In this way, we are gradually renewing the plantation only to the extent necessary, with a conservationist approach to the maximum. In our agricultural practices we try to incorporate everything that is most beneficial to the environment. We use natural fertilizers and incorporate biofertilizer microorganisms that stimulate the absorption of environmental nitrogen and nutrients immobilized in the soil. We shred the pruning remains for reabsorption into the soil. We have been planting a hedge with different varieties of plants and shrubs that favour the presence of natural predators. And since lemons require significant amounts of water (between 6,000 and 7,000 m3 per tree per year depending on the variety) we have incorporated drip irrigation in all fields, adding to the community irrigation in the area, to improve efficiency and reduce water consumption as much as possible. All this is backed by the Ecological Certificate we have held since 2010. But we are not only concerned about the environment, we understand that agroecology must be supported by decent work and wages. All the people who are in our team have salaries higher than those fixed in the Convention. We are six people, among whom we distribute all the work required for the production and distribution of our crops. We do not need to outsource any work from production itself to collection and distribution. All this allows us to collect the fruit at the best time and always on demand, so that it arrives in the best quality conditions.