My family has been living and cultivating on this farm since the 19th century. We cultivate in the nature reserve “El Parque Natural de la Albufera”, a privileged environment, which has set the scene for traditional Spanish rice cultivation since the Middle Ages. Our enclave by nature has special characteristics, such as its light and floodability conditions that make it the optimal place to produce rice. There is only a limited number of places in Spain to cultivate rice due to the specific geological conditions necessary. They need to be floodable through canals, which direct the water directly from a freshwater lake.
Before sowing it is necessary to prepare the fields. After working and levelling them, we start to sow the seeds, which takes place between the beginning of April until May. To plant the seeds, we flood the plots of land to maintain a constant water level. Afterwards, the seeds are sown extensively on the different fields. During summer the plant is growing until the ear appears. When it has turned golden, the plant has reached its optimal level of maturity to be harvested. The harvest season starts at the end of August and lasts until mid-October depending on the climatic conditions. Once harvested the grains are dried to remain durable and then brought to be stored in the granaries.
During the period, in which the plains are flooded, the rice plants act as green filters of the ecosystem: They are natural treatment plants of the nearby lake and surrounding hectares, withholding sediments that carry nutrients, which in turn are used by the plants for their growth.
Rice, its natural habitat of cultivation and the rice farmer are linked inseparably. One cannot exist without the other. If the rice farmers weren’t to cultivate here, this zone would probably now have been turned into a housing estate for its utter beauty. Our process of cultivating, drying and packaging takes place in the same place - la Albufera.