Traditional almond harvest
after the Almonds Starting to ripen in June, farmers originally looked forward to the autumn harvest. The magnificent blossom of the almond tree was expected to be an abundant harvest.
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With the beginning of the autumn month of September, the almond fruits were shaken from the trees. With the support of many hardworking hands, they were read. Finally, they end up in appropriate factories for cleaning and cracking.
Today these processes have become part of large industrial operations.
Complex processes
In September, wide safety nets are spread out under the almond trees on sunny days. Harvesters shake the almonds from the tree with the help of iron bars. Many withered branches and old leaves also fall down. In the next step, the splendid harvest is tipped into cotton sacks and transported for further processing.
Branches and twigs are mechanically separated from the almond fruits. These are then carefully peeled and packaged. In some areas even the harvest workers are being replaced by machines. However, since the rent for electric tree shakers is very high, there is often no lucrative profit for the farmers.
Compromise on four legs
For this reason, the almonds are not harvested in low-yielding vintages. In this way, they fall from the tree on their own and serve as food for pigs. In Mallorca, these animal species have adapted to the cracking of the hard almond shell over the course of time.
However, there are more and more poor harvests, which are the result of not cared for almond trees. Do not do this annually blended, these trees die after 3 to 4 years.
This decline is already leaving its mark on Mallorca:
- Since the beginning of 2000, the area under cultivation has halved from 30,000 hectares to 15,000.
- However, gourmet chefs appreciate these delicacies made from pure almonds.
- Often pure almonds are stretched with other ingredients.
Tips & Tricks
There are still a few pure almond products on Mallorca. These are available on the Palma organic market. The Sunday market in Santa María also offers these all-natural quality items.
