Pepe Aguilera’s family farm has a lot of history behind it. The small fields surrounding the farm (which is located in and named after the Huertas Bajas region in southern Spain, close to the Sierra Nevada mountains) have been worked since the time of the Moors, who used the neighbouring historic town of Loja as a military stronghold.
Nowadays, the region is known more for its veg than its soldiers, with the fertile land watered by the nearby River Génil, and rainwater caught by the mountains.
Pepe runs Huertas Bajas Farm with his brother, Antonio. They grow a variety of organic veg for our boxes: green and purple asparagus; a reliable supply of spinach; and a vibrant range of baby salad leaves, specialising in oriental varieties such as Mizuna, Yukina and Wasabina. They have also blessed our boxes with extra virgin olive oil, pressed from their beautiful Hojiblanca olives (a traditional Andalucian variety). In total, the farm encompasses 55 hectares: 25 of vegetables, and 30 of olives groves.
The veg crops from Pepe’s farm are a welcome frontrunner to the UK season. Our boxes can be filled with colourful Spanish veg in early spring, a time when British fields are mostly empty (after the winter crops have ended, but before the new season’s veg is ready to harvest; known as the Hungry Gap).
Small batches of Pepe’s olive oil are also a welcome treat. It can be hard to get hold of ethical olive oil; olives are often harvested at night, when it’s cooler, to preserve their flavour – but this can harm the migratory songbirds who roost in the trees. Research from Portugal’s Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests found that 2.6 million birds are killed each olive harvest in Spain’s Andalusia region; bright lights from super intensive harvesting machines disorient the birds, and they can be sucked into the machines.
Pepe’s olives are picked by hand, in sunlight. Instead of relying on cool night temperatures, they preserve the olives’ flavour by pressing them the very same day they’re picked, at the local mill just 3km away.
For Pepe and his brother, who grew up watching their father farm this same land until they took over in 1993, conventional farming with artificial chemicals was never an option. “It was clear to us that conventional agriculture was not the future for us, for our children, or for the fertility of the land and its environment,” explains Pepe. “So with a deep conviction we started to work in organic farming.”
As organic farmers with an ethical mindset, Pepe and Antonio are focused on reducing the environmental impact of their farm wherever they can. Minimising the use of plastic and packaging where possible is top of the list, and the brothers are also planning to install solar panels on their warehouse and move towards generating their own sustainable energy.
Pepe’s favourite part of the job is still working in the fields, he says, and overseeing the journey from seed to vegetable, while out of all the crops he produces his favourite is always the first of the new-season asparagus.
The local area around Loja, which is just west of Granada, is known for its rich wildlife and vegetation. Close to the farm there have been sightings of cranes, kestrels and foxes, while the lush vegetation is home to varied tree species like willows, elms and poplars. The valley is known as a fertile yet fragile ecosystem, so it’s all the more important for farmers here to work in harmony with nature.
Things like protecting soil fertility and the delicate riverside vegetation are all part of Pepe and Antonio’s careful management, with crop rotations and organic matter added to the soil all helping to ensure the farm and its surrounding environment will continue to thrive for generations to come.
