K
kate1
Member
Deprived of our No Frills trip to Soller (through no fault of theirs) we decided to go to Soller in any case, en route to the dreaded Ikea. It is a really delightful place (Soller, not Ikea!) - grand yet peaceful - very pleasant wandering through the streets. However, the weather was so amazing that we decided the Soller countryside was a better place to be - and so we took a short drive out of the town centre to Ecovinyassa. This is a privately owned citrus farm, nestled in the most idyllic location with mountains all around, and benefitting from the Soller microclimate. The owners are organic farmers - the most lovely family, who are so enthusiastic about what they do - though when they told us they only earn 30 cents for every kilo of oranges, I could understand why they feel the need to diversify. Anyway, for 10E you can wander at your leisure around a trail and find out information about the many trees grown here - several types of orange, lemons, limes etc, but also avocados, pistachios and even the bizarre Buddha's Hand Fruit. Little signposts along the way give interesting facts about what you are looking at. The whole tour takes about an hour (depending on how long it takes you to feed the chickens and play with the cats) - halfway through is a rest stop, with bottled water and oranges, and when you reach the end the owner brings out a huge jug of freshly squeezed juice and a snack of bread, oil, tomatoes and peppers - really fresh and lovely, and eaten in a beautiful courtyard setting. We had such a lovely time - it gave us a feel of what it's like living in rural Mallorca and making your living off the land. And 10E is a bargain (especially as children go free!). If you're looking for something a little different to do - especially if you are attempting to grow citrus trees yourself - I'd thoroughly recommend this trip. The owner took a great deal of time to give us advice and suggest where we might be going wrong! Opening times etc are on their website.
