«The carob. Ancient Traditions and Future Perspectives» is the theme of the next course «Passos Contados», which will take place on Sunday, August 21, with a meeting point at 7:00 am in Santa Rita, at the Cacela Heritage Research and Information Center ( CIIPC), which operates in the former primary school.
The route will be accompanied by the farmer João Sol.
In this activity, explains the CIIPC, «we will get to know the traditional dryland orchard and pick carob, while we talk about ancient traditions linked to this fruit, its importance in the Algarve economy and prospects for the future for what has been called “the Algarve gold”» .
The CIIPC points out that «in the Algarve, carob continues to play an important role in the family economy. There are many families, with small and medium plots of land with rainfed orchards, which, in the summer, dedicate part of their time to harvesting carob”.
«The harvest is carried out in the summer, when the heat is most intense, between the end of July and September. Traditionally it starts with retail. This task, which requires skill and some strength, is the work of men, who use rods of different sizes and flexibility. The longest ones, sometimes up to five meters, are used on larger trees to fan the branches from the ground and the shorter ones for smaller trees or for when the sweepers have to climb to reach the pods at the top of the canopy. .
“After the locust bean fell, the women started picking them into cane baskets, and then they were dumped into the mule cart. Now plastic buckets are used and transport is done by tractor or van».
«When the whole harvesting process is completed, the carob is transported to a warehouse, where it remains until it is sold».
REGISTRATION
Cacela Heritage Research and Information Center
Former Primary School of Santa Rita
Tel. 281 952600 | [email protected] | http://ciipcacela.wordpress.com
Participations are limited. Sign up in advance, leaving your name and contact details.
Registration fee – 5€ (to revert directly to the supervisor)
Organization
Municipality of Vila Real de Santo António
Cacela Heritage Research and Information Center
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