Guide
Carob, Olive, and Almond: The Three Trees of the Algarve Interior
Écrit par le gestionnaire d'Alentejo Park
·Mis à jour November 2024
Drive inland from any Algarve beach resort and within twenty minutes the landscape changes completely. The hotels and apartments disappear, the soils turn red and then grey, and the vegetation becomes a mix of three trees that have defined this landscape for two thousand years.
The olive
The olive was brought to Portugal by the Phoenicians and remained through Roman, Moorish, and Portuguese occupation because it works here. The soils are poor, the summers are dry, and the olive thrives precisely because of this. Modern orchards are planted in tight rows for machine harvesting. Old orchards — like ours — are planted wide, with trees that took sixty years to reach their current size. The difference in the oil is real: old trees, stressed by poor soil and dry summers, produce fruit with higher polyphenol content and more complex flavour.
The carob
The carob (Ceratonia siliqua) is the tree that was here before the others. Its seed pods were found at Neolithic sites in the Algarve. It tolerates drought better than any other tree in the Mediterranean basin, which is why it survived every agricultural revolution and clearance. The pods ripen in October and fall in November. Historically the main use was animal feed; the dried pods were also the "locust bean" that gave its name to locust bean gum, still used in food processing. In our farm shop we make carob jam, which tastes dark and slightly chocolatey — better than it sounds.
The almond
The almond is the first tree to bloom in the Algarve winter. From late January the hills around Castro Marim and Tavira turn white and pink before any other sign of spring. The harvest comes in August — you will see people with long poles knocking nuts from trees if you are travelling in summer. The almonds of the Algarve interior are smaller and harder-shelled than commercial almonds; the flavour is more intense.
Looking for a place to stop in the eastern Algarve?
Alentejo Park is 5 minutes from the A22 junction at Castro Marim. Twelve pitches, full hookup, free dump station for guests. →