If you're still searching for that special Christmas present for a friend or loved one, I just might have the perfect solution.
The Mallorcan company Terragust has just launched a new project called Adopt-A-Tree which is the gift that keeps on giving all year long.
The company was launched in March 2019 by a group of young people who wanted to share their knowledge of nature and all it has to offer, by giving tours of the fields where their fruit and vegetables grow, to drive home the importance of buying homegrown produce in Mallorca.
Terragust is made up of:
Matías Adrover who is a Majorcan farmer and an endless source of knowledge about fruit and vegetables, sustainability and most of all flavour.
Biel “Cornet” grew up on a farm in Mallorca and learned all about local produce from his parents before training as a Chef and he does all the cooking at Terragust.
Marina Adrover got her passion for agriculture from her Dad who’s a partner in Terracor. She manages the business, takes care of all the administration and is the first point of contact for customers.
Pere Lluís is the company Tour Guide and he speaks Spanish, Catalan, English, German, French and Italian, so you don’t have to worry about translation!
Lilly Yesenia makes sure every person who visits Terragust feels special, she serves drinks and tapas and can answer all your questions about the food, the produce and the company.
Carla Barceló is Terragust’s Communications Manager and I spoke to her at length about the new project that Terragust is launching in conjunction with fruit and vegetable producer, Terracor.
‘Adopt A Tree’ is a sustainable gift," Carla tells me. "We want to remind people to support local businesses, because they’re the ones who are creating jobs here on the island, especially now. People can come here and connect with nature, find out why we choose to plant certain fruits and how we maintain the trees, from pruning to harvesting.”
When you join the ‘Adopt-A-Tree’ project, you can choose what fruits you want and just because you adopt a peach tree doesn’t mean you can only have peaches, instead you can choose to have a mixture of different fruits from the farm.
“There’s plenty of fruit trees to choose from,” says Carla, “we have peach, plum, apricot, fig, nectarines and many more.”
The boxes of fruit can be delivered to your door anytime between June and September for just €3 or if you prefer you can pick up your delivery from a local access point.
You can also visit your very own tree on the farm near Manacor anytime and pick some fruit while you’re there, which is proving to be a very popular option for families who often take their kids to there for the day and let them soak up all that fresh country air.
Terragust also runs a number of different tours.
“The Tour & Menu option includes a tour of the fields and whether the fruit in season is peaches, tomatoes or pomegranates, Matías will be on hand to explain why those specific varieties are planted, what they can be used for, how to bring out the most flavour and the different processes the fruit trees go through in a season.”
Tour participants will also be able to try several varieties of produce so that they can compare the different tastes and nobody goes away empty handed.
“We give each person on the tour a fabric tote bag which they can fill with fruit and vegetables that were picked on the farm that morning for free,” Clara tells me.
After the tour the participants sit down to lunch in a beautiful setting amongst the trees and enjoy a 5-course meal specially prepared by Chef, Biel.
The Tour & Tasting Menu costs €70 for adults, €15 for kids aged 6-12 and it’s free for children 5 and under.
The Tasting Menu on its own costs €40 for adults, €15 for kids aged 6-12 and it’s free for children 5 and under. The tour concentrates on several different varieties of one fruit.
'Adopt-A-Tree' costs €40 euros for the maintenance of the tree, then you can either pay €40 and get 25 kilos of fruit throughout the season or €65 for 50 kilos.
"A lot of our customers share the cost of adopting a tree between family, friends and even neighbours, so that it's even cheaper and more people can enjoy the produce that's harvested," says Carla.
Terragust also make their own olive oil, hierbas, marmalade, dried tomatoes and bread, all of which can be ordered by logging on to the website, Terragust.com.
For more information about the 'Adopt a tree’ initiative log on to https://terragust.com/adopta-un-arbol/.