The Algarve, with its mild climate, is simply bursting with locally grown fruit, vegetables, nuts and herbs. In fact, your necessary ‘five-a-day’ couldn’t be tastier, easier or cheaper to enjoy. Those of us fortunate enough to live in or visit the Algarve can enjoy the benefits of seasonal fresh produce all year round.
Algarvean produce
Much of the local produce is grown for wholesale and exporting on a large scale, such as tomatoes, where Portugal exports 95% of tomatoes grown. Each larger town also has a thriving daily or weekly produce market, while some of the monthly markets specialise in local produce as well as cured meats and hams, local cheeses, and livestock.
These foods are also found in gardens throughout the Algarve.
Many, such as asparagus, mushrooms, spinach, rocket and rosemary grow wild, and foraging along the roadsides and in the fields can be a fun, cheap and healthy way to stock up your kitchen.
Many properties in the Algarve, particularly those a little further inland from the coast, incorporate an orchard or vegetable patch or even both. Various fruit and nut trees are planted for their looks and beautiful blossoms, and often they can be found dotted around gardens without an orchard. Herbs don’t take much space and can certainly be grown in pots on patios and verandas or just planted amongst the vegetables for companion growing.
Locally grown, fresh and tasty
Check out the lists below for some of the fresh produce grown in the Algarve.
Pick your own
A large number of the inland population are virtually self-sufficient by growing all their own fruit and vegetables and adding to their stocks by scouring the countryside for the wild produce. There’s nothing more gratifying than picking your own fruit, digging up your own vegetables or cutting your own herbs: the flavours are incredible when the produce is so fresh.
Algarvean cakes made with almonds, figs, carobs and peaches are famous, and Feijoada – stews made from dried beans - where all the main ingredients are grown locally. More about traditional cuisine can be found here.
If you don’t have your own garden or the inclination for gardening, have no fear! The nearest local market is never very far away, and the produce on offer is fresh and flavourful. And not to mention very reasonably priced.
The Algarve offers a relaxed lifestyle with a significantly lower cost of living than North and Western Europe. Between that, and the thousands of hours of guaranteed sunshine each year, who would want to live anywhere else?
Do you grow your own fresh produce? Share your tips with us!
Brought to you by Meravista – the place where smart people search for Algarve property for sale.
Fruit & Veg: the Algarve’s perfect climate
by Sun’s Dragon
Did you know?
The Algarve, with its mild climate, is simply bursting with locally grown fruit, vegetables, nuts and herbs. In fact, your necessary ‘five-a-day’ couldn’t be tastier, easier or cheaper to enjoy. Those of us fortunate enough to live in or visit the Algarve can enjoy the benefits of seasonal fresh produce all year round.
Algarvean produce
Much of the local produce is grown for wholesale and exporting on a large scale, such as tomatoes, where Portugal exports 95% of tomatoes grown. Each larger town also has a thriving daily or weekly produce market, while some of the monthly markets specialise in local produce as well as cured meats and hams, local cheeses, and livestock.
These foods are also found in gardens throughout the Algarve.
Many, such as asparagus, mushrooms, spinach, rocket and rosemary grow wild, and foraging along the roadsides and in the fields can be a fun, cheap and healthy way to stock up your kitchen.
Many properties in the Algarve, particularly those a little further inland from the coast, incorporate an orchard or vegetable patch or even both. Various fruit and nut trees are planted for their looks and beautiful blossoms, and often they can be found dotted around gardens without an orchard. Herbs don’t take much space and can certainly be grown in pots on patios and verandas or just planted amongst the vegetables for companion growing.
Locally grown, fresh and tasty
Check out the lists below for some of the fresh produce grown in the Algarve.
Pick your own
A large number of the inland population are virtually self-sufficient by growing all their own fruit and vegetables and adding to their stocks by scouring the countryside for the wild produce. There’s nothing more gratifying than picking your own fruit, digging up your own vegetables or cutting your own herbs: the flavours are incredible when the produce is so fresh.
If you don’t have your own garden or the inclination for gardening, have no fear! The nearest local market is never very far away, and the produce on offer is fresh and flavourful. And not to mention very reasonably priced.
The Algarve offers a relaxed lifestyle with a significantly lower cost of living than North and Western Europe. Between that, and the thousands of hours of guaranteed sunshine each year, who would want to live anywhere else?
Do you grow your own fresh produce? Share your tips with us!
Brought to you by Meravista – the place where smart people search for Algarve property for sale.