At harvest time, we always need teams of people to help out, which is guaranteed to be a fantastic day out, learning skills and enjoying the great outdoors together. It’s also an opportunity to discover traditional ways of preserving the fruits of the land. So far we’ve harvested quince – which is usually made into a jelly, but we’ve also used it in chutney – and olives, which are knocked down from the trees in the traditional way, using long canes and collected with nets spread out on the ground.

Most of these are then taken to the local organic olive mill to be pressed into olive oil, while a smaller amount are salted and pickled for eating.

During the second lockdown of 2020 we were blessed to have a full house at Azahara, and we’re so thankful for our volunteers, who looked after the land so beautifully while taking time to reconnect to nature themselves! If you wish to volunteer at Azahara, contact us here.