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Crowdfarming - or how to become a 21st century farmer -
What is the Crowdfarming® of bees?
Adopt a bee family and receive your own honey, filled in personalized jars with a name of your choice. One of our bee families produces honey for you. You can choose between the following honey varieties: orange blossoms and/or mountain honey. Thanks to Crowdfarming® we can increase the bee population by offering the bees an oasis of plants on our fields with flowers where they can extract pollen and nectar all year long. If the concept is already clear to you, choose your beehive here.
How does it work?
The bees play a vital role in our cultivation philosophy. Our orange trees as well as our vegetable garden benefit from their formidable work of pollination. By adopting a beehive you help us take care of the bees, protecting them and their surrounding without the use of pesticides.
Orange blossom honey is produced between March, April and May when our clementine and orange trees are in full bloom. During the summer and fall months we bring the beehives to the mountains of Burgos where they do their work among heather, oak trees and thyme.
IMPORTANT: We extract the honey directly from the honeycombs and into the jars without any transformational process in between. You will receive pure and natural honey that does not have an expiry date.
Orange blossom honey is produced between March, April and May when our clementine and orange trees are in full bloom. During the summer and fall months we bring the beehives to the mountains of Burgos where they do their work among heather, oak trees and thyme.
- Click below on ADOPT A BEEHIVE and choose the amount and variety of honey you would like to receive: orange blossom and/or mountain honey.
- Write a name of your choice, which will appear on the jars that we will send to the address you indicate. You also have the possibility to send it to someone else as a gift, including a personal message.
- You will receive an email confirming the adoption with access to your garden, showing the place where your bee family works and offering you the download of your adoption certificate.
- We will receive the honey on the date you selected during the adoption process. If you enjoyed the experience you can renew the adoption for the next season. You do not enter any long-term commitment.
IMPORTANT: We extract the honey directly from the honeycombs and into the jars without any transformational process in between. You will receive pure and natural honey that does not have an expiry date.
Personalized honey jars
We will send you the honey harvest that your bee family produces in 1 kg glass jars personalized with the name you choose when you realize the adoption. With this size, which is in line with our philosophy, we are trying to reduce the environmental impact. We encourage you to reuse these jars.
Advantages of adopting a beehive
- Receive fresh, pure and natural honey of the highest quality.
- Help us to increase the bee population: at Naranjas del Carmen we create an oasis for the bees, free of pesticides. The new trees that we are planting need new bee families that pollinate their orange blossoms. Thanks to Crowdfarming® the beehives will have a family to work and produce honey for.
- Prevent food waste: the overarching goal of Crowdfarming® is to avoid food waste by producing only what is really going to be consumed. Producing on direct demand of the consumer, looking for maximum quality and a fair price without any intermediary.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS - FAQ
1
When do I receive my honey?
In the last step, you can choose a delivery date. You will only see the delivery dates when your bees will have already produced your honey.
2
Can I give a beehive as a gift to someone else?
What a great idea! This is a very special gift. At the end of the adoption process you can indicate a gift address and also a personal message we will send together with the honey jars. Moreover, in your garden you'll find an adoption certificate you can symbolically give to the lucky one receiving the honey.
3
I don’t need that much honey. What can I do?
Don’t worry! Honey does not have an expiry date. You can store and enjoy it over the next years. We are sure that when you taste it, you will finish it before you know it. You can also give part of the honey as a gift refilling it into smaller jars that you have at home. It is a great idea to share honey of your beehive with family and friends.
4
Will the honey be liquid or crystallized?
Our honey is liquid when we extract it from the beehive and fill it into glass jars. Since it is pure honey without any additives, it’s normal that it crystallizes over time due to changes in room temperature. If you prefer to consume it liquid you can slowly heat the honey in a warm water bath.
5
What happens to my bee family after I have received my honey?
Next season you will be able to choose to continue your beehive adoption. You don’t enter any long-term commitment. If you decide to renew at the moment of renewal you will have the option to choose the type and amount of honey you would like to receive.
Regenerative Manifesto
As farmers, it is of vital importance we become aware that our farming practices have direct consequences on the health of the people we feed and on the fertility of our soils.
Consequently, our great challenge as farmers is to produce organic food for a growing population while ensuring that we are regenerating the natural resources we use during cultivation.
We will integrate agricultural, livestock and forestry techniques, being aware that the regulation of regenerative practices is yet to be defined and that the effectiveness of some methods is yet to be demonstrated. We will have to make up for their absence with experience, common sense and discussions with other pioneer farmers in regenerative agriculture.
The 10 principles by which we abide, considering the diversity of our farms in terms of crops, environment and climatology are:
1. Soil is a living and symbiotic ecosystem and it is fundamental for the success of our crops. We focus on establishing rhizospheres (the soils closest part to the tree roots) that promotes soil formation and increases its content of organic material, minerals and microbiology. This last one is essential to catalyze soil formation and nourish our crops.
2. If possible, we always avoid tilling the soil and we keep vegetation covers to preserve the microbiological biodiversity, flora and fauna of the soil. Only in exceptional situations, as when the soil is compacted or unstructured, we till the land.
3. We minimize the use of heavy machinery to avoid soil compaction and maintain soil integrity.
4. We integrate livestock on our farms as a tool to revitalize the soil and the environment. The presence of livestock allows us to recover native microbiology, increase biodiversity and allows us to obtain essential organic fertilizers. In addition, our cattle are grazing in the surrounding natural parks, which helps to prevent the proliferation of fires in our Mediterranean forests.The main fertilizer we use is compost made from the manure of the cattle that graze on our farms (it is also the only fertilizer we use on our almond and olive trees).
5. We use compost made from the manure of the livestock grazing on our farms as the main fertiliser (the only fertiliser in the case of our almond and olive trees).
6. We use water harvesting techniques to combat drought, prevent erosion and increase the pollinator population. In our area it is very common to have torrential rains that release large amounts of water in a short period of time. By excavating in the areas where water currents are naturally created, we are able to slow down their speed and introduce them into the soil.
7. We repair stone banks, irrigation ditches and other historic structures to keep them in good condition and restore their utility.
8. We obtain energy from solar panels and windmills installed on our land.
9. We share data and results from the experiences with the scientific community and support students in their dissertation work in order to measure the effectiveness of regenerative practices.
10. We train our field teams so that they can understand the reasons behind their actions and become involved in the regenerative philosophy of our company.
By remaining loyal to these principles, we want to improve the natural environment and combat climate change, while obtaining ecological and regenerative food.
Consequently, our great challenge as farmers is to produce organic food for a growing population while ensuring that we are regenerating the natural resources we use during cultivation.
We will integrate agricultural, livestock and forestry techniques, being aware that the regulation of regenerative practices is yet to be defined and that the effectiveness of some methods is yet to be demonstrated. We will have to make up for their absence with experience, common sense and discussions with other pioneer farmers in regenerative agriculture.
The 10 principles by which we abide, considering the diversity of our farms in terms of crops, environment and climatology are:
1. Soil is a living and symbiotic ecosystem and it is fundamental for the success of our crops. We focus on establishing rhizospheres (the soils closest part to the tree roots) that promotes soil formation and increases its content of organic material, minerals and microbiology. This last one is essential to catalyze soil formation and nourish our crops.
2. If possible, we always avoid tilling the soil and we keep vegetation covers to preserve the microbiological biodiversity, flora and fauna of the soil. Only in exceptional situations, as when the soil is compacted or unstructured, we till the land.
3. We minimize the use of heavy machinery to avoid soil compaction and maintain soil integrity.
4. We integrate livestock on our farms as a tool to revitalize the soil and the environment. The presence of livestock allows us to recover native microbiology, increase biodiversity and allows us to obtain essential organic fertilizers. In addition, our cattle are grazing in the surrounding natural parks, which helps to prevent the proliferation of fires in our Mediterranean forests.The main fertilizer we use is compost made from the manure of the cattle that graze on our farms (it is also the only fertilizer we use on our almond and olive trees).
5. We use compost made from the manure of the livestock grazing on our farms as the main fertiliser (the only fertiliser in the case of our almond and olive trees).
6. We use water harvesting techniques to combat drought, prevent erosion and increase the pollinator population. In our area it is very common to have torrential rains that release large amounts of water in a short period of time. By excavating in the areas where water currents are naturally created, we are able to slow down their speed and introduce them into the soil.
7. We repair stone banks, irrigation ditches and other historic structures to keep them in good condition and restore their utility.
8. We obtain energy from solar panels and windmills installed on our land.
9. We share data and results from the experiences with the scientific community and support students in their dissertation work in order to measure the effectiveness of regenerative practices.
10. We train our field teams so that they can understand the reasons behind their actions and become involved in the regenerative philosophy of our company.
By remaining loyal to these principles, we want to improve the natural environment and combat climate change, while obtaining ecological and regenerative food.
Our oranges are now enjoying their well deserved summer hibernation, so unfortunately we can't offer you any oranges...
But don't worry, because right now, for the first time ever, we are offering delicious pumpkins from our summer garden!
We return to citrus fruits with the mandarins in November. If you'd like to stay informed about their progress, leave us your email so we can make contact once they are ready!
(*I have reed and accept the Privacy policy.)
But don't worry, because right now, for the first time ever, we are offering delicious pumpkins from our summer garden!
We return to citrus fruits with the mandarins in November. If you'd like to stay informed about their progress, leave us your email so we can make contact once they are ready!
(*I have reed and accept the Privacy policy.)
Our harvest is limited. Please leave us your contact details if you would like to be informed about the harvest periods of our orchard:
You can adopt an olive tree or adopt an orange tree throughout the whole year.