One of the great things about staying with Gill and Jorge in Aranjuez is the availability of the awesome organic veg! Gill has experimented in the garden and created a “salad bed” – a garden bed dedicated to salad stuff.
A variety of different lettuces, herbs and edible flowers.
It’s so nice to go out back and pick your salad right before it’s eaten.
Throw in some sliced beet, radish and carrot.
Add a little lemon and some olive oil.
Top it off with sunflower seeds and flower petals.
It’s so fresh and full of nutrients. What I like most about it however, is that it’s been grown without the use of insecticides. Rather than using chemicals to prevent pests and bugs, a variety of flowers, herbs and aromatic vegetables have been planted around the bed to act as natural insecticides. This method also attracts beneficial bugs, such as the hover fly, which feed on aphids and other plant-sucking bugs which would other wise ruin the food.
It’s creating sound ecosystems like this that keep the soil healthy and enable the growth of organic produce. Nature at its best.
To see more about the farm on which I’m WWOOFing, check out my other blog, Travel Gringo
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[...] Also, check out this beautifully delicious salad we made from the garden [...]