As one of the lecturers at the conference "Leituras Contemporâneas da Paisagem" (contemporary readings of the landscape) at the Municipal Library in Tavira on May 8th, I was supposed to give a talk about urban orchards, but instead of staying at the conference room, me and my colleague Maribel Sobreira (who was going to talk about bringing the landscape into the city) decided to take our audience along in a stroll around the city of Tavira, bringing our talks about urban issues into the city itself instead of talking about cities inside a black, closed, room.
Tavira, land of orange production (as most of the Algarve — the best oranges in Portugal along with those coming from the microclimate of the Douro region) unsurprisingly has many orange trees in its streets. The funny thing is that the orange trees in the city were of the bitter varieties. Ornamentals, thus!
Tavira, land of orange production (as most of the Algarve — the best oranges in Portugal along with those coming from the microclimate of the Douro region) unsurprisingly has many orange trees in its streets. The funny thing is that the orange trees in the city were of the bitter varieties. Ornamentals, thus!
Along with oranges, Tavira is full of Banana trees, also planted as ornamentals...
On the edible side, we could spot a beautiful Passionfruit and several Peruvian pepper trees. Then, there were many pomegranates and fig trees, and sweet oranges (finally!) but those were planted within private properties... We've learned that Tavira has had many vegetable and fruit gardens within the city (a few of those still remaining), however, not public but private ones.
On the edible side, we could spot a beautiful Passionfruit and several Peruvian pepper trees. Then, there were many pomegranates and fig trees, and sweet oranges (finally!) but those were planted within private properties... We've learned that Tavira has had many vegetable and fruit gardens within the city (a few of those still remaining), however, not public but private ones.
So, there is work to be done in promoting Public Fruit in Tavira as well!!