Permaculture Hami : Organic Fruit Farm in Vinales, Cuba

Organic Fruit and Tobacco Farm in Vinales

We stumbled upon this stunningly situated farm 20 mins walking distance north of the main city. Vinales is breathtaking with its deep redish brown soil and towering cliffs. The rock wall behind this farm is over 400 meters tall.

The first thing you find when walking down the dirt path a field of pineapples inter-grown with coffee and ferns for ground cover and moisture retention.

As you get closer to the farm house with its looming cliffs above you’re greeted by a variety of fruit trees like mango, orange, avocado, lime, bananas to the side forming some mid level growth and coconut towering above. We also found some farm workers processing malagas.

Tabacco grown extremely well here and is an obvious cash crop as some of the tobacco grown around here go towards making the best cigars in the world. In the background are the drying and fermenting houses which can been seen all over the valley. They are made with bundled grass walls and a wooden frame.

Tabaco is grown here in segments and takes 8 months to get from seed to harvestable plant. Only the most experienced pickers are allowed the task of choosing the best leaves. From there the drying and fermenting can take up to 3 - 5 years. All Cuban cigars are hand rolled to the highest standard making the finished product complex and exquisite.

Below you can see some tall native grasses acting as a wind barrier for bare or newly seeded fields. There is a regular morning fog that covers the valley in the early day, which keeps the soil moist, but winds pick up at times during the day creating the possibility for blowing around top soils.

A variety of animals surround the edges. Below are some of the hardest farm workers – the oxen. They are the tractor. Goats serve to provide some grass trimming and fertilization as well as a bit of milk and cheese.

There was also a chicken coup with a powered machine used for grinding up wood chips. One surprise was the giant Hutia, which are tree rodents that are hunted for food or kept as pets. They are usually cooked in a large pot with nuts and honey.