The Science Behind the Sweetness

If you take a stroll with Friedrich across his farm near Gibraleón today, the first thing you’ll notice is the noise: a literal wall of birdsong. But behind this idyllic scene lies a radical choice made years ago—one that flew right in the face of convention. Today, having held Demeter certification since 1994, he’s living proof that his “madness” was the only logical response to the crisis facing our soil.Forty years ago, Friedrich fell in love with Finca Jelanisol-Montebello during a trip to Spain. At the time, he was working as a middleman for conventional fruit and veg. Two things happened back then that made him stop and think: A friend gave him a book on permaculture by Bill Mollison, which sparked an idea. While visiting a farm in Italy, he found himself desperately digging for earthworms. When the farmer told him there weren’t any “because you don’t need them,” Friedrich began to question everything. A Holistic Vision: Everything is ConnectedFor Friedrich, farming isn’t an isolated job; it’s part of a much bigger picture. He holds a deeply philosophical, holistic view of the world where everything—from soil microbes to the end consumer—is linked. He doesn’t see his farm as just a production site, but as a living organism where people and nature live in harmony. In his eyes, a peaceful society can only exist if we produce in tune with nature. If we get it right, there’s enough for everyone—we just can’t afford to destroy the foundations.One of the biggest things driving Friedrich is a deep-seated worry about the state of the modern diet. He explains that much of the food we eat today is “empty.” By this, he means conventional produce that, thanks to pesticides and long storage times, has lost any real nutritional value. He lives by the rule: Healthy Soil = Healthy People. Only living, regenerated soil can produce fruit that actually nourishes the body.One of the first things Friedrich did was build a large pond—not for irrigation, but purely for the birds, frogs, ducks, and fish. It also acts as drainage during heavy rain. They produce their own organic fertiliser using microorganisms, supplying the trees with a steady stream of minerals through a drip irrigation system.

Why every blood orange isn’t actually blood-redWe visited Sicily and met Danilo from AranceBio in a field where the blood orange harvest was at its peak. You can not only see the ripe oranges hanging on the trees, but you can also smell them. The sky is blue, the trees and the meadow are green, and the oranges hang like small lanterns in the trees. It’s sunny but very fresh – even in Sicily, it’s winter. This is exactly the right time for the oranges to ripen. You need a mix of warm days and chilly nights for anthocyanin to develop; the pigment that turns the pulp red. So, if the nights stay too warm, the pigment can’t form, and your blood orange might end up looking more orange than red – though just as tasty. Danilo grows two different varieties; Moro: which is a bit more acidic and has a deep red flesh (if it’s cold enough!) and Tarocco, which is a bit sweeter and very mild. It’s a bit like being a kid opening a Kinder Egg. You can’t tell from the outside whether the fruit is going to be red or just orange. Given increasing dry periods, Danilo relies on permanent ground cover. This natural carpet protects the soil and serves as a water reservoir, storing valuable water during dry spells – thus keeping nature resilient. We obviously had to ask what we should eat while in Sicily, and Danilo recommended two dishes: the traditional Pasta con le Sarde (what else?!) and those deep-fried rice balls known as Arancini.

We Weren’t Prepared for This – Or Were We?It has been raining for several weeks in Spain. This week, however, a state of disaster was declared in several regions, especially in Andalusia. Our farmers sent us the pictures attached below – and our team was speechless for several minutes. We have reported on heavy rainfall many times before, but this year the extent is particularly great. The good news is: all farmers are doing well! Persistent low-pressure weather systems brought intense rainfall, hurricane-force gusts of wind, and rivers overflowing their banks. Our farmers from the Málaga region are reporting fallen trees and muddy roads, making access almost impossible. Unfortunately, some farmers have already informed us that they will likely suffer crop losses as fruits have been damaged. The lesser evil is probably the delays in delivery – it hasn’t stopped raining, which means the fruits are too wet to be shipped; they would mould in their boxes. Haven’t We Already Found the Solution?I’m speaking with Maikel from Finca Habitat, located in a small town between Jaén and Granada – one of the most severely affected areas. He sends me a video, which you can find below – it shows his neighbors’ flooded olive groves and the raging river. In the next video, he’s in his own fields, showing how much rain has fallen. He pours it onto his trees, which he protects from drying out and simultaneously fertilizes with his sheep’s wool during hot months. “For me, the rain is an absolute joy. It’s wonderful!” says the farmer. In his fields – not even a puddle. “This is a sign that we are doing everything right, Magdalena,” he explains. Maikel decided to farm regeneratively over a decade ago. In one of Spain’s driest regions, he manages to avoid irrigating his olive trees through his practices.How Does That Work? Through a ground cover that acts like a sponge, soaking up all the water and allowing it to seep into deeper soil layers. Not a single drop of water is lost because the root system has such a high capacity to absorb water that it neither drains away nor accumulates. What if we could make farms so resilient that they emerge encouraged from extreme weather events? Would regenerative agriculture be the solution we’ve been looking for? These are the questions I ask myself when I see the pictures and videos that offer such a different perspective on the situation. The weather forecast continues to show rain for the next few days, and we, along with the farmers, reassess the situation daily – safety comes first, and we will probably have to be patient a little longer until the sun comes out again.