Timeline — our story in pictures
Dear Fruit tree lovers,
I am very happy to share with you all the steps of the creation of Orchard of Flavours, a Botanical garden dedicated to all fruit trees of warm climates.
By looking at the pictures, you will see some recurrent features: landscaping work, gathering fruit trees from specialized plant nurseries and collectors, lots of field work, installing a micro irrigation network to save water, work about plant identification and plant signage, work on the botanical garden fruit trees database, many pictures of great volunteers from all over the world, quite a few interventions of a bulldozer, more and more private guided tours and agroecology workshops. And not to forget, the greatest rewards: harvesting of the first subtropical fruits and adopting Gulliver, a great Tibetan dog.
Please feel free to contact us if you ever want to start your own botanical garden or if you want to share your passion for fruit trees.
Warm regards from Tavira (Algarve - Portugal).
Miguel COTTON
Founder
January — March 2019
Observation phase: contour lines and draft masterplan of Orchard of Flavours botanical garden.
First intervention of a big digger to create swales in order to avoid erosion and create terraces where trees will be planted.
A plot of almost 1 hectare, a few hundred meters from the ocean and close to Tavira.
A total of three full days with a digger to implement the first stage of design of Orchard of Flavours botanical garden.
Mostly uncultivated bare land, just a few old indigenous trees, fig trees, almond trees and carob trees.
On a few big terraces, we used a plastic felt to kill the very strong weeds.
April — June 2019
Arrival of the “Brain”, the nickname of the small container which will be the center of our micro-irrigation system.
The main water pipes are all buried at a depth of 60 cm.
Connecting all the water tubes. Our aim is to use water very sparingly and to use the best available micro-irrigation techniques.
First aerial view of the design of Orchard of Flavours, Tavira, Algarve.
Installing the electro valves and a big sand filter. We immediately installed many sectors to enable different irrigation frequencies and be more resilient.
The Orchard of Flavours botanical garden is surrounded by a few very old orchards of almond trees and olive trees and is located around 1.5 kilometers from the ocean.
July — September 2019
Arrival of the first fruit trees, among others Mangifera indica “Ataulfo”.
Planting vetiver on a few raised beds in order to reinforce them thanks to their very strong vertical root system. Read our article about this miracle grass.
Preparing the sugar cane cuttings that will be planted as a hedge on the east side of Orchard of Flavours botanical garden.
Building the “Kiwano Bar”, located in the center of the botanical garden.
Planting Rosmarinus officinalis with a Portuguese permaculturalist.
At last, after month of delays, we are connected to agricultural water and we can really start planting.
Expedition to Malaga, to the biggest plant nurseries in Europe selling subtropical fruit trees.
Building a dry toilet using an old chair, to be installed soon.
Planting in the Great Wall zone, mostly different types of rare bananas (Musa “Lep Chang Kut”, Musa “Topocho”), a Moringa oleifera and dwarf varieties of Carica papaya.
October — December 2019
“Orchard of Flavours” in Portuguese means “Pomar dos Sabores” and in French “Verger des Saveurs”.
The names of the species and the varieties of all our fruit trees are written on a local white flat stone with an oil marker.
Drawing the plan of the Orchard of Flavours botanical garden on a big board. Thanks to Alex, a Canadian WWOOFer.
We installed big wooden posts (Cosmic Antennae zone) for the climbers, like Passiflora edulis, Lycium barbarum, Vitis vinifera.
Planting a first Persea americana in the Big Sisters zone.
Naming all the zones with inspiring words: Coco zone, Ocean waves, the Wings, the Eye, Cosmic Antennae, Palm garden, Succulent garden, Little sisters, Big sisters, etc.
January — March 2020
Locally produced vegetable compost. We are using tons and tons of it ! Not the best compost but almost no other reasonable alternatives.
We installed a fertigation system which will inject automatically compost juices or other organic liquid fertilizer into our micro-irrigation network.
Two Dutch WWOOFers adding lots of organic matter in the compost hole of the future Banana Circle.
Protecting fragile subtropical trees with an anti-frost felt.
Planting an Arbutus unedo '“Marina” whose flowers are red. Beginning of a collection of many less known varieties of this indigenous tree also called the “strawberry tree”.
We started the edible succulents garden with Opuntia ficus indica (thornless variety).
Two French WWOOFers planting a Litchi chinensis at Orchard of Flavours.
First soil analysis at Orchard of Flavours.
Preparation of a big Banana Circle. Digging the hole to receive the organic materials, amending the soil structure with compost and horse manure.
Mulching with two layers of jute bags.
More edible succulents, Aloe vera and Aloe arborescens
Second intervention of the digger after observing the effect of heavy rains. Preparation of many more 1 cubic meter holes for future trees.
April — June 2020
Mulching the Edible Succulents Garden with sand and installing the micro-irrigation system.
Great Wall zone will soon host more frost tolerant banana trees.
More and more visitors start coming to Orchard of Flavours botanical garden, sometimes just attracted by the big board along the road, near Luz de Tavira.
Mulching with palm tree leaves the Butia capitata, the apricot palm tree whose fruit is delicious.
We put huge stones on the northern side of the Banana Circle to protect from the cold wind and create a big thermal mass.
Surrounding a Macadamia tree with an island of fertility: lots of compost and mulch and a few creeping flowers.
Another raised bed with a Morus alba tree and a Carissa macrocarpa shrub.
Brian is happy to plant the first trees in the Banana Circle : a Musa “Orinoco” “Topocho” , a Carica papaya and a Moringa oleifera.
Painting all the zone names of the Orchard of Flavours botanical garden on second-hand wooden skimboards.
Installing a 50-cubic-meters flexible cistern. A valuable back-up in case of water shortage.
We added more stone around the northern face of the Great Wall zone as a way to better protect against the northern winds and increase the thermal mass.
Installing micro-irrigation with a German WWOOFer. We use Rainbird and Netafim drip irrigation equipment.
July — September 2020
Citrus digitata or Buddha’s hand, a rare citrus whose zest is very fragrant.
Musa “Orinoco” “Topocho”, tolerant of wind, drought and cold ! A very promising banana tree for Algarve at Orchard of Flavours.
Harvesting a mango (Mangifera indica “Sensation”)
Hylocereus undatus, the dragon fruit. We got fruit without hand pollination!
Working on the Orchard of Flavours database where all our trees are recorded. Open unlimited access to every gardener! Hundred of hours of studying and data processing.
First lychee at Orchard of Flavours botanical garden. The variety “Kwai Mai Pink” is the most "cold-hardy" lychee tree.
Third intervention of a digger to prepare one cubic meter holes and mixing the local soil with compost.
We are working with plant collectors and specialized plant nurseries. Newly arrived: Inga edulis, Syzygium cumini, Dyospiros digyna,…
A delicious Surinam cherry (Eugenia uniflora). It likes cross pollination and needs to be watered regularly to be fruitful.
A small caravan will soon become our study room where we can protect the computer used to enter all the plants data into Orchard of Flavours database.
After a few weeks, the first trees around the Banana Circle are growing extremely fast.
October — December 2020
Building of an organic windbreak which will also serve as a hotel for insect.
Planting with Rik and Gulliver a Ziziphus mauritiana, an evergreen tree giving a delicious fruit similar to the deciduous Ziziphus jujuba.
Gulliver, a small Tibetan dog from Alentejo has joined the Orchard of Flavours botanical garden team.
Preparing Biochar before activating it with pee and manure…
Piling up organic materials into our new windbreak structure.
Less than 6 months after plantation, the Banana Circle is already a very nice spot of Orchard of Flavours botanical garden.
January — March 2021
Very unusually cold winter (-2ºC during 15 days for a couple of hours every early morning in Jan 2020). All the unprotected banana plants are surviving. One Carica papaya died. The 4 meter Moringa oleifera did not suffer at all.
Our greenhouse where the most fragile fruit trees spend the winter… Soon to be planted at Orchard of Flavours botanical garden.
We weed, we fertilize, we work hard and Gulliver is meditating…
A short workshop about Biochar with Martijn Jager.
Fertilizing each tree with compost and horse manure once a year in January/February.
A Bunchosia armeniaca whose winter protection will soon be removed.
April — June 2021
One more intervention of a bulldozer to create two small ponds to collect the water and avoid waterlogging of the Big Sisters raised beds.
No plastic liner, just stones.
Three varieties of sugar canes are planted around the ponds, among them the rare and beautiful black sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum “Ko Onua Lua”).
One more Inga edulis, the ice cream bean tree. Drought tolerant, nitrogen fixer, fast grower, tolerates waterlogging, can be pruned strongly, makes an ideal canopy tree, frost resistant. Maybe the ideal tree for Algarve. A tree we love a lot at Orchard of Flavours botanical garden.
Preparation of our first Miyawaki-inspired Food Forest experiment of around 21 m². One meter deep soil decompaction and 6 tons of compost.
Second aerial view of Orchard of Flavours botanical garden (Tavira - Algarve) after almost two years of planting the first fruit tree.
July — September 2021
Mid July, planting around 60 trees, 3 per square meter in our Miyawaki-inspired Food Forest.
Three types of fruit trees: shrubs, mid-layer trees and canopy trees. Over 30 different species. Learn more about this Miyawaki food forest in Portugal.
After one month, growth is already astonishing. The densely planted trees are competing for light.
Creating a Miyawaki forest is a great opportunity to involve the local community.
Young saplings of fruit trees soon to be planted in Orchard of Flavours’ Miyawaki food forest. They will all receive mycorrhizal fungi when being transplanted.
Mid July 2021, a few days after planting…
Today’s harvest at Orchard of Flavours botanical garden dedicated to all fruit trees of warm climates.
September 2021, the Moringa oleifera of the Great Wall zone has reached a height of over 5 meters in 13 months. Height at time of planting: 28 cm.
Miyawaki mini forest protocol: 3 trees per square meter or a tree every 60 cm (in temperate climates)
Definitely as good as in Thailand or Indonesia. No need to import tropical fruit if we can grow them here in Southern Europe!
October — December 2021
Preparation of a new well-protected plantation area for spring 2022. We already planted 3 Dovyalis caffra, the Kei apple, native to Southern Africa.
Over 100 fruit trees have now an information sheet inserted in this homemade signage system. Visitors at Orchard of Flavours can now learn by themselves about fruit trees of all warm climates.
A delicious lucuma, fruit of Pouteria lucuma, a beautiful evergreen fruit tree native to Peru, with some drought tolerance.
More big holes and soil preparation in the Coco zone (very limey and unfertile). We systematically create islands of fertility where one big fruit tree is planted next to shrubs and creeping plants and all roots received mycorrhizal fungi inoculation.
Flower of Bixa orellana often called the “Lipstick tree”. The ground seeds are widely used in South America as a condiment or to make red body paint or lipstick.
The Banana Circle at Orchard of Flavours botanical garden one year and a half after planting.
Miyawaki Food Forest Experiment #1: 5 months later. From a few centimeters at planting to sometimes almost 3 meters tall…
Installation of a Meteobot agricultural weather station. It enables us to monitor soil moisture at 4 places, evapotranspiration, rainfall, humidity levels, soil temperature, etc.
Building another organic windbreak structure to protect trees from the northeast cold winds.
Brian, volunteering at Orchard of Flavours botanical garden, after planting a Zanthoxylum piperitum, the famous Sichuan pepper.
January — March 2022
Happy WWOOFers Jules and Miguel, inoculating a Eriobotrya japonica with a mycorrhizal fungi biostimulant.
Miguel COTTON doing a ‘soil your undies’ test with help from a visitor during a tour of Orchard of Flavours.
Group photo at the end of a January tour, with a wonderful group of fellow fruit tree lovers.
Beautiful almond tree in bloom, solemnly looking after our fruit trees cemetery.
Preparing to inoculate our fruit trees with a mycorrhizae and rhizobacteria biostimulant.
Mulching around a Ziziphus jujuba tree using cardboard and creeping flowers.
WWOOFer Miguel collecting a baby banana tree by dividing.
Miguel COTTON showing Miyawaki-inspired Food Forest to touring visitors.
WWOOFer Jules preparing the site for the ‘soil your undies’ test, next to banana trees.
One of the ponds spread around the Orchard, allowing for the creation of an important microclimate, providing temperature regulation for its surroundings and boosting biodiversity.
Joyful visit with some friends to a local banana plantation, where we all learned about growing happy banana plants with our host Leonardo, an experienced grower.
Miguel COTTON guiding a tour of the Orchard.
Showing visitors our beautiful Bixa orellana shrub, from which the seeds were originally used both as a red body paint and as a cooking condiment.
April — June 2022
A beautiful happy Nanking cherry (Prunus tomentosa) loaded with sharp red berries.
A delivery of compost on the new plot of the Orchard of Flavours project, the Second Phase.
A productive Solanum muricatum with quite a few ripe melon pears, ready to be picked.
Welcoming new rare fruit trees to the project, among which many types of Eugenia, like selloi, involucrata and pyriformis.
Pea pods of a Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajan) shrub, a legume family perennial which provides nutritious peas while fixing nitrogen.
The Orchard of Flavours is growing. A new planting area is prepared on the one-hectar extension.
White sapote fruits rippening on our Casimiroa edulis, planted under 3 years ago.
One of our happy and productive papaya plants (Carica papaya).
The beautiful and delicate flowers of the Ice cream bean tree (Inga edulis).
The seeds of the lipstick tree (Bixa orellana).
The delicious fruits of the Japanese loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) are usually the first ones to fully ripen, in early Spring.
The banana plants at the Orchard of Flavours are always hard at work producing some delicious bunches for us.
Yet another example of how productive and diverse an orchard in the south of Portugal can be. And we’re only getting started!
July — September 2022
2-hour-long private guided visit with tree lovers from Switzerland, South Africa, Germany and Portugal.
Landscaping the new plot and adding compost and horse manure to each planting bed.
First Ice cream bean pod on 2-year-old trees (Inga edulis).
Finally we found a Neem Tree (Azadirachta indica)!
Microcitrus australasica (Citron caviar or finger lemon fruit) growing on the tree.
First fruit ripening on a Litchi chinensis (Lychee) tree.
Brian planting one more variety of Mango (Mangifera indica “Palmer”). The garden now has a collection of 10 different varieties, with many more to come...
Landscaping under progress, on the most recent 1-hectar plot.
First Macadamia nut on a three-year-old tree.
Installing the irrigation system of the extension plot.
Quarantine area of the newly arrived fruit trees.
Visit of Mértola’s Terra Sintrópica team to the Orchard of Flavours.
Three-year-old Mango tree, full of fruit.
October — December 2022
Loads of Star fruit (Averrhoa carambola) on our 3-year-old tree.
Our brand new accreditation from BGCI (Botanic Gardens Conservation International) as a Botanic Garden.
Our first real Pomelo (Citrus maxima).
Harvesting the Jujubes from our Ziziphus jujuba tree.
Our first Miyawaki-inspired mini Food Forest, 14 months after planting.
A beautiful three-year-old, 6-meter-high Moringa oleifera tree.
The new map of Pomar dos Sabores, now including the one-hectare extension.
First plantings on the new extension (using our new Food Forest planting protocol).
Achiote fruit from the Lipstick tree (Bixa orellana).
Beginning of our research on the root systems of fruit trees.
Our first Garden Fair, in Estoi Algarve, October 2022.
Our new protocol for planting fruit trees in the extension of the Orchard of Flavours botanical garden. We put it into practice by planting our Miyawaki Experiment #2 - Organized Food Forest
Enthusiastic WWOOFers Leonardo and Luís trimming the vetiver grass to use as mulch.
January — March 2023
We welcomed Milan NEPALI, our new Junior Garden Steward.
Fruit from one of our 3-year-old avocados (Persea americana).
The beginning of a collection of mulberry trees (Morus genus).
The finished result of our new method for mulching with vetiver grass.
WWOOFer Leonardo setting up an archway for vine growing, on our new Miyawaki experiment site.
Starting soil preparations for the new Miyawaki Food Forest experiment, the third!
Planting an in-vitro propagated female Medjool Palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera).
WWOOFer and Milan NEPALI working on the planting area of the new Miyawaki Edible Forest experiment.
April — June 2023
Our 2-year-old Miyawaki-inspired Food Forest, our first experiment, which we called ‘Wild’.
Drone picture taken of the Orchard of Flavours in May 2023.
A few new additions to our edible bamboo collection (Phyllostachys praecox and nuda).
Kids jumping on the Orchard's huge flexible water tank, by Citerneo.
We don’t resort to pesticides, of course, but we occasionaly use net bags to protect the fruit hanging on trees.
The first Food Forest workshop we held at the Orchard of Flavours, in May 2023.
Plant measurements of a young Eugenia anthropophaga.
A 2-year-old flowering Rose-apple (Syzygium jambos).
Garden Steward Milan NEPALI planting a Coffea stenophylla.
Starting planting the new Miyawaki inspired Food Forest (Semi-organized), mid June.
Our young Nelumbo nucifera edible lotus starting to flower (planted only 6 weeks before).
New Miyawaki Edible Forest covered in shade cloth.
One more Orchard of Flavours tour, guided by Miguel Cotton.
July — September 2023
DAY 7: Our 3rd Miyawaki-inspired Food Forest experiment (Semi-organized), on July 7th. Complete planting of around 110 edible plants.
DAY 21: Our 3rd Miyawaki-inspired Food Forest experiment (Semi-organized), on July 21st.
DAY 45: Our 3rd Miyawaki-inspired Food Forest (Semi-organized) on August 14th. Moringa trees are almost 2 meters !
Garden Steward Milan NEPALI removing the shade cloth off our 3rd Miyawaki-inspired Food Forest, now 2,5 months old (September 13th). Many trees have reached 2 meters easily.
Black sapote, or chocolate pudding fruit (Diospyros digyna).
The fruit Tree Academy: Luís AFONSO and Miguel COTTON teaching a class during a Food Forest and Island of Fertility workshop.
One of our many many varieties of pomegranate (Punica granatum), in this case, the “Red acco”.
Milan NEPALI and Luís AFONSO pose for the photo during the preparation of the first Biggest Mini Forest, on August 1st.
The first Biggest Mini Forest on August 16th, two weeks after planting.
The first Biggest Mini Forest, on September 5th, a bit over a month after planting.
The first Biggest Mini Forest, on September 16th, a month and a half after planting.
The fruit of Peanut butter tree (Bunchosia argentea).
Introduction of biological predators, in this case, the Rodolia cardinalis ladybug beetle, to help us control attacks by Icerya.
Cotton candy fruit tree (Muntigia calabura), one of our Central American species.
Group picture at the first Food Forest & Island of Fertility workshop, on July 1st.
Planting Coffea stenophylla at the first Food Forest & Island of Fertility workshop.
The Fruit tree Academy: starting a Food Forest & Island of Fertility workshop with a guided tour of the Orchard of Flavours, with founder Miguel COTTON.
October — December 2023
Probably the most beautiful Arbutus in the world, Arbutus unedo x andrachnoides ‘Marina’.
Our Neem tree (Azadirachta indica) flowering after one year of planting.
A nice big pomelo from our Citrus maxima ‘Red Madoka’. Can you find a bigger citrus fruit anywhere?
Milan preparing the new signage for each of our plants, with QR codes leading to our database.
2023 was a year full of papaya. And trust us, many more like this will come.
A full classroom during one of our Fruit Tree Propagation workshops.
Installing the new signage in the botanical garden, providing accessible information for future self-guided visits.
Adding information boards all over the Orchard of Flavours botanical garden.
Our first longan (Dimocarpus longan), also known as the Eye of the Dragon fruit.
Milan and the Orchard of Flavours stall, at the Estoi Mediterranean garden fair.
A flowering Pereskia aculeata, also known as “carne do pobre”, or Ora pro nobis.
Great mango harvest this Fall. Already more than 15 varieties are growing here.
Miguel Cotton showing a giant pod of the amazing Inga edulis (Ice cream bean tree), during a Workshop for the kids of Nobel International School.
Fruit ripening on our Gin berry tree (Glycosmis pentaphylla).
Our Curry tree fruiting… (Murraya koenigii).
Our preferred banana, Musa chini champa, with a lemony taste.
The rare and beautiful yellow stripe sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum 'Ceniza Bengala').
A fruit from Solanum abutiloides, our Dwarf tamarillo, growing in our Miyawaki Experiment #3, a Semi-organized Food Forest.
Testing “Kirmiz kabub”, one of our many pomegranate (Punica granatum) varieties.
January — March 2024
Dror Avital demonstrating pruning techniques, during a Fruit Tree Care Workshop.
Luís AFONSO and Ana Laura CRUZ teaching a Mini Food Forest Workshop.
Ripe fruit during the first harvest of one of our Coffea arabica (coffee) plants.
Orchard of Flavours map, showing the different paths of our themed self-guided visits.
Earthworks for our Dry Orchard Experiment.
Fava beans (Vicia faba) growing as green manure, on our Dry Orchard Experiment.
Hosting a Biochar Workshop, taught by Martijn JAGER, of Carbon Conscious Creations.
The Orchard of Flavours’ new propagation center.
Open black sapote fruit (Diospyros digyna).
Need a lift back to the past? 🕰️ 🚀
Do you want to go back to the very start of the project? Or maybe jump to a different year?
Jan 2019
The beginning <——— 2020 <——— 2021 <——— 2022 <——— 2023 <——— Now!
