It is easy to see that the biggest source of revenue in Sao Miguel is the tourism sector. But next to that the primary economic activities are the production of dairy products, cereals, tea, fruits, and wine. While we were here we visited tea and pineapple plantations.
Gorreana tea is the oldest and only tea plantation operating in Europe. The humid and rainy climate, the mild temperature, and the volcanic soil are perfect for production. Bonus, the usual pests don’t survive here so they can be grown organically. We have been to tea plantations in Asia. What we would usually see were many workers leaning over the shrubs handpicking the leaves. As we hiked through Gorreana we saw groups of four men harvesting the leaves with some sort of vacuum. It was fascinating to watch. Of course, we tried the tea-flavoured ice cream in the gift shop 😄 São Miguel is also home to over 6,000 pineapple plantations. The island is the only place in the world where pineapples are grown in greenhouses! We visited Arruda Greenhouses who have grown Abacaxi Pineapples for over 100 years. The crown is smaller and they take 18 months to harvest. They are said to have an intense taste. The only samples they were offering were their liqueurs, which were intense. Besides waving to the cattle along the side of the road, that is about all the agriculture we investigated. So different from our crops in North Perth. You are always in my Prayers. Love Mom.
14 Comments
NPWS7JM
5/23/2023 07:04:25 am
Did you try the pineapple? If so did it taste any different?
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Diane
5/23/2023 05:47:58 pm
It wasn’t quite harvest time so they weren’t offering fresh pineapple It is supposed to be a particularly sweet variety
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Haylee,maya
5/23/2023 07:06:33 am
Was the pineapple pink and how tiring was the hike
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Diane
5/23/2023 05:49:48 pm
The pineapple in the picture is still growing but there was a pink tinge to the skin. We hiked about an hour in the tea plantation…very hilly.
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Hailey Alexis
5/23/2023 07:08:04 am
Did you try the Gorreana tea?
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Diane
5/23/2023 05:50:58 pm
The free tea samples when we were there were broken and green tea. We tried both. They had a nice soft taste…not harsh
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MLW7
5/23/2023 07:09:00 am
How were the pineapples intense (if you tried them)
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Diane
5/23/2023 05:52:15 pm
We tried their liqueur and it was very very sweet. We didn’t try the fresh pineapple, but it is supposed to be a very sweet variety n
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NPW teacher
5/23/2023 07:14:19 am
Has Ray tried running there? I assume it's pretty hilly.
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Diane
5/23/2023 05:54:00 pm
He didn’t run the days we walked but he ran in Lisbon, Toledo, and the Azores. Toledo was especially hilly. In the Azores he ran on the beach because the black san was compacted.
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Molly Kelsey
5/23/2023 07:15:38 am
Why do they need so much pinaples?
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Diane
5/23/2023 05:54:29 pm
They export them to Europe.
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NPW Alec, Alex, Connor
5/23/2023 07:25:53 am
How was the ice cream was it the best ice cream you have ever had?
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Diane
5/23/2023 05:55:23 pm
OK, probably not the best I’ve every had, but pretty good considering it was tea flavoured.
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