A Slower Pace on La Palma - Farming the Sustainable Way

A Slower Pace on La Palma — Farming the Sustainable Way

With only about 200,000 visitors each year, La Palma remains one of the least tourist-heavy islands in the Canaries. Tourism plays a far smaller role in the local economy here, and you can feel it immediately. The pace is slower, more relaxed, and refreshingly unhurried — a very pleasant change.   

Today we enjoyed a wonderful visit to Eco Finca Nogales, a 10-hectare organic farm producing bananas, mangoes, avocados, coffee beans, and papayas. Much like the organic winery we visited on Tenerife, the philosophy here is simple: nothing is wasted. 

We were surprised to learn how labour-intensive banana cultivation actually is. After harvest, the remaining plant material is carefully gathered and placed in large concrete fermentation tanks to create nutrient-rich compost for the soil. Even the farm’s eight cows play an essential role — feeding on banana plant remnants, with their manure collected and returned to the fields as natural fertilizer.

Mangos

Coffee beans planted next to bananas for protection from the wind and salt air

Coffee beans

Worker tending to the bananas

Cows consuming plant waste. Manure used to nurture the land

The visit included an impressive tasting of products grown or produced on the farm, complemented by local wine and beer, and coffee brewed from beans grown right there on the property. It was a true farm-to-table experience.

Avocados 

Guava with cheese

Bananas harvested today

Mangoes

What stood out most was how much science underpins the operation. Soil management, crop rotation, fermentation, and sustainability practices are all carefully monitored and applied. It was both educational and inspiring to see agriculture practiced so thoughtfully and intentionally.

Another memorable day on an island that seems determined to do things at its own steady pace.