Organic Watermelon from Crete

Our story Agritales grew out of a small farm in Tympaki, on the island of Crete, and out of a story passed from one pair of hands to the next. The fields we tend today keep alive a dream that began with our father, the one who first bent over this soil and worked it. My own path led through the Agricultural University of Athens, and Nikos's through the kitchens of Athens, where he worked as a chef. Two different roads that circled back to the same place. We returned to Crete, picked up the fields where they had been left, and gave this fresh start a name, Agritales. Today the farm is our responsibility and our everyday life. We carry on what we were handed, in our own way and at our own pace. The place We are in Tympaki, in the south of the Heraklion region, where the Messara plain stretches out until it meets the Libyan Sea. It is one of the largest and most fertile plains on Crete, with soil that has been worked for generations and beaches only a few kilometres away. The climate here is generous. Sun almost all year round, mild winters and long, warm summers. These are the conditions that let the Messara grow things that struggle elsewhere in Greece, from garden vegetables to bananas. Around us the area is mostly rural, fields and greenhouses giving way to the coast. That combination, land and sea side by side, is part of the place we work every day. How we work We grow mainly garden vegetables and bananas, the organic way. That means working with nature's timing rather than against it, letting each crop ripen as it should, without rushing the harvest. Beyond growing, we keep a direct connection with the people who eat what we produce. For years now we have set up a stall at open-air markets in Athens, where we can explain what we are selling and where it comes from. Our goal is a simple one. To work with consistency, to care for the soil so it keeps giving year after year, and slowly to open the farm to visitors too, so they can see up close how and where the food on their plate is grown. At a glance Producer Katerina Ntispiraki Brand Agritales Location Tympaki, Heraklion, Crete Products Watermelon, melon, banana, cucumber Method Organic farming Years active 2021