Squash plants in one of the vegetable gardens

Andalucian Blue mother with chicks

Nora and Fuji with lambs

Peas and Lambs Lettuce

Semilla Besada Farm Tours

Farm tours of the only location in Europe to use Holistic Management® and Dryland Permaculture Design as development frameworks

Semilla Besada is a 12 hectare (30 acre) family farm in the Alpujarra range of the Sierra Nevada mountains in southern Spain. It has been working consistently over 10 years to create a model of sustainable living in a dryland environment, and now provides for 80% of its food needs. It uses both Holistic Management and Dryland Permaculture to design and manage the farm

Currently Semilla Besada comprises 200 mixed fruit and nut trees, 100 grape vines, 50 fodder trees, 6 annual vegetable growing areas and grazed pasture. It also has a flock of rare breed Andaluz Azul chickens, a warren of 12 mixed breed rabbits, a small herd of Milking/Awassi cross-breed sheep, geese and bees.

Renewable energy is also a priority and we have solar power from photovoltaics supported by a wind turbine. We have solar water heating and cooking facilities. All our household water and waste is recycled providing irrigation water and fertility for perennial plants. Our emphasis is on supplying as many of our needs as possible, and so the storage of produce is a necessity. We have solar dryers which enable us to store any seasonal surplus without additional running costs.

The tour begins at 11am with refreshments, and lasts about 3 hours. If you have any particular interest let us know in advance, so we can ensure that your needs are met.

At approximately 11.30am we conduct a tour of 2 hectares of the farm, which includes visits to:

• The vegetable gardens
• The compost making areas
• The chickens, sheep, geese, and rabbits
• The solar and wind technology
• The waste recycling systems

The tour concludes with refreshments. Everyone who comes on a tour is entitled to become a subscriber to our free on-line newsletter, which gives seasonal insights into the development of the farm.

Financial investment