Thanks to its particular climatic characteristics, organic farming in the Azores is possible not only for “traditional” fruits and vegetables but also for products we westerners consider tropical such as bananas, pineapple, papaya, tea and coffee.

With its volcanic lands and a climate generally mild without peaks of extreme heat in the summer and without frost during winter, Azores are a really special place for cultivation, both in terms of variety and quantity of possible harvests.

Unfortunately however, despite these precious characteristics, cultivation has been largely abandoned over the years in favor of breeding of cows for dairy products (and related fodder fields), an activity which has been greatly pushed by European incentives. This has led to the absurd supply of industrially produced fruits and vegetables from the Continent, mainly from Spain.

Although the family habit of the small self-sufficient vegetable garden and orchard has never been lost, in recent years small family farms for the production and trade of local fruits and vegetables are growing again.

THE NEW TREND IN THE AZORES: ORGANIC PERMACULTURE

This new beginning was born under the dictates, now finally considered vital, of 0 miles products , organic permaculture way of growing fruits and vegetables.

Having chosen when we were living in our Italy years ago to turn to the purchase of local and organic fruit and vegetables, using one of the first activities with these characteristics – Agrispesa – born in 2003, being finally able of finding here the same opportunity to buy healthy food from small local producers made us feel at home.

Each island has a growing network of producers from whom you can buy directly, in the days of market or who are activating home delivery services.

Many initiatives are appearing every day, thanks to the good side of socials and new technologies, to inform, update, disseminate, protect and help develop the growth of this activity.

WHERE TO FIND ORGANIC FARMING PRODUCTS IN THE AZORES

One of these realities that is very active in cataloging and organizing organic farming in the Azores and all the efforts made by small farmers is Trybio, which also organizes seminars and events aimed both at informing locals and expats that there is an alternative to buying cheap and non-organic products in supermarkets, and to provide technical information (real collective lessons) on improving permaculture techniques by the members of the consortium.

Back to the land, then, with a healthier, more sustainable and ethical approach.

We already get supplies whenever possible from these small producers, you can do the same, we will all gain in health, including the earth!

At this link, you will find a list of certified organic farmers from which you can acquire products grown using organic farming techniques.

The official language of the Azores islands is Portuguese, but thanks to the emigration to America and subsequent return home from many, English is also very popular. The archipelago’s economy is mainly based on agriculture, breeding, fishing and, more recently, tourism.

Origin and Position

Together with the other Portuguese archipelagos of Madeira and Cape Verde and the Spanish archipelago of the Canaries, the Azores Islands constitute the biogeographical region called Macaronesia. The name Macaronesia derives from the Greek μακάρων νῆσοι (makàrōn nêsoi) and means Islands of the blessed, or Fortunate Islands.

The origin of the Archipelago is mainly volcanic, as evidenced by the numerous craters and cones now partly green. The islands were formed in the Tertiary, relatively recently. The Archipelago is located at the intersection of the African, Eurasian and American tectonic plates. The movement of the tectonic plates causes a fracture of the earth’s crust which, following the lava flow, creates ocean ridges. The Azores are in fact located along the mid-Atlantic ridge that crosses the ocean for 16,000 km from the south to the north of the world.

The youngest island of the archipelago is Pico, with its mountain-volcano of the same name which is also the highest peak in the whole of the Portuguese territory (the Azores islands can actually be considered among the highest mountains on the planet if you measure the their height from the base on the bottom of the ocean). The oldest island is Santa Maria, having formed about 8 million years ago. The most recent eruption, that of the Capelinhos volcano on the island of Faial, took place in 1957: volcanic activity has significantly increased the size of the island in its west part.

Location

The islands that make up the Archipelago of the Azores Islands are nine and are divided into three main groups:

• The eastern group (Grupo Oriental) of São Miguel, Santa Maria • The central group (Grupo Central) of Terceira, Graciosa, São Jorge, Pico and Faial • The western group (Grupo Ocidental) of Flores and Corvo.

The nine islands of the Azores archipelago occupy a total area of emerged land of approximately 2,400 km2. and have an area ranging from 17 km² on the island of Corvo, in the far west of the archipelago, to 759 km² of São Miguel, to the east, the closest to Europe together with Santa Maria.

The volcanic nature of the Azores islands has left significant and unique traces on each island: extinct and active volcanoes, cones and craters, volcanic lakes, fossils, caves, fajãs (lava plains leaning to the sea), waterfalls … Traveling and moving from island to island the other of the Azores means discovering nine different realities: despite their common origin, each of them have particular and specific geomorphological characteristics from which a strong identity derives for each island.

These specific identities are well summarized by the different color associated with each of them:

SÃO MIGUEL – GREEN ISLAND

Azores islands – São Miguel

Km²: 759 – Inhabitants: 137.830

It is the largest island, 759 km². It is called “Green Island” for the landscape formed by its large meadows and forest spots. Thanks to its kilometers wide volcanic craters, this is where the largest lakes (lagoas) of the Azores are found…

Read the full article on São Miguel

SANTA MARIA – YELLOW ISLAND

Azores islands – Santa Maria

Km²: 97 – Inhabitants: 5.552

Santa Maria is the oldest island. It is called “Yellow Island” because it enjoys a warmer and less rainy climate than the other islands, thus presenting a drier vegetation, which takes on the yellow tones. It is one of the few, along with Faial, where black and white beaches are frequent …

Read the full article on Santa Maria

TERCEIRA – LILAC ISLAND

Azores islands – Terceira

Km²: 403 – Inhabitants: 56.437

Of practically circular shape, it is called «lilac island» because in its central part, where there is one of the largest craters in the region, and in the north part, there is the largest heather patch of the Azores, typical endemic vegetation of the ‘archipelago…

Read the full article on Terceira

GRACIOSA – WHITE ISLAND

Azores Islands – Graciosa

Km²: 63 – Inhabitants: 4.391

The second smallest island in the archipelago, is called “White Island” due to the presence of a particular volcanic rock, trachyte, which is quite common on the island, which over time takes on a whitish color.

Read the full article on Graciosa

SÃO JORGE – BROWN ISLAND

Azores islands – São Jorge

Km²: 246 – Inhabitants: 9.171

It is also called “brown island”. Its long elongated shape along which, in the central part, volcanic cones follow one another, making it look like a huge prehistoric marine animal emerging from the waters of the ocean. The island is bordered by steep cliffs overlooking the ocean that alternate with small and characteristic flat areas at sea level, the famous fajãs of São Jorge. The island is one of the vertices of the so-called “triangle” of the Central Group: the others are the islands of Faial and Pico.

Read the full article on São Jorge

PICO – GREY ISLAND

Azores islands – Pico

Km²: 446 – Inhabitants: 14.148

Pico is called “Gray Island” because its large lava fields, the dry stone walls that divide the vineyards (UNESCO heritage), the stone mountains in the fields are all mainly of this shade, always enlivened by the lush green of the vegetation. Its greatest attraction is the Pico volcano: 2,350 m high, 19 kilometers in diameter, the third largest volcano in the Atlantic. The island is one of the summits of the so-called “triangle” of the Azores: the others are the islands of Faial and São Jorge …

Read the full article on Pico

FAIAL – BLUE ISLAND

Azores islands – Faial

Km²: 173 – Inhabitants: 14.994

Faial is called “Blue Island” because of the profusion of hydrangeas that cover a large part of the island, from the coast to climb up to the large and impressive Caldeira (Cabeço Gordo). The west area near the Capelinhos volcano, where the landscape is arid and wild, almost lunar, is of great contrast. Despite its volcanic nature in Faial there are numerous sandy beaches. Faial is the westernmost summit of the so-called “triangle” of the Central Group together with the islands of São Jorge and Pico.

Read the full article on Faial

FLORES – PINK ISLAND

Azores islands – Flores

Km²: 143 – Inhabitants: 3.793

It is called “Pink Island”. The landscape of the island is characterized by numerous craters, lakes and streams that feed a luxuriant vegetation in which the pink of hydrangeas and azaleas mainly stand out. The island contains seven volcanic craters, now lakes, and offers one of the most famous natural monuments of the Azores, the Rocha dos Bordões: a set of large basalt columns of great spectacle …

Read the full article on Flores

CORVO – BLACK ISLAND

Azores Islands – Corvo

Km²: 17 – Inhabitants: 430

The smaller island, called “Black Island” and is formed by a main volcanic complex, with an overlying crater (Caldeirão) and about twenty secondary cones on the sides and inside the crater. It is therefore a “volcano island”, unique in the archipelago with these prevalent characteristics …

Read the full article on Corvo

Although rapidly evolving, the economy of the Azores is still based today mainly on agriculture, livestock farming, fishing and more recently, tourism.

Agriculture

The favorable climatic conditions of the archipelago have made it possible to cultivate almost all the main products of the earth with the addition of particular “exotic” crops such as tobacco, tea, pineapples, bananas. Do not forget the production of wine which, in recent times, has found its niche market also in the export market. In addition to the production necessary for local sustenance, the products are mainly exported to Portugal and, naturally and in part, to Europe and the world.

Breeding

The same goes for the breeding of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs which, in addition to meat production, have characterized the area as an excellence for the production of milk and dairy products. The production of Azores dairy products and cheeses, together with agri-food products, are therefore one of the main local activities.

The two main activities, breeding and agriculture, are closely linked and functional to each other: the pasture fields are cyclically converted to crops by moving herds and flocks onto others: the result of this integrated and natural activity gives lands made naturally fertile and new fodder for cattle.

Fishing

Of course, fishing is also a prevalent and key activity for the area. The ocean full of many fish qualities continues to be a source of widespread activity. The whaling tradition of the islands, rightly interrupted by the international prohibitions of the early 1980s, has today been able to convert to the naturalistic observation of the large cetaceans with which the surrounding sea abounds, effectively giving rise to all the tertiary activity linked to eco-sustainable tourism.

Tourism

In fact, tourism in the last few years is becomings the new economic frontier of the archipelago, both in its direct management and in the collateral activities it generates and which create significant effects on the territory.

The natural wonders of the Azores islands, land of volcanoes, forests, ocean, natural pools of volcanic rock, plains and verdant hills, have become an incredible driving force for all related tourist activities: from hospitality to catering, from organizing tours between the various islands to trekking and bike tours, from diving to whalewatching, and birdwatching.

The Azores lost much of their economic-strategic importance in the mid-1900s with the advent of large transatlantic flights when they were no longer an indispensable port and the necessary node for telecommunications. Later, around 1980, another source of livelihood was lacking: fishing and exploitation of the whale, and it was on this activity that a large part of the local economy was based. In the early 1980s, whaling was was rightly forbidden and the islanders found themselves having to convert their work, they did it also thanks to the help received, managing to organize an activity that attracts tourists from all over the world which is the flagship of the archipelago: l whale watching.

They have thus managed to give a big boost to tourism which is continuously growing thanks to the choices and investments made in recent years. The islands focus a lot on eco-compatible tourism that attracts visitors in search of easily accessible and uncontaminated nature, very attentive to environmental conservation.

An economy in full development

Throughout the year, tourists come mostly from the countries of Northern Europe, in fact they come to winter here where they find mild climate and a longer duration of light. In summer they are joined by the Portuguese, the Spanish, the French, the Italians and also the Americans favored by the daily flights that link Boston to the Azores. Basically, the economy, as well as tourism, is based on the breeding and production of milk derivatives. There are more than 200,000 heads and there is a large export of meat and cheeses to mainland Portugal.

The agriculture, also important for breeding, is developing again after a period of stall due to subsidies to breeding and milk production which made many farmers switch between the two. There are also cultivations of tropical plants such as pineapple and tea and a production of wine that has recently found its niche position also in the export market. Food and drinks represent over 65% of the total exports of the Azores, the transformation of fishery products, such as tuna canning, has recently started to have a fair importance. The balance between export and import reached a positive trend in 2011.

First Discovery

The Carthaginians were probably the first to land in the remote archipelago. The hypothesis is supported by the discovery of some coins of 300 BC on the island of Corvo by an English expedition.

The origin of the name Azores (Açores, in Portuguese) has several theories. The most accredited associates the name of the archipelago with the sighting by the first navigators of numerous buzzards, at the time confused with the goshawk, another bird of prey called açor in Portuguese.

In historical terms we find some references to nine similar oceanic islands corresponding to the Azores as early as the second half of the fourteenth century in some maps and books such as the Medici Atlas, dated to 1351, which seems to indicate the position of the Azores. The Azores also appear in two Majorcan cards, the Catalan Atlas of 1375 and the Guillem Soler card of 1385; and the Book of Knowledge also mentions them with small variations. However, the archipelago was officially discovered only in 1427-31 following the Portuguese maritime epic, led by the Infante D. Henrique. It is uncertain whether the first navigator to reach the Azores was Diogo de Silves in 1427, or Gonçalo Velho Cabral in 1431.

The population of the islands continued to grow in the fifteenth century, starting from the Eastern and Central Group and continued in the sixteenth century reaching the Western Group. In 1493 Christopher Columbus made a stop in the Azores while returning from his first trip to the Americas. The sixteenth century was of course the golden age for the Azores, which were found in a strategic position along the routes to the Indies and the New World.

The First Settlers

In the centuries following the people who came primarily and mainly from Portugal, settlers from other European and non-European countries were added: Flemish, Moorish, Genoese, English, French and African slaves. The settlers built houses and villages, prepared the ground for crops by deforesting large areas and imported farm animals such as cattle, sheep, goats and pigs, chickens, rabbits, both for subsistence and for trade.

Following the death of Henry the Navigator, the cardinal king of Portugal, the nation sank into a dynastic crisis with several pretenders to the Portuguese throne. It was Spain that obtained and maintained possession of the Azores in the period from 1580-1642; The Azores archipelago was the last part of the Portuguese Empire to remain under the Spanish domination of Philip II and was returned to Portugal in 1640 with the end of the Iberian Union.

The ‘Golden Age’

In the second half of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Portugal went through a period of splendor, which also extended to the Azores, thanks to the riches in gold and diamonds that come from the colonies of Brazil.

During the 19th century, the Portuguese civil war had serious repercussions on the islands: in 1829, in Vila da Praia (now Praia da Vitória), the liberal party got the better of absolutism and the Council of Regency of Mary II was established Portugal on the island of Terceira, which became the headquarters of the new regime.

In 1836 the archipelago was divided into three districts and this administrative division remained in force until 1976: the division did not follow the natural groupings of the islands: it made the position of each district capital coincide with the three main cities (none of the western group ):

The three districts were defined as follows:

Ponta Delgada, which included São Miguel and Santa Maria, with the capital Ponta Delgada on São Miguel.

Angra do Heroísmo, which included Terceira, São Jorge and Graciosa, with the capital Angra do Heroísmo su Terceira.

Horta, which included Pico, Faial, Flores and Corvo, with the capital Horta on Faial.

In more recent years (1931) the Azores (like Madeira and Portuguese Guinea) rebelled against the dictatorship of the Salazar regime and were ruled by rebel soldiers for a short time. During the Second World War, the Portuguese dictatorship allowed the Anglo-Americans to install military bases in the Azores to monitor the Atlantic while maintaining diplomatic and commercial relations with the Axis countries, thus maintaining a “neutral” position.

Modern History of the Azores

Following the carnation revolution (in Portuguese Revolução dos Cravos) of 1974 which ended the long authoritarian regime founded by António Salazar and after the creation of the Republic in Portugal, in 1976 the districts were suppressed and the Azores were proclaimed Autonomous Region (Região Autónoma dos Açores).

The Autonomous Region of the Azores today divides its political and administrative institutions into three capitals: the Presidency in Ponta Delgada, on the island of São Miguel, the Supreme Court in Angra do Heroismo, on the island of Terceira, and the Legislative Assembly Horta, on the island of Faial.

for more details see Wikipedia