Farmhouse accommodation in Andalucia

Hello, we are Anja and Gonzalo, your hosts. We do not have TV, but instead a wonderful sky at night to choose from one million channels; we do not have a swimming pool, but instead a clear and sparkling river to paddle, swim and play around; we do not have a microwave, but instead an outside bread oven to bake our own bread; we do not have air-conditioning, instead thick walls help to ensure a perfect siesta.

We are participating in a relatively new movement in Andalusia whose aim is to develop the production of ecological agriculture and make the produce accessible for consumers on a local level. We are gathering with other eco-farmers in the local Association “Eco-valle” to install a system and a label of self-control and to establish the first outdoor eco-market in the region in Ronda. Words like fertilisers, chemical products and so on are not in our vocabulary. Our sheep and chickens do the job for us.

We have a two acres vegetable organic garden growing all kind of vegetables and fruits. We eat seasonal, so we have always some products from it. All our farming is based on using nothing else but earth, sun, water and manure for growing. We refuse any kind of herbicide or pesticide on our ground. You are very welcome to make use of that and add our tasty vegetables for your cooking or get your fresh egg for breakfast directly from the hen house. We, following the organic idea of variety and recycling, work on taking from the nature what it is - compost, from our vegetables and other organic stuff will go to the ground again, and in the meantime we use the manure from our animals too.

We help the local wildlife by encouraging foxes and rabbits in the county, small birds and vultures in the sky, fishes and otters in the river, bees, thousands of insects. We plant certain bushes that we know attract the “good” insects who are necessary to develop a natural ecosystem.

We use propane gas for our water. For light bulbs, fridge and washing machine we rely on electricity. We expend a small amount of euros per month on electricity. We encourage our guests to save electricity and are always giving ideas of using our river instead of the shower room. We use energy efficient light bulbs and are working to have our own solar panels to provide some electricity and hot water. Through the middle of our farm runs a river which provides acequias (irrigations channel water) dating from Arabic time.

We use the basic that we need and always eco. We use “washing nuts” for the laundry. We do produce our own soap which is made of our own olive oil and use this for cleaning the rooms. We only provide clean sheets at the beginning of the guests stay.

In our kitchen there are always 4 containers: organic, paper, plastic and can, and glass. All of them will go to a recycle point that we have to deliver ourselves. When guests arrive we explain how our farm runs. Among other things we explain them how to separate their waste in our system. We also do all our administration work from home via computer and internet, so we do not need neither paper nor transportation for it. Many of our guests choose our place because they are interested and concerned about the natural environment, so the conservation of the natural environment is frequently part of our conversations. We do give information as well as we are happy to learn from our guests.

Our way to support the local community is by living among them. We live in a rural area, where everyone knows each other and that makes things easier. It is a philosophy of living, not consuming away from where we live. We buy everything we need in our neighbourhood. Most of our fruits, vegetables, marmalades and so on come from our garden. Those items that we cannot obviously grow are bought in our home town, 2 miles away from our farm.

Fortunately most of our guests are having the same way of living like us. It is very easy to bring a conversation about local life. There are plenty opportunities to visit open markets around and festivals etc. In our B&B we cook for our guests who require so. There are many options for our guests - either eating with us, cooking their own meal at our place or visiting the local restaurants around us, we give recommendations.

We invite you to share our little paradise with us and enjoy the hospitality of the nature and space that surround us. We, our animals, our house and garden welcome, it is not just words. That is why we will always be open to any suggestion you might have in order to ensure your holiday is a personal and unforgettable experience.