As promised, I visited with our local organic grower, Minas Petrakis, to see what was growing down on his small holding in Gournes. Regular readers will know that Minas has been growing a wide range of fruit and vegetables for a number of years (my first column devoted to Minas was in March, 2007), and his enterprise is still going strong.

During my most recent visit, on a scorching hot Thursday lunchtime, he was enjoying some respite in the shade, having been working the land since 5.00 am! Everything on the holding looked first class and the crops that were ready included tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, courgettes, onions and beans (lots of beans of various types); many culinary herbs are also growing on the approach to his little shop/shed, located on the Gournes road heading to the beach from the old national highway by the kafenion, and is accessed by crossing the dry river bed where the road and river first converge.  What could be fresher than getting produce as it is picked straight from the plant?

Melons will also be ready soon and I noticed lots of young bean and salad plants growing, to continue production into the summer. Indeed, Minas said that he will continue to plant salad crops during the coming month to ensure that he has a succession of crops to sell.

What were missing were the artichokes that I had seen on my last visit, which, Minas said, were removed because they needed too much water.

This local farmer is at the site everyday and is always willing to stop and talk “garden” with anyone (he speaks English, too) and he assures me that there is always someone available to help visitors to his holding if he is not available.

On a Tuesday he has a stall at the organic farmers market on the old American base in Gournes and he also attends the Organic Market in Iraklion on Mondays and Wednesdays. Here, because there are a number of different growers, a wider range of produce is generally available.