Newsletter from Campos Del Abuelo

I'm writing to you today with my boots still wet. Rain is life, yes, but sometimes it turns our fields upside down. Right now, we are experiencing heavy rains, so we will have to delay resuming our activities.

I'll tell you how it affects us, so that when you see us delay a delivery by a few days, you'll know that it's not a whim, it's about taking care of the fruit and your fridge.

On the one hand, we have oranges and mandarins; with them, the rule is clear: wet fruit is not harvested. We have to wait for the tree and the skin to dry. If you cut it wet, the risk of fungi and rot skyrockets. It's like inviting them to a party that nobody wants at home.

When the skin is soaked, it becomes delicate. It marks easily, loses its natural defense, and its shelf life is reduced. What should cheerfully last a week might sadly only make it halfway. And if the rain comes with wind, the ground wakes up carpeted with fallen fruit. We can't send that anymore, for quality reasons and common sense. Think of citrus skin as a living raincoat. If you saturate it, it softens, and any friction leaves an invisible wound. That's where the problems begin. That's why we prefer to add patience and subtract haste. For tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, rain can cause cracking, excess water in the fruit, and loss of flavor, requiring more careful selection. On the other hand, crops like potatoes and onions are affected because wet soil makes harvesting difficult and can compromise their later preservation. In the case of other leafy greens, rain makes the leaves more fragile, dirty, and less durable.

Something surprising happens with lettuce. Everyone thinks it loves water, but it's not a fish. If it's wet, it's not cut. Rain paralyzes the harvest. Excess humidity robs it of its crispness and firmness. You notice it when you pinch the leaf; it loses that fresh spark we love so much.

Also, humidity is a highway for fungi and bacteria. And its shelf life at home plummets. A well-cut and dry lettuce can last about ten days refrigerated. After a downpour, if harvested at the wrong time, sometimes it doesn't last more than five. It's better to wait for the dew to clear and cut at dawn when the leaf is dry, which is how we've always done it.

Here, we work as our grandparents did, with thought and with calm. Every morning, I review the orders, and we only go out to harvest what you ask for. That's how we work, and it allows us to send you freshly cut fruit and vegetables, from our fields and those of fellow farmers across Spain, defending a fair price for those who grow it and honest quality for those who eat it.

And what happens on rainy days? It's time to play chess with the sky. We calculate whether to wait, whether to move a plot, whether to advance another. Sometimes it's better to delay a shipment by a day than to send you an orange with tired skin or a lettuce that won't last. We prefer that your first bite tastes of the field and not of a downpour.

Rain gives us and sometimes takes from us, but in the countryside, it rules. We provide the skill, patience, and care. And if we ever notify you with an umbrella in hand, it's because we want what reaches your table to be perfect ☔️

Thank you for being on the other side and for learning with us through clouds and clear skies. Any questions, here I am, with my hands still smelling of orange blossom and wet earth.

A big hug and see you next week 🌱