Àgueda Ortiz (Maó, 1987) and David Casas (Barcelona, 1984) are a young couple of plant enthusiasts who enjoy tending to the land as if it were a large garden. They also like interacting with their customers. They love nature and farming, but they make no bones about the fact that they find certain aspects of their work rather tiresome: external regulations and bureaucracy. Honesty is a value that runs through their veins.

In 2012, the couple’s love for horticulture led them to start cultivating a small patch of land in the village of Ordal, in the county of Alt Penedès. They were soon joined by other residents who wished to collaborate on the project, which they decided to call El Tros d'Ordal (Ther Ordal Patch). It was very well received in the village. In 2021 they expanded their land and made the important decision to rent a warehouse in Vilafranca, where in addition to setting up their headquarters, they opened a farm shop.

They currently lease three hectares of land in Vilafranca for growing vegetables, along with a plot of land with peach trees in Ordal. Both Àgueda and David work the land, with the help of five workers, and they’ve obtained the seal of the  Catalan Council for Organic Agricultural Production (CCPAE). They distribute around 50 vegetable baskets per week, have stalls at two Saturday markets, and supply shops, restaurants and consumer cooperatives. They work to the principle of supplying healthy, ethical and high-quality products, in the firm belief that organic, seasonal food is much healthier than conventional produce. These two farmers live on little, but once you start chatting to them, you quickly sense their enthusiasm and the great passion they have for their work.

Could you share any childhood memories related to producing or eating food?

David Casas (D): When I was little, I used to love helping out my grandfather in the vegetable garden on weekends. I had a great time, because I liked being there with him. Although he didn’t follow conventional or organic practices, he always kept his vegetable garden tidy. In fact, he kept it in immaculate condition! He grew food just for the family.

Àgueda Ortiz (A): There’s a dish that I miss because I only eat it when I’m back home in Menorca: black-eyed beans. They’re so tender! When I was a child, we prepared them with paprika and vinegar. It was a wonderful dish! Just thinking about them, I feel like eating some right now!

Another memory is of the farming work associated with each season. My grandfather was a professional farmer, and I remember the whole family gathering to peel runner beans, broad beans, snap peas... The food was seasonal and always delicious! That’s why I still appreciate it now.

«Although my grandfather didn’t follow conventional or organic practices, he always kept his vegetable garden tidy. In fact, he kept it in immaculate condition! He grew food just for the family» David Casas

What life or study path led you to create El Tros d’Ordal?

D: I studied forestry and environmental management. In Ordal I tended to a small family vegetable garden with Àgueda. Little by little, we got enthusiastic about the project and took over abandoned fields to breathe new life into them. When we started planting more produce, we went out looking for new customers...

A: It was a pretty spontaneous process... I come from the world of herbal medicine and medicinal plants, and I’d also practiced manual therapies such as acupuncture. It all started as a hobby. Then there came a point when neither of us had a job, so we decided to turn our hobby into our job. A neighbour joined us and we started farming without any specific goals in mind. The villagers would visit us and offer us plots that they weren’t able to cultivate.

Later on, a resident of Ordal who wanted to buy vegetables off us ended up becoming our partner, along with her son. They were involved in the project while it was based in Ordal. We set up a limited company with four partners. Although we tried to be a cooperative, there was too much paperwork involved. Nevertheless, we made decisions collectively. In August 2021, we decided to change direction and broke up the partnership, but we maintained a good relationship with the other partners. In fact, they both still buy produce from us. That was the year in which David and I opened the warehouse and took on more land.

What was the main reason for establishing your headquarters in Vilafranca?

A: In Ordal, the main problem we had was the lack of water. It’s a completely dry area. The opportunity arose to lease a three-hectare field in another village in the Penedès area, a place that already had a water supply. So we decided to do the bulk of our growing there. Making the switch meant that we no longer had our vegetable garden in Ordal, where all we’ve kept is the dryland plot with peach trees. The vegetable garden is in Vilafranca. Everything’s close and we’ve reduced production somewhat because sales are rather slow.

D: In 2021, we rented a warehouse in Vilafranca and wondered whether opening a farm shop right there, where we have the cold room and the material to prepare orders, would help pay the rent.

A: That’s right. The space serves as an agricultural warehouse, a place to process orders and a farm shop. Actually, there’s always someone at work here! When we were in Ordal, we’d only sell our produce one day per week, but here we decided to open more often in order to make shopping easier for the locals.

«The space serves as an agricultural warehouse, a place to process orders and a farm shop. Actually, there’s always someone at work here!» Àgueda Ortiz

Àgueda, is the ethical, healthy and high-quality food approach you’ve adopted at El Tros d’Ordal related to your personal background and your vision of health?

A: I’d say that we act on our commitment to health in a very basic way: stocking up on the most local food possible and eating it in season is much more beneficial to our health than any other option. On the one hand, organic produce has fewer toxins, and, on the other hand, if you eat both wild food and crops in season, your body will receive what’s most appropriate for the time of year. For example, eating tomatoes in winter will make you cold, which you don’t need. It’s all about respecting the natural cycles of food and eating what’s grown close to home, rather than buying supermarket products that have travelled long distances.

Despite having links to farming, you don’t own any land and have had to lease it. Do you advise other young people to start small, like you did, gaining the trust of local consumers and breathing new life into abandoned or underused plots of land?

A: It’s true that there are many plots of land in disuse. When we started out, the villagers already knew us, which helped create a strong bond of trust. They saw two young people, aged 22 and 25, who were determined to devote themselves to farming. It created plenty of enthusiasm among the elderly. There was something romantic about it, along with a feeling of trust, what with it being a small space.

D: There was also a strong wish to see well-maintained land. A landowner who had a spare plot of land saw how hard we were working hard and offered us his plot for nothing in return.... But now that we’ve looked for land ourselves, we’ve come across all sorts: selfless people and people asking for lots of money!

A: Generally speaking, people have demanded exorbitant amounts... Eventually, we managed to lease a couple of estates at a fairer price.

«When we started out, the villagers already knew us, which helped create a strong bond of trust. They saw two young people, aged 22 and 25, who were determined to devote themselves to farming. It created plenty of enthusiasm among the elderly» Àgueda Ortiz

If you could only give one piece of advice to someone who’s considering starting a farming business, what would it be?

D: To those who are just starting out, I’d say that above all they need to enjoy working the land. It’s a time-consuming business and you really have to stay on top of things.

«To those who are just starting out, I’d say that above all they need to enjoy working the land. It’s a time-consuming business and you really have to stay on top of things» David Casas

The amount of farmland in the county of Alt Penedès has decreased significantly in recent years: between 1956 and 2018, the amount of farmland in the county has dropped from 61.3% to 43%, according to data compiled by BCN Smart Rural. Nonetheless, it’s still the region with the largest agricultural area in the province of Barcelona. The primary sector is still extremely important and land prices are high. What challenges does this situation pose and how do you address them?

D: Yes, prices are high. I don’t know what people think about the land and farming work... They see you harvesting a load of tomatoes in summer and ignore the other part, the hard part, such as when a frost comes and ruins your beans or peas after you’ve invested in canes, meshes, seedlings, etc.

A: Other people say, “You’ll be minted! What a great lifestyle, you’ll have so much peace.” Or they marvel at the amount of vegetables you produce. The truth is that making the numbers add up in vegetable growing is no easy task. In the current climate of price increases, it seems that we farmers are the only ones who can’t raise them, despite the fact that all our costs have gone up and we also have to pay our self-employment contributions. The key to getting by as a family is to spend little and work hard. We know we’ll never go hungry at home, and that’s the most important thing.

D: Farmers have to work hard to survive. You have to be motivated by seeing a beautiful, well-maintained field. You have the advantage of not having to work in an enclosed place, such as an office. And having customers who appreciate your work and who’ve been buying off you for many years is also a source of encouragement.

«The key to getting by as a family is to spend little and work hard. We know we’ll never go hungry at home, and that’s the most important thing» Àgueda Ortiz

Thinking back, what aspects do you miss about the first stage of your business, in Ordal?

A: If we were to go back in time, perhaps we’d gain something in terms of quality of life. We had more free time back then, such as at the weekend.

D: We experienced the most romantic aspects of tending to a vegetable garden too! But we can always go small again!

What do you like most about your work now?

D: I love being out in the fields, tending to them and trying to ensure that everything grows well... That’s what I like the most. I also enjoy contact with people and being at the market. But if I had to choose, I’d choose being out in the fields.

A: I enjoy the entire project. We started it because we had a hobby: tending to the land. I love selling direct and growing products. I’d find it really hard to work in a different sector. Working the land is addictive... The part I don’t like is all the bureaucracy involved. Obstacles arrive in the form of external factors beyond our control. Paperwork, traceability... It has to be done, but we’re not suited to it.

D: You think you’ve done everything right, technicians and architects have come and gone, and all of a sudden a health inspector appears and tells you that you have to put up a door here, erect a wall there. And you wonder why you have to put up a door that’s always going to be open! They make you waste money.

«I love being out in the fields, tending to them and trying to ensure that everything grows well... That’s what I like the most» David Casas

Marc Castellnou, Chief Inspector of the Firefighting Service of the Government of Catalonia and Head of the Forest Action Support Group (GRAF), argues that the current legislation is geared more towards urban environments and doesn’t properly address the perspective and needs of the farming sector, which plays a key role in fire prevention. Do you agree? What’s your opinion on this matter?

A: There are plenty of inconsistencies. There must be a logic to the drafting of regulations, but when you experience them directly on a practical level, there’s a sense of disconnect. It’s often said that “He who makes the laws of the countryside, has never been in the countryside.” For instance, we’re told that all our produce must be brought clean from the fields and that it shouldn’t be cleaned in the warehouse. But if I try to clean it in the field, I’m only going to get it muddier. By the time it gets to the warehouse, it’s actually dirtier and has to undergo a second cleaning process.

D: We’re also being pressured to ensure traceability and we need to know which batch and which field each lettuce comes. And there are times when we harvest lettuce from both fields... Ensuring full control over the origin of every single product we grow is a complex task. It means allocating someone exclusively to the task for half a day. That’s half their wages! This type of requirement makes you get fed up with the farming profession.

A: Prioritising traceability is logical enough, because in the event of problems you have to be able to identify the origin of the food. But everything gets complicated, because you’re handling so many products and batches at the same time.

What aspects of your project encourage you to keep going despite the challenges you face?

A: Of the two markets where we have stalls, the Earth Market organised by the Slow Food organisation is extremely gratifying. It’s held in Plaça de les Tres Xemeneies in Barcelona. The customers there often offer us encouragement to keep going. We really like this direct contact! It’s been 11 years since we started up the project and we’ve got customers whose kids we’ve seen grow up. We’ve seen how their careers have developed and we’ve been following their lives... There’s a lot of trust between us. In fact, there are people who’ve first met each other at our stall and who’ve ended up establishing strong bonds... It’s tough getting up early in the morning to set up the market stall, but once you’re there, observing these interactions gives you plenty of motivation. The market is a great place to see who appreciates our work.

«The market is a great place to see who appreciates our work» Àgueda Ortiz

Within the framework of agroecological principles, initiatives such as La Datzira or Mengem Osona association seek to strengthen the links between producers and consumers. Have you ever considered incorporating this aspect of consumption in El Tros d’Ordal?

A: Right now, I’m not sure how we could go about implementing this kind of initiative. I don’t see how we could do it. In the past, we considered joining the Penedès Eco-Network, an initiative in which you’re both a producer and a customer of other producers. Unfortunately, the initiative didn’t take off in the Penedès area... We got involved in another project that was launched by 11 producers from the Penedès and Garraf areas: we tried to create a producers’ cooperative to manage and market our produce together. Once the structure was put together, we wanted to open a cooperative supermarket. In the end, the project didn’t go ahead, but we’re all still collaborating with each other.

In the counties of Barcelona, various initiatives such as land banks are being promoted to foster generational renewal in the farming sector. What do you think of this type of action?

D: For people starting out, they can be helpful... Land banks are a place to find abandoned or disused estates, and it’s positive for there to be a transfer process and monitoring by the owner of the plots of land. The best way to decide whether to become a farmer is to give it a go.

«The best way to decide whether to become a farmer is to give it a go» David Casas

As a couple, how do you manage to balance a professional project on this scale with your personal life? How do you do it?

D: We don’t plan to have children at the moment. We can’t see where we’d find the time to devote to them. Are we going to take them out in the fields with us?

A: If we have a child, we aim to look after him or her ourselves. What’s more, our respective parents don’t live here. Right now, we’re focusing on the project.
 

Do you think you have a good life?

D: Yes. We put a lot of hours in at El Tros d'Ordal, but we’re doing a job we enjoy. The problem is that the job entails other tasks that we don’t want to do.

A: Having a good life means being able to work in something you’re passionate about, which is what we’re doing, and having more time to do other activities that we also enjoy with friends and family. We need to work on this second aspect a bit.

D: Yes, we don’t have time to do stuff that’s not work-related, such as having a weekend off, spending more time with family and friends... One positive thing is that, despite not earning much, we manage to save, since we don’t have time to spend money.

A: We don’t have many needs either!

— BCN Smart Rural Editorial —