Our young traditional almond grove

Almond’s return in Provence

Mindful of our Provençal terroir and passionate about its traditional cultures, we have decided to participate in the revival of the almond of Provence by planting our own almond trees in 2015. Indeed, Provence, this terroir rich in qualities, for its soils as well as the sunshine, represents a privileged area for the culture of the almond tree (and olive tree!).

The almond tree is one of the first fruit trees to bloom at the end of winter. It flower is white or pink and releases a delicate and embracing fragrance. The almond, in Provencal language “amendo”, reaches full maturity from August to October. It can be eaten green and fresh called “green almond” during July and August, then in shell from September called “dry almond”. The almond’s fruit is the amandon. At full maturity, the gove is open and the shell visible; the harvest can begin!

Today our almond grove covers 30 hectares with nearly 10,500 almond trees. Three to four years are necessary for the almond tree to start production. We have chosen to plant only French varieties:

• Ferragnès is a large almond with a soft-shell. This variety gives an elongated amandon of brown color, quite thick and very slightly rough. Very tasty, it has a sweet taste with a slight hint of cocoa and pepper. Because of its quality, this variety is particularly sought after for the taper.

• Lauranne is a hard-shell almond. The Lauranne amandon is rather small and has a light brown color. It can be used for all the preparations (dragees, nougats, pralines, etc.).

• Mandaline is an almond with medium-hard shell. It produces a thick and small amandon, known for its taste quality. This amandon is very suitable for making pralines.

The pollinisation of the almond tree

Although some varieties are self-pollinate, the almond tree need bees to be pollinated. Pollination is essential and bees can carry pollen from one variety to another. During the flowering season, we install hives in our orchard to ensure pollination and thus participate in the conservation of biodiversity.