(Eng) The millenary carob tree | (Spa) El algarrobo milenario

In Ibiza we have relatively warm and mild winters, you can say that lately almost spring-like. We spend our weekends going outing, either to the beach or to the mountains, since during the tourist season it is often impossible for us even if it is Sunday.

Last weekend my partner @silviadiez, young Héctor and I went to one of the wildest and best preserved areas of the island, and while we were taking some pictures of an old carob tree on the side of the road, a farmer (yes, in Ibiza there are farmers) came up to us and asked us if we wanted to see an ancient carob tree. Of course we agreed to his proposal and he guided us a couple of hundred meters ahead next to his old peasant house called Can Torretes, where we found the tree in question. There he told us that for generations, carobs had fed his animals and also that the flour from those carobs was used to make cakes as a substitute for chocolate. Rafel, the farmer's name, also explained that his grandfather, born in the 19th century, said that the tree was more than a thousand years old, something that was corroborated by botanists from the local government who once visited the house with the intention of cataloguing the magnificent carob tree.

Unfortunately not everything was beautiful and romantic, we could see that the tree had symptoms of being sick, and Rafel explained that it was basically due to a plague of small rodents that plagued the area for some time, which was very difficult to eliminate without chemical means, something that would also damage the carob tree. He was using rat catchers, but it was not enough and they were looking for other solutions.

Here I leave you this small graphic document of this millenary specimen of carob tree from Ibiza.

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Castellano

En Ibiza tenemos unos inviernos relativamente cálidos y apacibles, se puede decir que últimamente casi primaverales. Los fines de semana los dedicamos a salir de excursión, ya sea a la playa o a la montaña, puesto que en temporada turística muchas veces nos resulta imposible aunque sea domingo.

El pasado fin de semana mi compañera @silviadiez, el jóven Héctor y yo nos fuimos a una de las zonas más agrestes y mejor preservadas de la isla, y mientras estábamos haciendo unas fotos a un viejo algarrobo en el margen del camino, se nos presentó un campesino (si, en Ibiza hay campesinos) que nos preguntó si queríamos ver un algarrobo milenario. Por supuesto accedimos a su propuesta y nos acompañó unos dosciento metros adelante junto a su antigua casa campesina llamada Can Torretes, , donde nos encontramos con el árbol en cuestión. Allí nos contó que durante generaciones, las algarrobas habían alimentado a sus animales y también que la harina de esas algarrobas servía para hacer pasteles como sustituto del chocolate. Rafel, que así se llama el campesino, también nos explicó que ya su abuelo, nacido en el siglo XIX decía que el árbol tenía más de mil años, cosa que corroboraron unos botánicos del gobierno local que alguna vez visitaron la casa con la intención de catalogar el magnífico ejemplar de algarrobo.

Desafortunadamente no todo era bonito y romántico, pudimos comprobar que el árbol tenía síntomas de estar enfermo, y Rafel nos explicó que era debido básicamente a una plaga de pequeños roedores que asolaba la zona desde un tiempo atrás, que le costaba mucho eliminar sin medios químicos, cosa que también dañarían al algarrobo. Ponía cazarratones, pero no era suficiente y que estaban buscando otras soluciones.

Aquí os dejo este pequeño documento gráfico de este ejemplar milenario de algarrobo ibicenco.

Rafel telling @silviadiez the history of the tree

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All the images I publish are made by me.
Do not use this image without my written permission.
Thanks for stopping by and taking a look.

Camera: Fujifilm X-T2
Lens: Fujinon 14mm f:2.8
Processed with Capture One