BIO TIGER NUTS – ORGANIC TIGER
NUTS |
 
Cultivate organic Tigernuts in these latitudes is
not easy, but anyway we are going to reveal some secrets about our
process...
|
Planting
The planting starting date may vary, it depends
directly of rainwater, because this is the only irrigation system
we can use as there are no wells or aquifers near from where to
extract it. Normally the rain season takes about 4 months and there
are showers almost every day. It begins in June, so we start planting
them then, as before this date the soil has not humidity enough
to introduce the seeds.
Planting is normally done on flat soils where
ridges to favour the coming irrigations have previously been done.
Separation between ridges is approximately 60 cms. and seeds are
planted manually. Distance between seeds may vary from 15 to 20
cms. and seeding depth is around 8 cms. The normal ratio of Tigernuts
used as seed for planting is around 200/300 Kgs. tubers/ha.
Cares on cultivation
Once the planting has finished and the seed started
to receive the irrigation we will see the early sprouts of Tigernuts.
It’s important that rainwater does properly, thing that is getting
more difficult time alter time because of the global warming, for
the tubers to grow properly.
It’s really important to look after the weed
that could appear during the growing, as it will try to absorb
the soil’s nutrients and could cause a reduction on Tigernuts size.
It’s convenient to clean up weekly the weeds from the fields.
We must fertilize the fields properly before
planting by using natural fertilizers such as manure or compost.
Doing this way the soil will recuperate its nutrients. Fertilization
will be more effective if we keep on fertilizing the fields once
the plant cycle has started, as we will regenerate the soil at
the same time tuber is consuming nutrients. |
One of the most important things is to plan a crop
rotation plan, in fact at Tigernuts Traders, S.L we
have our own crop rotation plan for the next four years, which will
ensure soil fertility for future crops and will reduce drastically
plagues risk on our crops. In the crop rotation plans is very important
introduce native crops and leguminous plants, that will help us fixing
nitrogen to soil. Also we can use the leguminous plants to produce
green manure (fast vegetation crops, chopped and buried in the same
place where have been sown which are destined to improve the physical
properties of the soil, enrich itself with a “new fast evolution hummus”,
introduces other physiologically active substances and activates the
soil microbial population) in some plots.
The plant dies
When the plant arrives to the end of its cycle,
approximately 5 months after its planting, the plant dies and all
the plots remain completely dry. Sickle in hand we are cutting
the tuft, using it for producing our own compost or for using it
in the roofs of the nearby village huts, as formerly was done in
Valencia with the typical “barraca”. |
|
|
Harvesting
Once all the plots are completely cleaned it’s
the moment to harvest them. We decided to do this process completely
manual, avoiding any eventual dump thrown by mechanical machinery
and promoting works in the surroundings of the farm. Grains are
collected from the soil using hoes, taking the Tigernuts afterwards
to the warehouse where a prior cleaning is done to separate tubers
from dust. |
Washing
Washing process is done just after collecting
the goods. In this process we separate definitely dust from correct
grains. Throughout this process we also eliminate other unwanted
elements, such as small stones, sticks and even empty Tigernuts.
The washing process is done by big washing-machines
that can process around 4.000 Kgs/hour and the process can last
up to 2 hours.
At Tigernuts Traders, S.L we
have developed a system that can recycle the washing water without
using any type of toxica gent, so we reduce massive consumption
of this valued asset drastically. |
|
Drying
We consider this is possibly the most important
process to do on the product, as through this process we will confer
the final properties of the Tigernuts. Tigernuts are almost starch
and water after harvesting and we should transform these ingredients
to convert them in fats; this component will be the one to give Tigernuts
its characteristic taste.
This is a completely natural process where Tigernuts
are sundried. In this process is necessary to turn Tigernuts daily
to obtain a uniform dry up. It’s always recommended to have an air
flow which helps to reduce the humidity level on the product. Even
doing all these things the process can last up to one month.
|
