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Fruit and vegetables on Tenerife |
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Written by Steve Andrews
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 Many people, especially those who only know the southern parts, think that Tenerife farmers only grow bananas, grapes, tomatoes and potatoes, which of course they do, but are unaware of many of the other fruit and vegetable crops grown on the island. This is understandable because banana plantations conspicuously cover vast amounts of land, as do grape vineyards, and nearly all restaurants sell “papas arugadas” as a Canarian traditional dish of potatoes cooked in salty water.
 To see many of the other crops growing you need to visit parts of
Tenerife in the north, where many more fruits, nuts and vegetables are
cultivated, especially in the cooler mountainous areas.
There are many fields of potatoes growing in the fertile soil and the damper climate, but also you will find lettuce, leeks, onions, cabbages, carrots, globe artichokes and pumpkins, squashes, cucumbers, melons and other members of the marrow family.
Many citrus fruit grow better up north too and it is common to see oranges, lemons, and grapefruit growing.
 Plums grow well in the cooler and wetter north and as do apples and pears. Often there are so many on the branches that the ripe fruit fall to the ground.
Avocadoes, mangoes and papayas are grown all over the island of Tenerife and sometimes are cultivated in areas of what appear to be banana plantations. The papaya tree is very popular as an ornamental exotic tree as well and is grown for its fruit and its appearance. The same can be said for the mango and avocado trees.
 Walnut and sweet chestnut trees thrive in cooler mountain villages of Tenerife. Almonds do well in the drier more arid parts and are a common sight around Santiago del Teide and southwards from there growing on the land bordering the roads and on the mountainsides. In early spring they look glorious when in full bloom with the pink flowers making the landscapes of Tenerife look so picturesque. In some places, such as Santiago del Teide, walks are organised for people to enjoy the beauty of these flowering nut trees.
 The loquat or níspero, as it is known in Spanish, is a very commonly grown tree on Tenerife, which again serves two purposes because it is very ornamental with its fairly large evergreen leaves and because it produces large amounts of delicious fruit, which can be harvested very early in the year after the tree has flowered in late autumn and winter.
Farmers and gardeners in the north and south commonly grow sweet peppers and chilli peppers and aubergines. Sugarcane is grown still in some places on Tenerife and also survives having gone wild in farming areas, which have been abandoned.
 Prickly pear opuntia cacti grow on mountainsides and dry ground all over the island. There are two main varieties and the purple-fruited Opuntia dillennii species is more commonly seen in the south of Tenerife. These cacti were originally introduced and cultivated on the Canary Islands for the cochineal dye produced from an insect pest that lives on them. The “pears” are often seen on sale in markets and at fruit and vegetable counters and cactus jam can also be bought in shops or enjoyed at some restaurants in places like Masca, for example.
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Tenerife Island