Madeira landscape
The landscape of Madeira is breath taking and a walk ..often a levada walk will show what a wonderful island this is. In this 13 minute video you can enjoy a levada walk, from the urban to the varied landscapes of Madeira.
Views are magnificent and the opportunity to see where the grapes are grown often close by to vegetables and fruit.
Avocado is widely grown on Madeira, with beautiful fresh avocados found in many shops and at the Mercado in Funchal. Bananas of excellent quality are also widely gown on Madeira, it is possible to see Banana plantations in Funchal itself. Bananas are often served with Espada, lightly fried and are delicious.
The Custard Apple, once native to the Andes mountains in South America is widely grown in Madeira and is well worth trying.
Mechanisation is rare indeed and many farms use traditional methods of production with terraces clinging onto impossibly steep sides.
Produce can be often seen drying in the sun, such as these sweetcorn cobs
The landscape is truly amazing, but appears quite disorganised indeed.
Sadly, but hardly surprising some of the more challenging terraced plots are falling into disuse.
Would you wish to work a field like that, to be a farmer in Madeira requires a head for heights, imagine the daily climb to the terrace below.
