The Gimenez brothers grow our cucumbers in the Almeria region of southern Spain. The warm sunny climate, good soil and lack of frost provide the perfect conditions for what we call the ratatouille vegetables - peppers, tomatoes, aubergines and courgettes.
Some of our cucumbers come by way of what is now a third generation family business, originating in the fertile fields of Sicily. Two young boys, Francesco and Salvatore, followed in their fathers' footsteps over 50 years ago, and in 1977, their paths would cross in England, having come over with their parents 10 years earlier. The two bonded over their love of growing the best veg, in the Sicilian way, and joined forces buying the 28-acre Smallford. Francesco's son Sam and Salvatore's son Joe are now keeping their fathers' passion and tradition alive, growing the best tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers around in state-of-the-art greenhouses that keep things as sustainable as can be – recycling irrigation and roof water, and re-using the by-products from heating the glasshouse to enrich the plants' environment with CO2, important in plant growth. To top it off, all the tomato and pepper plants are pollinated by busy bees. Brilliant all round.
