“Land is not merely soil, is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants, and animals.” –Aldo Leopold. The famed author/conservationist wasn’t talking about Huerta Los Tamarindos and Flora Farms in Cabo, but he could have been.
Many tout Los Cabos, Baja, Mexico for its beautiful beaches, azure waters, stunning coastal bluffs, world-renowned fishing and delectable seafood. It’s all that and more.
During my wife and my visits here, we strive to uncover hidden gems most tourists don’t know about. ‘Ask the locals’ was exactly how we found two fascinating organic farms with restaurants in the historic San Jose del Cabo region. What an experience that was.
Los Cabos’ Flora Farms
Tucked in the foothills of the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains, the picturesque 25-acre organic working Flora Farms in Cabo grows its own produce and raises livestock on a nearby 150-acre ranch. Their diets contain no antibiotics or hormones.
The farm is planted, cultivated, and harvested by hand. Nourished by compost, mulch and decomposing plants, the crops are rotated, keeping the soil healthy and fertile. Companion planting provides even greater production and improved pest control.
A surprising 100 varieties of plants grown here are used at the Flora Farms in Cabo restaurant. These include vegetables, fruits, herbs and grains. In-depth guided tours cover the history, evolution and operation of the farm.
Dining at Flora Farms Kitchen is culinary heaven. Seasonal foods are hand-prepared using the farm’s produce. Meats raised from Flora Farm’s ranch are butchered and cured on site. You won’t find beef on the menu as it is not considered sustainable by Flora Farms chef due to the lack of water available in Baja to raise cattle.
Our chicken entrees were tender, fresh and creatively prepared. A Farm Bar serves a range of fruit and vegetable-infused craft cocktails, and their pizzeria touts 15 different wood-fired Neapolitan-style pies.
Sorbets and ice creams are also hand-made from the ranch’s churned milk; in-house desserts are amazing.
Baja’s Medicinal Plants
It was also fascinating to learn about the medicinal properties of indigenous Baja plants. The Farm Spa’s path wanders through papaya trees, herbs and flowers of the spa garden – evoking an absolute soothing, tranquil ambience.
The spa emphasizes the healing and restorative properties of nature, using aromatherapy, plant-based products and their own organic herbs and flowers. We made a promise that on our next Los Cabos visit, we would schedule a spa treatment here.
Flora Farms in Cabo has a bountiful outdoor market that was so impressive we left with a basket of fresh produce to take back to our villa.
Lunch and a tour of the farm were an unexpected delight and an unforgettable experience.
Organic farm San Jose del Cabo
Los Tamarindos organic farm and restaurant is situated just one mile from San Jose Del Cabo’s beautiful protected coastal estuary on the Sea of Cortez.
Getting there was half the fun as our GPS didn’t work on this off-the-beaten-path path with its winding unpaved roads and sandy dry riverbeds. We followed handwritten directions to the farm – just like in the old days.
The organic farm in San Jose del Cabo’s showpiece is its massive 19thcentury rustic stone and brick hacienda farmhouse.
The land that once produced sugar cane sat dormant for years until 2003 when Enrique Silva began cultivating the soil. Originally from Sonora, he is highly regarded as Los Cabos’ pioneer of organic produce.
Not only does the farm grow its own fruit, vegetables and herbs, it raises free-range chickens and quail and selectively sources other meats locally.
Seafood treasures arrive daily from Cabo’s fishing boats.
Fertile soil, plenty of sunshine with warm Sea of Cortez breezes, and a land flush with aquifers provide perfect growing conditions. So much so, that Los Tamarindos is now provisioning some of Cabos’ top five-star restaurants with its excess organic produce.
Homegrown products are also for sale in their open market.
During our farm tour, we strolled past rows of tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, pumpkin squash, poblano peppers, various greens, arugula, radicchio, and other locally unique vegetables. Their orchard contains over 100 mango trees.
Our guide explained the farm’s operations in detail. No insecticides are used as natural ingredients like garlic and pepper control pests.
Organic farms in Mexico
Chef-led cooking classes provide immersion into Mexican and Mediterranean cuisine. After harvesting our own vegetables and herbs, we assisted in the preparation of a four-course meal we all enjoyed afterwards.
The fish we prepared was a massive sea bass we’d seen offloaded by a local fisherman just an hour earlier!
Dining here is a delightful experience. The charming, open-air thatched roof restaurant features magnificent colors and textures reflecting a more bucolic side of Mexican culture. Picture-postcard views of the pastoral grounds are remarkable.
In addition to the wood-oven baked sea bass, our dishes included grilled octopus, a Tamarindos salad with a tamarind vinaigrette and savory vegetables. Dessert featured a homemade mango sorbet, the ideal finish to a perfectly healthy and hearty meal.
One of the greatest joys of travel is experiencing the element of surprise. Though we’d been to Los Cabos numerous times, finding these two local farms was an absolute pleasure.
The joy of these sea-to-plate and farm-to-table organic farms in Mexico was sharing and celebrating the bounty of this agrarian paradise in ways we could never have imagined.
In Los Cabos, Rovology prefers staying at Hacienda Encantada.
Last Updated on March 14, 2023