La Pata de Oca
Sophie and Lôc run La Pata de Oca.
We were not born in Laujar de Andarax and when we arrived here for the first time, we realised that there was a large variety and abundance of wild herbs and medicinal plants in Sierra Nevada and Sierra de Gádor, the two mountainous areas bordering the municipality.
Our objective is to make use of this natural resource, in order to produce a high-quality product, to be marketed locally, nationally and internationally. Not everyone is familiar with the concept of essential oils, particulary on a local level, and we would like to introduce our products to them.
Behind the scenes
The actual extraction of essential oils is fairly simple. Nevertheless, the process from start to finish is quite lengthy.
Before we can start to harvest, we need to do some research. Where are the plants which interest us? Are they on private or public land? Next, we need to make a detailed application for harvesting permission to the Ministry of the Environment and the mayors of the relevant municipalities.
Harvesting
Most of the plants are cut with a scythe.
Some, like rosemary, have stalks which can be broken directly by hand.We pick the extremeties of the plants, generally at the end of the flowering period, when the seeds are already formed.
This method of harvesting allows for good regeneration of the plants for the following year and hence a sustainable practice of work.
Distillation
The extraction is done by steam distillation. The apparatus used in this process is referred to as a still and ours is made of stainless steel. The still consists of two parts, the retort and the condenser.
The retort is a large vessel and contains a suspended basket. The latter is filled with the harvested plants, and a small volume of water is introduced below the basket. The retort is heated using a burner situated beneath it. The water turns into steam, which on its passage through the plants vapourises the essential oil contained in them. The oil and water vapours condense in the coiled tube of the condenser, which is kept cool by a volume of cold water. The liquids are collected in a separator or 'essencier', where their different densities allow them to separate into two fractions. The aqueous herbal distillate or 'essential water' sinks, and the essential oil floats.
The retort of our still has a volume of 1000l and that of the suspended basket is 600l. In terms of weight of plants, the capacity is 50-150 kg, which in turn can yield anywhere between 50 and 500ml of essential oil.
Bottling
The essential oil collected from the distillation process is allowed to settle for twenty-four hours. It is transferred to an amber glass bottle, where it is kept until being bottled for sale in volumes of 5ml.
To ensure traceability, each bottle has a serial number, which allows us to look up the name of the plant, the date, place and quantity harvested, its distillation date and yield of oil.
Sale
One of ours aims is to market our products locally. In the Spring of 2008, we had the opportunity of participating in a series of organic markets, 'BioFerias', held throughout the Alpujarra region. In addition, we have a few points of sale locally.
We also sell online at: Cornelio or by sending us an email: admin@lapatadeoca.com
Thanks
We would particularly like to thank:
- Justo Sánchez Martín
- Rosa Fuentes Justicia
- Jorge and Sofía from the Laujar Business School
- The organic cooperative Las Torcas
- The council of Laujar de Andarax
- The rural development agency ADR Alpujarra
- Parques Nacionales, Sierra Nevada
