Spice Farm

Goa was a trading port for spices, but there are now a few farms producing them locally. This one has terrace walls which double as irrigation canals. The water runs from stone cisterns through stone channels to mixed gardens of pepper, cinnamon, ginger, under coconut palms. Pepper grows as a creeper on the trees. It took a mental leap to associate the plump green berries with what I am used to seeing in a pepper shaker.


Also they grow cashews, from which a strong clear alcoholic drink "Fenny" is made. The Fenny is made from the fruit of the cashew (which resembled a small pear), not the nut, and distilled in a clay still.