A Burst of Sunshine

Nardu throws open the door and we step inside a vast open field of long grass, the wind sweeping through it in waves. I breathe in the scent of open fields and clean air – we are far out in the countryside in Rabat here, off a narrow countrylane, where few cars pass. The sun is setting slowly, casting a soft light over the landscape; in the distance, the buildings seem remote. “There it is,” points out Nardu. Sure enough, I had almost missed it, a high wall of prickly pears – known in Maltese as bajtar – serving as a living growing windbreaker and fence to his land, but one which also produces sweet fruit in summer.

“That has been growing there for 22 years,” says Nardu. “It needs so little care, it comes straight from God,” he smiles, picking a red fruit from its large oval leaves. “See how bright the colours are,” he says, as he cuts off the sweet soft flesh, offering it to me. “In summer it will yield around 200 kilos of prickly pears,” he says.

What is not picked off by thirsty passersby is sold to a local company, explains Nardu, which then processes the fruit to make a sweet liqueur called Zeppi’s, available locally. Considered a characteristic of Malta’s Mediterranean landscape, especially in summer, the fruit from prickly pears is often plentiful when in season and sometimes picked straight off the leaves by passersby or sold by street sellers in buckets. In recent years, however, its wholesome and health-giving properties have been rediscovered and it is now often reprocessed into Zeppi’s liqueur.

Apart from the prickly pears, 55-year-old Nardu Calleja, from Rabat, also grows cauliflower, vines, peaches, marrows and tomatoes, he explains. Sunburnt and wearing the characteristic hanky round his head, he often laughs as he speaks, eyes lively and twinkling. “I learnt from my grandfather,” he says. “As a child I was always running around in the fields, and I used to plough the fields with a mule.”

Nowadays, farmers’ worries include unpredictable weather patterns and diseases, he says, and the number of farmers is slowly decreasing. Nardu’s own children, for instance, have not followed up the farming line. “We face stiff competition from abroad,” says Nardu, his sunburnt face lining up, “nowadays everything is so rushed and buildings have swallowed up a lot of fields and arable land, there is not much running water left.”

What skills do you need to be a good farmer? “You need time and to know the weather,” says Nardu, “and you need a lot of strength,” he says, casting his eyes at the sky above, its colours rich as the sun sets. Around us, the wind sweeps through the sea of grass, creating waves, scattering Nardu’s words and blowing them around as they float a little in the air, and then fade.

Nardu’s prickly pears are processed into liqueurs by master group and are available as Zeppi’s Bajtra liqueur. For the full range visit www.mastergroup.com.mt.