Santorini Agriculture (and some cats)


We were unaware of the windmills of Santorini.




At one point there were likely 60-70 and they were used to grind barley and other grains into flour.










Now they are kitschy accommodations for tourists.























Probably only stray cats spending the night in this windmill.



Considering that Santorini has NO source of fresh water and only 11” of annual rainfall it is hard to imagine growing so much grain that they needed 60-70 windmills. 

But, apparently barley doesn’t need much water. 


Water for cooking and bathing is provided by a desalination plant outside Oia (where we are staying).

That water is not recommended for drinking so bottled water is imported for drinking.

Some households do collect rainwater but it doesn’t amount to much.












Tomatoes are often more intensely flavored when they get no supplemental water. 

So they do great on Santorini.

At one point there were nine tomato processing plants on Santorini.






They are all closed now. 

D. Nomikos still produces on mainland Greece and 

has made their Santorini facility a museum.















Can’t recall how many tons of tomatoes they processed in a season but this 

historical photo gives a clue that it was a lot.


















Today the big agricultural product of Santorini is wine.

Particularly white wine made from Assyrtiko grapes. 

To be allowed to label the wine as Santorini Assyrtiko they cannot irrigate the vines 

(other than the first couple of years to help them get established).

Therefore the vines are trained into a basket shape called kouloura. 







Each year another layer of vine is woven into the kouloura.











The kouloura allows the grapes to mature inside in the relative shade and they are 

protected from the wind (lots of wind here - remember the windmills?)

The basket also concentrates any atmospheric moisture (aka fog) and “self-waters” the vines. 
















Jeff and a friend wine tasting on Santorini.























Greece is very big on cats. 

Some are probably legitimately stray/feral.

But even if they don’t have a “home” there are bowls of food all over the place.

Some are friendly but most tolerate/ignore the tourists.








Yep, same cat.











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