The Last Two Gardens in Europe

On a green hillside above the coast, rows of tea bushes grew in neat lines down to the sea. They looked almost as tidy as a drawing. Polly landed on a stone wall and looked out. This is one of only two places left in Europe that still grows tea, and the only one people can visit.

Kwenye mteremko wa kijani juu ya pwani, safu za vichaka vya chai zilikua kwa mistari nadhifu hadi baharini. Zilionekana nadhifu kama mchoro. Polly alitua juu ya ukuta wa mawe na akatazama. Hii ni mojawapo ya sehemu mbili tu zilizobaki Ulaya zinazolima chai, na pekee ambayo watu wanaweza kuitembelea.

The farm began in eighteen eighty-three. Before that, the island grew oranges, but a disease killed the orange trees. The growers needed something new for the volcanic soil, so they brought in tea plants and old English machines. Both are still used today, which makes this the oldest tea farm in Europe.

Shamba lilianza mwaka wa elfu moja mia nane themanini na tatu. Kabla ya hapo, kisiwa kililima machungwa, lakini ugonjwa uliua miti ya machungwa. Wakulima walihitaji kitu kipya kwa udongo wa volkano, kwa hiyo walileta mimea ya chai na mitambo ya zamani ya Kiingereza. Vyote viwili vinatumika hadi leo, jambo linalolifanya kuwa shamba kongwe zaidi la chai Ulaya.

Inside the small factory, iron machines more than a hundred years old still roll and dry the leaves. Workers still pick the newest leaves by hand, because the youngest leaves make the best tea. No pesticides are used here, a rule the growers have followed since the very start.

Ndani ya kiwanda kidogo, mitambo ya chuma yenye zaidi ya miaka mia moja bado inasokota na kukausha majani. Wafanyakazi bado wanachuma majani machanga kwa mikono, kwa sababu majani machanga hutoa chai bora. Hakuna dawa za wadudu zinazotumika hapa, sheria ambayo wakulima wameifuata tangu mwanzo kabisa.

Polly walked along a warm row of tea plants. The leaves smelled like grass after rain. Five generations of growers had cared for this hillside, one harvest at a time.

Polly alitembea kwenye safu yenye joto ya mimea ya chai. Majani yalinukia kama nyasi baada ya mvua. Vizazi vitano vya wakulima walikuwa wameutunza mlima huu, mavuno moja baada ya mengine.