Santo Antonio Pineapple Plantation

In the early 1900s pineapples were imported from Venezuela and a labour and time intensive way was developed for growing them in a greenhouse. There are 3 plantations on the Island, apparently now heavily subsidized by the government as a historical/agritourism attraction. It takes a series of 3 transplants and pruning and about 2.5 years to grow a pineapple. Of interest all of them in the greenhouse are forced to bloom at once (which leads to the fruit) on exposure of to ethylene gas. They are smaller and rounder than the pineapples grow in fields in tropical climates. The one we bought cost €7 which would never made for an agriculturally profitable product, tasted pretty similar but was nicely ripe with more pineapple fragrance before cutting than the typical North American store bought pineapple.Read more