The history about us
by Dimitris Kopidakis
It was not another ordinary friendship from the army!
We had kept it alive for a whole life!
Me, Dimitris from Heraklion, origin from Rethymno, Panagiotis the Athenian and Simeon from Xeniakos we had managed to meet and spend time together as friends, in fact at regular intervals, sometimes in Athens and sometimes in Crete. One winter night in the mid-90s we were eating and drinking by Simos in Xeniakos in front of the fireplace.
The conversation was lively, our mood was hearty and the appetizers were fine. Suddenly Simos got up and after a while he turned with a branch of dried oregano which he springled on the salad. Immediately, a nice smell filled the place and the taste of the salad became so wonderful that it disappeared in a minute!
At that moment, out of our sincere desire to share the wonderful taste, the idea of growing oregano was born, which in the following days began to form. We started to collect oregano sprouts from the plateau of Erganos as well as Katharo plateau and the Dyktaia mountains. After a while, we became more daring and gathered sprouts from Doxaro, my village in Rethymnon and from the mountain of Kouloukonas, as well as from an untrodden path that led from Doxaros to Krana and Psiloritis.
So effortlessly and almost secretly I would say we started growing oregano, so many years ago, outside a small village in Gavalas, Evia, a place we chose for specific reasons. After smelling and tasting the first plants we grew, which had such a wonderful smell and taste, the idea came to us that we could perhaps achieve an even richer flavor and aroma, if we combined more varieties of oregano. And that’s how we started to cultivate other unique and exquisite varieties of oregano, too!
Over the years, one of us, Panagiotis, developed into an excellent organic farmer and cultivated a number of other agricultural products which he shared with his friends.
They had been received with great admiration! In addition, he always continued to lovingly cultivate the plants of oregano and the other herbs! This way, an idea that was born a quarter of a century ago, after a lot of work and dedication, finally produced a unique product.Cretan Hirtum mixed together with a variety of oregano from the Middle East in the right proportions make the oregano “Tamineon” special for its aroma and taste around the world. The name, Rigani( Oregano) Tamineon, was given in honor of the area that was cultivated near the Ancient city of Taminea.
Dimitris Kopidakis
Owner at www.autorentals-crete.gr
Companion on the Tamineon oregano journey
and co-founder in Tamineon farm
by Panagiotis Lambropoulos
I spent almost all the holidays of my childhood in the Cretan wildlife near my favorite aunts, who, like all the women in our villages back then, went out almost every day in the wild countryside to gather all kinds of leafy vegetables and herbs for the daily food.
So, next to them, I learned to distinguish between wild herbs early from my childhood and I discovered that I liked it so much that later I started studies to enrich my knowledge but also to learn to cultivate them, maintaining their wildness and purity.
When we decided to proceed with the cultivation of wild herbs, after doing research in areas near Athens where I lived and still live, we found an area in Evia very close to the village of Gavalas that met all the conditions for our joint effort! The area was chosen mainly because it had sloping soil without stagnant waters, it had sunshine, and was 150 meters altitude.
Also, of paramount importance was the fact that the surrounding fields had pesticide-free crops thus ensuring purity everywhere.
We started the organic and bio cultivation, leaving the flowers and the other herbs of the area to grow around them for company, just as mother nature takes care of her plants.
We also let our horse eat from our weeds and we let our hens to eat all kinds of bugs. This resulted in the field being naturally enriched which contributes to the excellent quality of the products.
Also, 10 hives with bees take care of pollination and when the time comes to cut the grass, at the end of summer, the cut out grass is left on earth for additional natural fertilization.
By these and some more natural ways a perpetual cycle of honest retribution is created.
It is not only the natural way of cultivation that ensures the high quality and purity of the product but also the fact that the harvest takes place only at noon when the essential oils are at their highest concentration and is done exclusively with special gloves because otherwise the oregano when picked by sweaty hands, turns black.
The collection, as well as the drying in bunches, which we hang upside down in the shade in a place that fresh air is recycled, is traditionally done the way I learned as a child from my aunts in Crete.
The standardization is BIO, it has ISO and the final product reaches your plate or cup as a drink, made with a lot of care and love.
Panagiotis Lambropoulos
Organic farmer
Companion on the journey of Tamineon oregano
and co-founder in Tamineon farm
Location
by Giannis Retsas
The wider area of Tamynaia has been known over the years by rich and lasting activity from antiquity until today.
The ancient municipality of Tamynon belonged to the state of Eretria the exact location of the city of Tamyna being unknown)which had as its port Poros, today called Karavos.
Most, place the ancient Tamynai in today’s Aliveri, while according to others it was located between and around the present villages of Chania Avlonari and Agios Georgios. A trademark of the area was the most important temple of Tamynaion Apollo. However, the worship of Tamynaion Zeus as well as the goddess Artemis and Leto is also worth mentioning.
The well-travelled ravines and the verdant hills of this area have been the grounds of countless archeological findings. Prominent among them is the large vaulted tomb of the Mycenaean era in Agia Paraskevi, near the borders of the villages of Gavalas and Katakalou. The multitude of these findings testifies in addition to a high cultural level, the continuous history of this place as well. A place that experienced periods of prosperity and power, but also tyranny, conflict and poverty. This long history has deep roots, immersed in the constant human toil from prehistoric times to modern history and is present on every slope, on every hill.
This land, sown with the effort and love of the people who walked and lived on it, continues to reciprocate this love and to generously offer its gifts even today.
Giannis Retsas
Retired Physics Professor, Gavalas, Evia
