Narli Estate

Descending from Apollonia to the Castle, just before we reach Kato Xabela, is the Narli estate. I visited it for the first time this year and I was really impressed. One of the most interesting experiences on the island of Sifnos!

Because there you will meet in one typical Sifnos farm all the dry crops of the island, you will see the food in its processed form (dried, pickles, sweets, cheese), you will watch cooking, you will eat in a beautiful place the typical dishes, prepared with the original place, you will see the ceramics produced in his son's workshop and finally you will feel the passion of George Narlis for his work, life and Sifnos.

Ο George Narlis He was born in Sifnos to a mother farmer and a father "petrokopo" - he made stones and used them to build houses. In the summers, after the age of ten, he would load the donkey with vegetables - all dry - and from this estate here, he would sell them to the villages. At the age of fifteen he went to study navigation in Piraeus and at the age of eighteen he made his first boat. For five and a half years at sea, George knows thirty-three countries until one day he sank. And soon he decides to return to his island. He starts with the cultivation of the estate, he also does the car mechanic because he liked the machines and he makes some rooms for rent. In recent years he decides to use the paternal estate and build a holistic farm. And he did it because it became a special attraction on the island.

The visit to the Narli estate begins with a tour of the crops. Large clear bilingual signs describe crops, such as e.g. "Tomato is locally dry. Sifnos seed 60 years old at least ". Thus we learn that lettuce, beetroot, aromatic plants, garlic, broad beans, green beans, potatoes, arugula, anthracnose, cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, okra, watermelons, melons, but also local sesame and apricot, aohi are grown depending on the season. in winter broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower.

From the estate procedures Visitors can participate in the collection of fruits such as capers and capers. In the summer one can admire the garden with the pears a variety of a hundred years maybe even longer that endured against people and elements of nature.

Other actions is the threshing of the fava or the end of August the vintage of the grapes and their placement on the roof for sun-drying or pressing for white or red sun-dried wine.

The culmination of the visit becomes in the "tasting room" a beautiful humble stone building and spacious building.

At the Narli estate George invites the musafirs - which are usually groups that have made an appointment in advance - to show them how the fava is threshed, how the revitada is cooked in the tsoukali, or the mastelo, how the f chickpea meatballs, how to make an omelette with zucchini tops and cheese. He will spend the whole day with them, he will teach them his secrets, and after the relevant recipes are written, everyone will sit around his big wooden, heavy table and taste what George cooked well, while listening to stories of the place and the countryside. of life. And the people will leave enchanted in the evening!