The Taino Farm is a permaculture-inspired, agrotourism demonstration and education center located on the tropical river “Rio Yasica” outside the kitesurfing, surfing and windsurfing town of “Cabarete” on the north coast of the Dominican Republic.
Our aim is to inspire, educate and show people how to live in harmony with nature to produce sustainable healthy food.
We are self-sufficient with over 100 different fruit trees, a large aquaponics system, a vegetable garden, chickens, a worm farm for compost production and our own bee colonies.
Vision: Promoting growth in our community, environment and society through sustainable agriculture.
Mission: Empowering the community to develop a small paradise, employing locals and educating all stakeholders and interested parties.
We are an international group consisting of more than 10 families. We took over the Taino Farm project in 2020 with the vision of building a paradise where we live in harmony with and from nature. Values such as tolerance, respect, family and a healthy lifestyle are very important to us. We want to inspire other people to live more consciously and contribute to this by showing and teaching how healthy food is grown and produced in a way that conserves resources. We are aware that we are privileged by our origins. That’s why we want to give something back to the people who have welcomed us so warmly. Six days a week, everyone, our team, our guests and we enjoy lunch together. Afterwards, we teach an hour of Spanish and English.
Part of our philosophy is to employ a long-term team of employees. This is only possible through mutual respect and trust. We exchange ideas on a daily basis during our lunch together and the subsequent English-Spanish lessons.
We offer half-day farm tours and several huts in the jungle for rent. You have the opportunity to immerse yourself in life on a Dominican farm, experience how healthy food is produced and taste it directly from the tree or field or at our farm lunch. The focus is on sustainability, authenticity and lots of fun.
With 10 tanks of 300 tilapia fish each and 4 large greenhouses with mint and spinach, our aquaponics system is one of the largest and most advanced in the Dominican Republic. Learn all about aquaponics as an intern or visit our facility on a half-day farm tour.
We have over 100 different fruit trees in two fruit forests, planted according to the permaculture principle. We already offer around 50 of them for sale in our tree nursery. Here you can see which ones.
An important part of our mission is to bring the idea of sustainable living to life, pass on our knowledge and make it accessible to as many people as possible. Become part of the team and apply for your internship today.
Our two vegetable gardens were replanted a few months ago. The aim is to redesign them over time according to the permaculture principle. We do not use any chemical sprays or fertilizers in the garden or in the fruit forests and the aquaponics system. Most of the vegetables used in the kitchen come from our own production. Our current offer.
Of course, a healthy farm also needs healthy bee colonies. At the moment we have 6 of them on the Taino Farm. To keep our bees happy we are constantly planting new flowers and as a thank you the bees give us the most delicious honey.
We currently have 4 dogs, dozens of chickens, several thousand tilapia perch and a horse called Nemo living with us at Taino Farm.
The soil in the tropics is not nearly as rich in nutrients as is often assumed. These are washed out by the heavy rainfall and the soil is usually quite barren. As we naturally do not use any artificial fertilizers, we rely on worm soil. We have two worm houses which you can visit on a farm tour. Would you like to learn how to build and run a worm house? Sign up for an internship.
