How do Cypriots actually earn their money?

A good question,

which our daughter asked us during her visit.

To be honest, we hadn't really thought about it before.

We always assumed that Cypriots earned their money from fishing, building houses and roads, or even from hotels and restaurants.

Of course, we became very curious and started exploring the area around Paphos.

We've been living in Paphos since November 2024, and we learn something new every day.

It's true that there's hardly any agriculture on the island, except for goats, which are used to make the delicious halloumi cheese. And, of course, the chickens, which are everywhere.

During our hikes, we quickly realized how Cypriots earn their living.

Because this island grows an incredible amount of fruit and vegetables.

We've already seen bananas, oranges, clementines, and lemons growing here during our holidays. We now know that they can be harvested year-round.

The variety of fruit and vegetables that grow here is incredible.

You can get fresh strawberries all year round, and from October to March, you can find limes, grapefruits, and pomegranates.

What's really great is that you can get fresh fruit from the island all year round.

For example: apples, star fruit, kumquats, kiwis, apricots, peaches, nectarines, pears, mangoes, figs, persimmons, cherries, melons—I hope I haven't forgotten anything.

However, there are also some more exotic fruits here, such as:

Nashi pear, medlar (which tastes like a cross between a pear and a cherry), papaya, pitaya, and not forgetting the prickly pear.

Also very well-known on this island are the carob trees, which bear legumes that look like beans and are incredibly sweet. These are used for baking, sweets, and as a cocoa substitute.

We can buy all these wonderful fruits here every day for very little money.

But it's not just fruit that is grown here on a large scale, but also vegetables.

There are huge fields of lettuce, white cabbage, red cabbage, leeks, spring onions, potatoes, onions,

artichokes, peppers, green beans, chili peppers, celery, and not forgetting eggplants, zucchini, and tomatoes—the ingredients needed for the most popular dish, "moussaka."

And of course, the countless olive trees and roasted chestnut trees are a must-see.

Not to mention all the herbs that grow here like weeds.

All year round, you can get coriander, arugula, mint, parsley, dill, basil, and much more.

And you can get all of this for very little money.

For example, fruits and vegetables cost between €1 and €2 per kilo, and potatoes and beets are around €0.40 per kilo.

There's certainly much more to discover on the island, but for now, we're really looking forward to the spectacular carnival in Cyprus.

Afterwards, we want to head a bit higher into the mountains to visit the wineries and cheese dairies. I'll tell you about that too, because there are vast areas of vineyards here.

And yes, the wine and cheese are really good here.