COME TO PALESTINE AND MEET CANAAN'S FARMING FAMILIES

It’s easy to fall in love with Palestine. There are the holy shrines, historical treasures, beautiful landscapes, rich culture, delicious cuisine and legendary hospitality. Many tourism programs in Palestine allow you to experience all this but Canaan Palestine will show you even more, another side of Palestine. Our truly unique and authentic experience will show you the unbreakable bond Palestinian farmers have with their land and with their ancient olive trees.

Learn about the purity of long historical traditions, proven over thousands of years to be sustainable, productive and healthy. Learn about Fair Trade and organic farming in Palestine and how the best quality olive oil, almonds and other delicacies from Palestine are produced. Tour Canaan’s state-of-the-art olive oil and food processing facilities, visit farming communities, meet farmers and women's cooperatives, work on the land and stay overnight with farming families to experience their simple life-style, delicious food and amazing hospitality.

We offer it all:

Tour our state-of-the-art facilities

Canaan's informative facility tours are offered daily, including an informal presentation about Canaan’s work on the ground, an overview of the importance of the olive harvest season in Palestine, ancient historical, sustainable, organic farming practices and the organizational structuring of farming cooperatives. Learn about Fair Trade and organic farming in Palestine and how the best quality olive oil, almonds and other delicacies from Palestine are produced.

Your Canaan tour includes a visit to Canaan’s olive press, olive oil storage bank, production lines and showroom, tasting of the products, and a cup of hot mint tea under the shade of ancient olive trees in Canaan's orchard at Burqin - Jenin.

Tour time: 45 minutes - 1 hour. More details here, and on Application form.

A homestay like no other!

Spend a whole day with one of our farming communities - their hospitality is ٍunforgettable! Meet the farmers, visit their lands, see their ancient trees, enjoy their delicious food, learn about their simple lifestyle, culture, and traditions, and stay overnight in their warm homes. Welcome to village life! Meet the men, women, and the children, and hear their stories; every farmer has a story to tell and they love sharing it with the world.

Hike the beautiful landscapes of Jenin!

Spend a half day hiking in the Jenin area mountains with spectacular views of the region and anthropological guide to the landscape. Discover the sociology of the land and the intimate experience local inhabitants have with their land. Picnic lunch and discussion on top of the mountain (Jabal Al Aqra' – very beautiful). Plant species identified with an overview of the area's geography and history. [Minimum: 5 people]. See Application form for details.

Learn how to cook Palestinian!

Enjoy learning how to cook and prepare traditional Palestinian dishes with local traditional cooks. Each cooking class will be coordinated according to participants’ preferences, interests and needs. Activity time: around 3 hours. [Minimum: 5 people].

You can also arrange for your group to enjoy a traditional Palestinian meal prepared by the womens' cooperatives without the cooking class. [Minimum: 5 people]. See details in Application form.

Live the seasons with Canaan's farmers

No matter which month you visit Palestine, we have something for you. Every season has its plantings and its harvests; our farmers are busy all year. Whether you’d like to experience the olive harvest or the almond harvest, learn how to roll Maftoul, flame-roast Freekeh, or make Za’atar, plant trees or just enjoy the gorgeous seasons, hiking, mountain lunches, and beautiful blossoms, we can arrange it.

Canaan's farmers work from Ramallah to Jenin. Stay in different villages with farm family hosts and live the seasons with them. Experience the culture, heritage, history, cuisine and the amazing hospitality of the Palestinian people. Welcome to village life! Choose your favourite time of the year to visit and email us about your plans: tours@canaanpalestine.com.

Note for your consideration: The following dates are estimate times of the seasons, and it can vary from year to year depending on many factors.

January

Trees Planting Season - plant trees with farmers, learn about Trees for Life.
See Za’atar planting by womens' cooperatives.

February

Beginning of February: Planting trees continues. Plant trees with farmers, learn about Trees for Life.
Mid-end of February: Almond Blossom Season. Gorgeous for photography lovers.
End of February: Green, springy, and beautiful Palestine! Think hikes, outside picnics, mountain lunches.

March

Green, springy, and beautiful Palestine! Plants start to develop and bloom (Canaan Za’atar starts to grow, wild plants, herbs, wild flowers everywhere!). Best time of the year for hikes, picnics, mountain lunches; beautiful weather.
Green Almonds Season!
Tomato planting by farming cooperatives.
Green Za’atar harvesting by womens' cooperatives.

April

Za’atar harvesting by women cooperatives continues.
Mid-April: Sesame seeds planting starts.
Near end of April: Freekeh harvest starts! See & learn about the whole process of producing the hottest grain of the year, Freekeh.
Basil Planting for Canaan’s Basil Infused olive oils & pestos.
End of April: Olive blossoms.

May

Freekeh season continues. See and learn about how freekeh is produced [harvesting, flame-roasting, sundrying, cracking]

June

Harvesting ‘mature’ wheat for Maftoul.
Mid/End of June: Maftoul rolling by womens' cooperatives begins. Experience rolling Maftoul with a farm family.
Basil harvesting Season.
Sundried Tomato Season.

July

Almond harvest season starts! Spend a few days with almond farmers, and pick those delicious nuts with farming families. See and learn about the process of producing, finishing, and packing almonds by Canaan.
Womens' cooperatives are still busy rolling Maftoul. Experience your own Maftoul workshop!
Sundried tomato Season continues.
Basil harvesting Season.
Wild caper collection by our wild collectors for Canaan’s tapenades.

August

Beginning–mid August: Almond Harvest Season continues. Spend a few days with almond farmers, and pick those delicious nuts with farming families.
Za’atar picking and processing by women cooperatives.
Sesame harvest season starts.
Sundried tomato Season continues.
Basil collection for Canaan’s pestos and basil infused olive oil

September

Green olives picking – for table green olives.
Sesame harvest season continues.

October

The big season is here: The olive harvest! Stay with farming families for up to two weeks, pick olives, enjoy healthy picnic lunch in the fields under the olive trees, take olives to the press, watch and learn about the process of producing olive oil; welcome to village life.

November

JARU’A is here! Share the joy and celebration of the harvest with the Canaan team, farmers and international visitors at Canaan headquarters in Burqin. Taste fresh olive oil straight from the press and enjoy the traditional harvest meal served in the olive orchards. Folk dancing, singing and bonfires till after dark. Join our annual olive harvest festival!
Beginning/mid-November: Olive harvest season continues. Pick olives with our farmers, and stay for up to two weeks.
Wheat planting season.

December

Wheat planting season

BOOK YOUR TOUR

Tell us you’re coming, and we will arrange your homestay or program. Fill out our Application Form, and send it to us at tours@canaanpalestine.com. For more information, please call: +972 (0) 4 234-1991/2 or contact tours@canaanpalestine.com. Visit Palestine brochure here.

Canaan always welcomes visitors to Palestine:

Canaan Palestine welcomes Eyewitness Palestine [www.eyewitnesspalestine.org] to Jenin in November each year as part of the Environmental Justice and Olive Harvest Delegation. Every year, Eyewitness Palestine [www.eyewitnesspalestine.org] visits Jenin for an uplifting farm stay and to share in the Jaru'a festivities with Canaan's empowered fair trade farmers and workers.

Many tours stop at Canaan and the Palestine Fair Trade Association throughout the year. Ask your trip organizer to plan a visit to Canaan Palestine. Questions? Contact us. A comprehensive list of tours of Palestine can be found on the Friends of Sabeel - North America website under Alternative Travel Listing.