Our little farm is based on a few simple concepts: we cultivate the land according to the cycle of the seasons, and we grow what we eat, with respect for natural cycles and plants. We make the most of everything we find on the land, with the aim of leaving the land unchanged and continuing to grow the crops that have traditionally been planted on it. We do not introduce new plants or animals that could change the landscape or the conformation of the land.
We honour the olive and the grapevine, two very ancient crops that are an essential part of the heritage of Mediterranean peoples. Our farm covers about 22 hectares of land, of which approximately 16 hectares are covered with deciduous trees, while the rest are planted with olive trees, fruit trees and seed crops. Our vegetable plot is surrounded by apricot trees of selected Italian cultivars. The plot is too big for the needs of a single household, but too small for intensive farming. The seeds we plant are our own, or strictly certified organic. There’s a little greenhouse where we store the seeds and grow fresh lettuce over the winter; all our other vegetables are strictly seasonal. We grow potatoes, legumes and, in summer, tomatoes for making our own tomato sauce. We produce an organic extra virgin olive oil of rare quality, from trees that are not treated or fertilised, but simply pruned with great skill. Our fruit orchard includes apple, pear, plum, persimmon, pomegranate, hazelnut, peach and cherry trees, with a kiwi vine, as well as long-forgotten traditional fruits such as the azarole, cornelian cherry, jujube, strawberry-tree and sorb. We have revived a number of ancient grapevines and recently planted a vineyard
with syrah vines, while the pergola by the church provides us with seedless sweet table grapes. We gather mushrooms in the woods in autumn, wild asparagus in spring. The meadows yield wild greens and chicory, while carp swim in our pond and chickens, and turkeys and geese peck about our poultry coop.