Mountain Farm Tour

2 Posted by - September 1, 2014 - Bike Tour, Italy, Pedal, Sights, Travel
When Justin and I moved into our own house four and a half years ago, I turned a small patch of land next to the kitchen into my very first vegetable garden. I made starter pots out of newspaper, filled them with special soil, pressed tiny seeds into the dirt, watered regularly, held my breath and then tearfully watched every single sprout shrivel up and die. Fortunately, after a bit more practice, our harvest has grown substantially since that first year. But it’s not about the harvest. It's about nurturing food in its most wholesome form. It's tasting the difference between store-bought and backyard cultivated. It's pulling weeds while planning my future. Pinching tomato suckers while praying for health. Counting ears of corn while counting my blessings. It was the comfort of home most difficult to leave behind. So, when I got wind of our host's “small farm” a kilometer away from their downtown home in Abruzzo, Italy, I made it my mission to get invited. The offer came one night over dinner and the following day we rode bikes to this beautiful piece of  earth. Walking between rows of lovingly-planted vegetables and fruit trees fulfilled something that has been missing on this journey. All you lovers of seed and soil, these photos are for you:

20140814-DSC_0596 L to R: Remo, main caretaker of the farm; his son, Domenico; and Justin

20140814-DSC_0584I cruised to the farm on Domenico's electric bike.

20140814-DSC_0573

20140814-DSC_0576Kiwis!

20140814-DSC_0657

20140814-DSC_0613Sun-drying tomatoes.

20140814-DSC_0652It seemed like the majority of homes we pedaled by in Italy had tomatoes growing, but we never spotted a single tomato cage. Instead, they were staked and supported just like they are here, to the right of the corn.

20140814-DSC_0644 Artichoke: a funny-sounding English word for what Italian's call "carciofo."

20140814-DSC_0593Figs!

20140814-DSC_0589 20140814-DSC_0677

20140814-DSC_0675Asparagus fronds.

20140814-DSC_0662 20140814-DSC_0648 20140814-DSC_0666 20140814-DSC_0639

20140814-DSC_0690Outdoor oven for summer pizza making.

20140814-DSC_0612The closest we got to a Lamborghini in Italy!

*Remo, thank you so much for taking the time to show us around. Your farm is beautiful. This was a personal highlight of our journey so far.

4 Comments

  • Noteeth September 1, 2014 - 8:24 am Reply

    Gorgeous photos. Many years ago, I spent a happy summer working as an archaeologist in the Abruzzo region – it’s an amazing landscape.

  • b_puliti September 2, 2014 - 10:11 pm Reply

    It was amazing! Glad you were able to enjoy it too!

  • Lisa Presutti Christinidis September 8, 2014 - 3:34 pm Reply

    Ah…la campagnia! Did you get a chance to taste pizza from the wood fired oven?

    • b_puliti September 9, 2014 - 10:37 pm Reply

      Sadly, no! That just means we have to visit again, right? 😉

    Leave a Reply to Noteeth