Mt Petrano

Cagli is a the base of a plateau called Mt Petrano. It's a very unique place. The drive to the top takes about 20 minutes from Cagli. You wind through dense forest getting occasional wide views of the country side below. Nearing the top, the forest gives way to grassland. During the week, you will see many locals mushroom hunting around it's edges. This area is famous for its fungi and truffles.

Jes and I drove up to the top saturday evening, hoping it wouldn't be to crowded. We ended up being the only people on the mountain! t's an incredible place. The plateau is at least 1 km wide and maybe 2 or 3 long. Gentle rolling hills covered with wildflowers stretch out in every direction. The grass is trimmed short in the early spring by grazing cattle, so now it is like an enormous lawn. To the east there are incredible views of the Umbrian Alps, and to the west the Marche campagna and the Adriatic Sea in the distance. So, beautiful! In the winter, Chris says it is all covered in snow. I have never seen anywhere else like this. Really, the photos don't begin to do it justice!

Zuppa di Herba

On this farm, my work has been very diverse. In a little over a week, I've done a little bit of everything; weeding, watering, harvesting, gathering herbs, preparing new land to be planted, making soap, installing coral fencing. One thing I have found particularly interesting is Chris's solution to pests: herb soup.

Here are the ingredients:

- Ortica (stinging nettle, this is the most important ingredient)

- Farfara

- Equineto (horse tail)

- Cousolida Maggiore (comfrey)

- Acchilea (yarrow)

Mix with water, and let it sit in the sun for around a month. It becomes quite a stew! The soup smells like a mixture of fresh cut grass and barnyard yuck, and as you can see below, it looks delicious. The bee's love it, but I keep it at a distance when possible.

When applied to the leaves of plants, whether it be garden veggies, herbs or a wild cherry tree, this concoction is quite effective at deterring pests, and protects against a myriad of diseases. Being made of decaying plant matter, it also makes a great soil amendment. You could drink it if you really wanted to! But trust me, you wouldn't want to...

Either way, I am definitely going to be trying this at home.

Pesciamo in Italia

I did not expect to be fishing in Italy. Yet, here I am, watching my bobber, not entirely sure I want to catch one of these half meter carps. When you walk down to their private lake, you arrive at the near side where a small area has been cleared of trees and brush. The grass cut, so it makes a nice little area to sit and fish. The lake is small, and sort of murky, but still, its a nice place to sit, think, and practice my Italian. By the way, "fish" = "pesce".

Fishing with Bruno is a crack-up! Its quite a different method than any I've used before in the Sierra Nevada. We use bait and bobbers. Contrary to my typical strategy of stealthily dropping my bait in an optimal position and waiting silently, hoping to catch an unsuspecting trout, Bruno starts his fishing routine by stomping loudly on the metal framed dock. This must be to wake the pesce up. Then we casts out six or seven different poles baited with corn, polenta, pasta, whatever. Next he tosses out handfuls of bait into the water around each bobber.

We haven't had much luck yet, but I have enjoyed the sessions anyway. "È tranquilo", says Bruno. I have to agree.

Ciao da Santa Barbara (Cagli)

Here I am at the farm, called Santa Barbara, in Cagli. Oggi e lunedi (monday), e sto arrivato qui giovedi (thursday). As always, when moving to a new location and new life, there is a period of adjustment. But here, it was quick and easy.

The farmers are Christeane, a middle-aged woman and her sons. Chris traveled extensively in her youth. She she grew up in Germany, near Frankfurt, but moved to Barcelona for several years in her 20s to study dance theatre. To me it sounds like a hipster's life; 2am dinners with famous jazz musicians, living surrounded by artists, immersed in a bohemiean scene. Later on she met Pino, whom she married and helped to start this farm. Pino passed away 3 years ago, but Chris and their two sons, Ruben and Bruno, are carrying on and reviving the farm. She has her quirks, but her unfailibly positive disposition makes it easy to forgive all.

Ruben and Bruno speak very little English. My Italian is usually the more effective way for us to communicate, so that's what we default to. Bruno, at 24, is the younger. He works as a pizza chef in a nearby town and helps out a bit on the farm. He's a joker, easy going, and quick to laugh. He loves it when I stupid things in italian, for example when I say "pulianamo" instead of "puliamo" or "due centro" when I mean to say "due cento". He loves jazz, fishing, and riding the dirt bike. Yesterday Bruno's ragazza, Valentia, and a group of his amici (Alessio, Sasha, Angelo, Laura, and Melissa) came over. We spent the afternoon fishing and picknicking down at their lake. They were tons of fun, and very intruiged by the Californian in their midst.

Ruben is the older at 26. He's the full time farmer. Every time he is with me he is always saying "Va bene?" or "Ti piace?" (It goes well?, You like?). Ruben is a natural mechanic. The grauge is full of his projects. Dirt bikes under operation and tractor guts are strewn everywhere. He's down to earth–laid back in an Italian sort of way. I'll venture to guess Bruno takes after his mother, while Ruben his father. Both of them are very eager to help me learn the language, patient in communication, light hearted, welcoming, and generous.

Other inhabitants of this farm are Stella, the mellow lap dog, and Chris's twin sheepdogs, Numero Uno and Bastoncino. The only way we can tell them apart is that Numero Uno always comes first, and Bastoncino always comes carrying a bastoncino (small stick).

The farm itself is situated on a gradual south facing slope. Their 46 hectares of land curl over the ridge above us and extend to the lake at the base of the hillside. Above the house is a field of lentiche (lentils). Beyond that is woodland. Below is a field of recently seeded ceci (garbanzo beans), and an abandoned house that previously housed their cows and sheep in the winter. Now it is home only to a family of hawks.

Aside from the lentiche and ceci, they have two large vegetable gardens (we will clear ground for a third), and many wild herbs. Chris is quite a botanist. She could easily recite not only the name (Italian and English), but also the uses of just about any plant I pointed out. The vegetables are sold to subscribers in boxes, sort of like a CSA. With the herbs, Chris makes tea, soap, hand salve, and a cream to help induce healing for skin agitation or a wound. She told me "it is very good for your peel" as she gifted me a small container. It is made of herbs collected from around the farm, olive oil, almond oil, and wax. She added, "you could eat it, if you wanted to...". I used the cream on my nose, since I had allergies and had rubbed it raw with tissue. Not only did it help my "peel", but the next morning I woke up pretty much allergy free, and have been so ever since. Va bene!

The farm is in a period of re-growth, so unfortunately there are no animals at the moment.

In front of the house is a hammock under an enormous oak tree with a beautiful panoramic view of the foothills (very green right now) stretching towards the plateau and three not so distant mountain peaks. The tallest still has a bit of snow, and I am told you can hike to the top of it! Allora, I've passed many hours on this hammock with 'Le Miserable'. E bello, mi piace!

Arrivederci il Circolo

I haven't posted in a while. I've been too busy living! Yesterday was my last day with Anna, Dario and Teseo. This month has flown by! I knew it would, but I think my leaving really snuck up on all of us. We stayed up late friday night, trading music, recomending books and movies, making plans, invitations, exchanging thank-yous, and expressing our dissatisfaction that the month had come to an end. In the morning we took some last minute group photos, and the whole family piled in the car to see me off at the train station. I am going to miss them!

The month hasn't been all blue sky and roses, as farming isn't all harvest and glory. Some of the work was quite hard, the days were long, and I spent and week and a half with some of the worst allergies I've ever experienced. But I'd do it all again! I've learned about organic gardening, raising sheep, making pecorino, ricotta and fresh cheese, pruning olivi, curing olives, making oil– yes, I've learned a lot about farming. I'm even picking up Italian, un po. But to live with Anna and Dario and walk a day in their shoes, has taught me more about myself than I could have foreseen. This is why I'm here!

Anna, Dario and Teseo, thank you!