Montefiascone

Today is my fourth day in Montefiascone and I already have so much to share, but lets start with and introduction to the farm.


In Montefiascone I am living with two young farmers named Dario and Anna, their 2 year old son Teseo, and Emma the Italian sheep dog. The house is at the edge of town, on the crest of a hill. From the front porch there is a panoramic view molto bello of Lago di Bolsena (a volcanic lake, the largest natural lake in Europe) and the Italian campaniga. The town center of Montefiascone sits on the hilltop to the left. The opposite hillside is a chestnut and oak forest, where I am told there is great hiking.


The house itself is over 200 years old, built of stone, paster, and enormous oak beams. Next to the house is a cheese cellar, which Dario estimates was built around around 1600. The cellar is connected to a cave, which may date back to the pre-Roman, Etruscan civilization.


Dario and Anna farm only a few hectares of land, but are able to eat largely from their own produce. Near the house, on the terraced hillside is a large garden, and several young fruit trees. At the bottom of the hill are two pastures where they graze their sheep. This year they have 8 milking sheep, 1 male, and 5 lambs. A short walk towards the lake brings you to Dario's orchard of about 200 trees. The majority of this orchard are olivi (olive trees), but a few apple and pear trees are mixed in. The sheep are rotated between pastures and the orchard, and are milked twice a day. With the milk, Anna makes pecorino cheese, yogurt, and ricotta (she calls it "ricotta gratis", since it is a free by-product of the pecorino). The farm sells olive oil and pecorino, the rest is for the family's consumption. All of it e molto buono!


My work so far has been mostly pruning the olivi, and weeding out an invasive blackberry to prepare for the summer garden. Today we also harvested two male lambs, which is a bittersweet job. It is very hard to do, but Dario and Anna cannot continue to graze sheep that will not produce milk. Also, it means spring lamb is on the way!


Photos are of the house, and the view from the porch.