October 31st 2012
I can't believe I've survived 9 days with these olives! It is by far the most physically challenging job I've ever done--ever! And that includes tobacco when I was 14. It's a good thing I went to the gym every day for almost a year before coming here..If I didn't I don't think I'd be able to get out of bed and do this every day. I know 5 1/2 hours each day, 6/days a week doesn't sound like much. But when you are stretching and bending and lifting 40-45 lbs. in each hand carrying the buckets of olives non-stop for the entire 5 1/2 hours, no break even for a drink of water, it hurts!! By 1:30 we are READY not only for a break but to eat! Grazziola (Gianni's wife) makes us a gourmet lunch every day. Every day it is different and we never know what we will get. After we clean up the kitchen and go back (around the corner) to our apartment, it is about 3 o'clock. Nothing is open. Everything closes from 1 till 5. And my body is screaming to lay down! Every day I say to myself that I don't know how I can continue doing this but after a nights' sleep, I get up and don't feel too bad. So I go and do it again and again.
Heli will be going home in 1 1/2 weeks and then I'll get a new roommate from Germany to help with the olives.
Gianni and Franco work right alongside us and truly work as hard as we do. Gianni is 73 and works like he's a youngster. Picking up each olive off the ground that didn't make the net is the most painful part of this job. Well carrying the buckets of olives is hard too but not as painful as the bending and squatting that it takes to pick up the individual olives.
Hoping the next farm in Sicily will be a bit easier.
It's raining tonight for the first time....well.....I think ever.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Walked to the sea today
Sunday Oct. 28th 2012
This being my only day off (always Sunday), I decided to walk to the ocean. But I was corrected on that is NOT the ocean. It is the SEA. It should have been about 8km (5 mi.) but as usual I took the wrong road and being that the street map I had stopped short of just outside the city, I just kept walking East. It was Belvedere Rd. Should have taken Foggia Rd. Well I was walking and walking and walking past these amazing olive farms with HUGE tree trunks all twisted and beautiful. Took way too many pictures because one was more beautiful than the previous one. And I saw the word "VENDESI" many, many times. "For Sale". So many olive farms for sale here. And when I asked why, I was told that the family (children) that these farms are left to after parents are too old or die just want quick money. The younger generation does not want to do the hard work of harvesting olives. I have noticed since I've been here that everyone I see at the farms or on the tractor are older men.
Back to the walk.
I started walking at 8:45 a.m. and 3 hours later saw the sea. I figured this was about 12 km or 8 miles. But I was much more south than I wanted to be. So I kept walking through areas along the sea that during the Summer months (June, July & August) are many, many people on holiday. Now the coast is ghost town after ghost town. Very few cars. No people. It was kind of eerie being all alone with beautiful beaches to my right and vegetable gardens to my left. So some people continue living here. Just didn't see anyone. Finally after walking for 5 1/2 hours, maybe 25 km or 20 miles and seeing a sign to Carovigno 7km I decided to hitch hike. Probably the first time in my life. My feet did not want to walk any more. 3 very nice guys picked me up and drove me home.
Never got to put my feet in the sea.
This being my only day off (always Sunday), I decided to walk to the ocean. But I was corrected on that is NOT the ocean. It is the SEA. It should have been about 8km (5 mi.) but as usual I took the wrong road and being that the street map I had stopped short of just outside the city, I just kept walking East. It was Belvedere Rd. Should have taken Foggia Rd. Well I was walking and walking and walking past these amazing olive farms with HUGE tree trunks all twisted and beautiful. Took way too many pictures because one was more beautiful than the previous one. And I saw the word "VENDESI" many, many times. "For Sale". So many olive farms for sale here. And when I asked why, I was told that the family (children) that these farms are left to after parents are too old or die just want quick money. The younger generation does not want to do the hard work of harvesting olives. I have noticed since I've been here that everyone I see at the farms or on the tractor are older men.
Back to the walk.
I started walking at 8:45 a.m. and 3 hours later saw the sea. I figured this was about 12 km or 8 miles. But I was much more south than I wanted to be. So I kept walking through areas along the sea that during the Summer months (June, July & August) are many, many people on holiday. Now the coast is ghost town after ghost town. Very few cars. No people. It was kind of eerie being all alone with beautiful beaches to my right and vegetable gardens to my left. So some people continue living here. Just didn't see anyone. Finally after walking for 5 1/2 hours, maybe 25 km or 20 miles and seeing a sign to Carovigno 7km I decided to hitch hike. Probably the first time in my life. My feet did not want to walk any more. 3 very nice guys picked me up and drove me home.
Never got to put my feet in the sea.
Friday, October 26, 2012
video cum grano solis (from farm in San Salvatore)
Please watch and listen with volume UP
www.youtube.com
cum grano solis
This is a farm I went to with these people to get the special grain for their bread.
Maria Pia is the woman with dark skin. I lived with her.
Maria Pia is the woman with dark skin. I lived with her.
Carovigno one-liners
I sit in a bar in downtown Carovigno to get free WiFi and listen to English Rock n Roll
Franco (43) who works for Gianni did not speak one word to Gianni for 3 years. He lives with his parents. He's the olive tree climber. He's been with Gianni now for 23 yrs.
One year here in Carovigno it did not rain at all from Feb. till Dec.
Cars here last 45-50 years. In Milan they last about 5. Huge difference in humidity
All teenage boys look the same.. Skinny legs, VERY tight jeans, 3-4 inch mohawk that comes down to about 2 inches above their ears, combed straight up to the middle. Rest is almost shaved (1/2 in. or so)
What I would call 'walk ways' in and around these villages are indeed roads. And if you are walking on these 'walkways' and a car is coming, you have to get up on this very narrow stone curb. Don't dare loose your balance-you'll get your foot run over (or worse).
Many kids go to school on tourist busses. No school busses as we know them.
No peanut butter or baked beans or canned soup----anywhere
or boxed cake mixes
Two WWOOFers came back from Sicily and said there was an unbelievable amount of people
with missing fingers.
From the outside looking in, I think most Italians seem pretty unhappy. Someone is always yelling
and it's usually a woman. I never see anyone with a smile.
In church today, The men sat on the left, women on the right.
45 seconds of hot water here----then wait 30 min. for more.
EVERYTHING is closed on Sunday. (my only day off)
All teenage boys look the same.. Skinny legs, VERY tight jeans, 3-4 inch mohawk that comes down to about 2 inches above their ears, combed straight up to the middle. Rest is almost shaved (1/2 in. or so)
What I would call 'walk ways' in and around these villages are indeed roads. And if you are walking on these 'walkways' and a car is coming, you have to get up on this very narrow stone curb. Don't dare loose your balance-you'll get your foot run over (or worse).
Many kids go to school on tourist busses. No school busses as we know them.
No peanut butter or baked beans or canned soup----anywhere
or boxed cake mixes
Two WWOOFers came back from Sicily and said there was an unbelievable amount of people
with missing fingers.
From the outside looking in, I think most Italians seem pretty unhappy. Someone is always yelling
and it's usually a woman. I never see anyone with a smile.
In church today, The men sat on the left, women on the right.
45 seconds of hot water here----then wait 30 min. for more.
EVERYTHING is closed on Sunday. (my only day off)
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Day 3 at the olive farm
Wednesday Oct. 24th 2012
I hand picked olives today for 5 hours. It's a very pleasant way to spend a day. It's calming. The olives are very pretty to look at. We have 12 varieties. Some are all green. Others are half green fading into a violet hue. Some are dark red like cherries. Or purple like grapes. And of course there are the black. Today I learned one of the 4 ways to get the olives down from the trees. We do not wait till they fall and pick them off the ground. The way I learned today is to take a net, place it under the tree where you intend on getting the olives and use this comb to comb through the branches to pull the olives down on to the net. Then gather the net together and put them into the 14L bucket. #2: The baby trees I pick by hand because they are fragile and only have a few olives being it's their first harvest. A third way to get the olives is to get Franco to climb the really big trees and have him whack the olives free from their branches so they fall onto a net or have Gianni just goes around with this long stick and also whacks the branches freeing the olives to fall onto the net. The 4th way is to call Antonio. This is how you get Antonio to come and VIBRATE the olives free.
Gianni: "Hello Antonio. Can you come next Thursday to get the olives?"
Antonio: " But I have to put oil in my machine". "Call me tomorrow night".
__________ This conversation has been going on for 6 nights now._________________________
Antonio: "I'll be there after 8. (shows up at 10)
Italians do not like to work.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The reason you don't wait for the olives to fall and then pick them off the ground is: by the time they fall off the branches by themselves they are already probably too ripe(rotten). And this makes for a nasty tasting oil. And if by chance you puncture or slightly break an olive exposing the inside to air, you don't put it into the bucket. Oxidation occurs very quickly which also contributes to a bad tasting oil.
To attract a certain fly from eating the olives, a "sardine" bait is used very effectively in bottles hanging in every tree.
GROWING OLIVES IN A NON-ORGANIC WAY
Many olive farms around Gianni's have perfectly groomed grounds under the olive trees. There are NO weeds or plants of any kind. It looks pretty. Not as pretty as having fruit trees or veggies or flowers but the dirt looks very rich and clean. It is that way because the ground is treated with poison to dissuade any growth of any kind. There are no weeds. All there is, is poison in the ground that the olives eventually fall on to and get mixed in with making for a very chemical laden olive harvest. No nets to catch the olives. No person to take the olives from the branches. Just wait for the already too ripe olives to fall and get covered with the poisoned dirt. The next step of collecting the poisoned olives is something I will get to see but not until the upcoming weeks. But I was told that when they take these olives mixed with the dirt and process (press) them into oil, it is called "lamp oil". At this stage that is all it is good for---LAMPS. So they process (filter) the lamp oil to get it to look like the oil we buy in the supermarket and call it 'Extra Virgin Olive Oil". Pretty amazing. Hard to believe.
Gianni's olives are not pressed. There is a closed system the olives go through so no olives are exposed to oxygen.
I will get to see this process possibly as early as Saturday of this week.
An orange and white Tom Cat found me in the olive orchard today. He had a lot to say.
Gianni grows a specific olive that is only used for therapeutic purposes for babies. The pharmacy in town buys this olive oil from him. 2 drops in milk given to a baby for specific ailments is the cure.
I hand picked olives today for 5 hours. It's a very pleasant way to spend a day. It's calming. The olives are very pretty to look at. We have 12 varieties. Some are all green. Others are half green fading into a violet hue. Some are dark red like cherries. Or purple like grapes. And of course there are the black. Today I learned one of the 4 ways to get the olives down from the trees. We do not wait till they fall and pick them off the ground. The way I learned today is to take a net, place it under the tree where you intend on getting the olives and use this comb to comb through the branches to pull the olives down on to the net. Then gather the net together and put them into the 14L bucket. #2: The baby trees I pick by hand because they are fragile and only have a few olives being it's their first harvest. A third way to get the olives is to get Franco to climb the really big trees and have him whack the olives free from their branches so they fall onto a net or have Gianni just goes around with this long stick and also whacks the branches freeing the olives to fall onto the net. The 4th way is to call Antonio. This is how you get Antonio to come and VIBRATE the olives free.
Gianni: "Hello Antonio. Can you come next Thursday to get the olives?"
Antonio: " But I have to put oil in my machine". "Call me tomorrow night".
__________ This conversation has been going on for 6 nights now._________________________
Antonio: "I'll be there after 8. (shows up at 10)
Italians do not like to work.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The reason you don't wait for the olives to fall and then pick them off the ground is: by the time they fall off the branches by themselves they are already probably too ripe(rotten). And this makes for a nasty tasting oil. And if by chance you puncture or slightly break an olive exposing the inside to air, you don't put it into the bucket. Oxidation occurs very quickly which also contributes to a bad tasting oil.
To attract a certain fly from eating the olives, a "sardine" bait is used very effectively in bottles hanging in every tree.
GROWING OLIVES IN A NON-ORGANIC WAY
Many olive farms around Gianni's have perfectly groomed grounds under the olive trees. There are NO weeds or plants of any kind. It looks pretty. Not as pretty as having fruit trees or veggies or flowers but the dirt looks very rich and clean. It is that way because the ground is treated with poison to dissuade any growth of any kind. There are no weeds. All there is, is poison in the ground that the olives eventually fall on to and get mixed in with making for a very chemical laden olive harvest. No nets to catch the olives. No person to take the olives from the branches. Just wait for the already too ripe olives to fall and get covered with the poisoned dirt. The next step of collecting the poisoned olives is something I will get to see but not until the upcoming weeks. But I was told that when they take these olives mixed with the dirt and process (press) them into oil, it is called "lamp oil". At this stage that is all it is good for---LAMPS. So they process (filter) the lamp oil to get it to look like the oil we buy in the supermarket and call it 'Extra Virgin Olive Oil". Pretty amazing. Hard to believe.
Gianni's olives are not pressed. There is a closed system the olives go through so no olives are exposed to oxygen.
I will get to see this process possibly as early as Saturday of this week.
An orange and white Tom Cat found me in the olive orchard today. He had a lot to say.
Gianni grows a specific olive that is only used for therapeutic purposes for babies. The pharmacy in town buys this olive oil from him. 2 drops in milk given to a baby for specific ailments is the cure.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Olives
Tuesday Oct. 22 2012
I arrived by train to Puglia to the town of Carovigno on Sat. I was greeted by Gianni (73) who looked more like 60. I was introduced to my roommate, Heli from Finland (red hair, blue eyes) at the apartment I will call home for the next 7 weeks, It is right in town about 20 ride by car from the olive farm. The website there is www.ipoderidelsole.it During the Summer it is a popular vacation place with 7 individual houses for rent amidst the olive trees and many, many fruit trees and flowers.
Gianni and his wife, Grazziola are my hosts and live next door to us in town where we eat all our meals lovingly prepared by Grazziola. During the Summer months Gianni and Grazziola live in one of the houses at the farm. There are 1200+ olive trees, all grown organically and at the end of the olive oil season produce 2000-2500 liters of oil. I will never buy NON-organic olive oil again. I am learning so much about growing organically but more importantly how non-organic fruits and veggies are grown. Gianni says his neighbors with olive farms spread poison on the olives and in the ground to produce more oil from perfect olives. I started to pick the olives from the baby olive trees today and I can easily say there were next to no non-perfect olives from his trees. He has 12 varieties of olives. It is also important to have at least 100 different varieties of fruit trees and flowers amongst the olive trees to be truly organic. The good bugs eat the bad bugs and thus create a perfect organic farm. This I put very simply for a much more complex environment. I got to walk through some of the densely populated gardens to see huge sage, rosemary, morning glory, bougainvillas, roses, begonias, fig, grapefruit and on and on and on.
Yesterday, my first day of work, we laid 12Mx12M nets under the olive trees. It was physically very hard work. I started at 8 a.m. and stopped at 1:30 to be taken back to Gianni's apartment for lunch. After cleaning up the dishes we were off for the rest of the day. Today we washed the plastic bins for the olives and then started the 'picking of the olives' from the very young trees. Tomorrow we will continue picking olives. Some of the trees are 700+ years old and each have a distinctive look with their huge, twisted trunks, each unique and look like a piece of art. Beautiful.
The 5 liter can of organic extra virgin olive oil sells for $40 Euro and is shipped all over Europe-not U.S. because customs is too difficult. Gianni only puts up salted and cured olives for table use for himself only.
I arrived by train to Puglia to the town of Carovigno on Sat. I was greeted by Gianni (73) who looked more like 60. I was introduced to my roommate, Heli from Finland (red hair, blue eyes) at the apartment I will call home for the next 7 weeks, It is right in town about 20 ride by car from the olive farm. The website there is www.ipoderidelsole.it During the Summer it is a popular vacation place with 7 individual houses for rent amidst the olive trees and many, many fruit trees and flowers.
Gianni and his wife, Grazziola are my hosts and live next door to us in town where we eat all our meals lovingly prepared by Grazziola. During the Summer months Gianni and Grazziola live in one of the houses at the farm. There are 1200+ olive trees, all grown organically and at the end of the olive oil season produce 2000-2500 liters of oil. I will never buy NON-organic olive oil again. I am learning so much about growing organically but more importantly how non-organic fruits and veggies are grown. Gianni says his neighbors with olive farms spread poison on the olives and in the ground to produce more oil from perfect olives. I started to pick the olives from the baby olive trees today and I can easily say there were next to no non-perfect olives from his trees. He has 12 varieties of olives. It is also important to have at least 100 different varieties of fruit trees and flowers amongst the olive trees to be truly organic. The good bugs eat the bad bugs and thus create a perfect organic farm. This I put very simply for a much more complex environment. I got to walk through some of the densely populated gardens to see huge sage, rosemary, morning glory, bougainvillas, roses, begonias, fig, grapefruit and on and on and on.
Yesterday, my first day of work, we laid 12Mx12M nets under the olive trees. It was physically very hard work. I started at 8 a.m. and stopped at 1:30 to be taken back to Gianni's apartment for lunch. After cleaning up the dishes we were off for the rest of the day. Today we washed the plastic bins for the olives and then started the 'picking of the olives' from the very young trees. Tomorrow we will continue picking olives. Some of the trees are 700+ years old and each have a distinctive look with their huge, twisted trunks, each unique and look like a piece of art. Beautiful.
The 5 liter can of organic extra virgin olive oil sells for $40 Euro and is shipped all over Europe-not U.S. because customs is too difficult. Gianni only puts up salted and cured olives for table use for himself only.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
MY WILD KITTIES
MY LAST FULL DAY IN SAN SALVATORE
Yes, they are MY kitties. When I first got here that first day I heard the little gray kitty crying, crying, crying. So I asked about the cats that lived here. All 3 WWOOFers who were here then said "yes ,we have 3 cats, one is laying somewhere probably dead by now". I was so shocked. I had to find him and the other one. The cat they were talking about was almost completely white with a little black and he was lying down and would not let me come close. What I could see was two big spots in his fur that were raw from his near constant licking. And then there was the little girl. So petite and also mostly white with a little brown on her. I immediately started to refer to the gray kitten as 'screamer' because he talked so much. I named him that after my friend Val's 20+yr. old siamese (who's gone now). His name was screamer for the same reason; always talking.
So no one seemed to care about these cats. They do feed them dry food once a day. Well, from that first day here I took it upon myself to be the feeder of the animals. This included the chickens in the chicken house. They are not allowed to roam freely because they would probably eat everything in the garden because there is no fencing around it. Being the first one up in the morning, I would go to feed the chickens one dish of grain and the bucket of food scraps which was their favorite. Part of the feeding was looking inside a smaller dwelling inside the chicken house for eggs. Bingo! Fresh eggs for the cats. So there started the healing process for "Boy Boy" the cat with the horrible skin condition, "girly girl" the timid but eventually ever so loving little white/brown girl and "screamer". All 3 had that goopy eye condition coupled with occasional coughing and sneezing.
When I gave them their first egg, they acted like they hadn't eaten anything in a very long time. They devoured it and came to me looking for more. It's been 7 weeks of hiding eggs, stealing pieces of cheese, even once I took a can of tuna for them, and yes going to the store and buying them an occasional can of cat food which they all love. I even had to lie once to M.P. when she asked about the 3 eggs (now 2) on the counter. I said that I liked to mix one with milk and drink it. Anything for these sick, starving cats.
Screamer now lets me pick him up. He purrs and falls asleep in my arms. His eyes are clear. Girly girl loves to be petted as much as possible but does not like to be picked up. Boy Boy's skin is totally cleared up, fur grown back, eyes clear and runs and plays with the other 2. They are all getting big.
After I feed them in the morning I call them to come with me to the garden for play time.
They run and chase each other up and down the trees. Screamer likes to get on top of the chicken house and look over the edge at the chickens. They are all so sweet and they always come to me when I call them.
I know after I leave they will not get the care they need but for as long as I was here I did the right thing and took care of MY kitties the best I could.
Yes, they are MY kitties. When I first got here that first day I heard the little gray kitty crying, crying, crying. So I asked about the cats that lived here. All 3 WWOOFers who were here then said "yes ,we have 3 cats, one is laying somewhere probably dead by now". I was so shocked. I had to find him and the other one. The cat they were talking about was almost completely white with a little black and he was lying down and would not let me come close. What I could see was two big spots in his fur that were raw from his near constant licking. And then there was the little girl. So petite and also mostly white with a little brown on her. I immediately started to refer to the gray kitten as 'screamer' because he talked so much. I named him that after my friend Val's 20+yr. old siamese (who's gone now). His name was screamer for the same reason; always talking.
So no one seemed to care about these cats. They do feed them dry food once a day. Well, from that first day here I took it upon myself to be the feeder of the animals. This included the chickens in the chicken house. They are not allowed to roam freely because they would probably eat everything in the garden because there is no fencing around it. Being the first one up in the morning, I would go to feed the chickens one dish of grain and the bucket of food scraps which was their favorite. Part of the feeding was looking inside a smaller dwelling inside the chicken house for eggs. Bingo! Fresh eggs for the cats. So there started the healing process for "Boy Boy" the cat with the horrible skin condition, "girly girl" the timid but eventually ever so loving little white/brown girl and "screamer". All 3 had that goopy eye condition coupled with occasional coughing and sneezing.
When I gave them their first egg, they acted like they hadn't eaten anything in a very long time. They devoured it and came to me looking for more. It's been 7 weeks of hiding eggs, stealing pieces of cheese, even once I took a can of tuna for them, and yes going to the store and buying them an occasional can of cat food which they all love. I even had to lie once to M.P. when she asked about the 3 eggs (now 2) on the counter. I said that I liked to mix one with milk and drink it. Anything for these sick, starving cats.
Screamer now lets me pick him up. He purrs and falls asleep in my arms. His eyes are clear. Girly girl loves to be petted as much as possible but does not like to be picked up. Boy Boy's skin is totally cleared up, fur grown back, eyes clear and runs and plays with the other 2. They are all getting big.
After I feed them in the morning I call them to come with me to the garden for play time.
They run and chase each other up and down the trees. Screamer likes to get on top of the chicken house and look over the edge at the chickens. They are all so sweet and they always come to me when I call them.
I know after I leave they will not get the care they need but for as long as I was here I did the right thing and took care of MY kitties the best I could.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Telese market and whole grain wheat
Saturday Oct. 13th
Today I rode the "one speed" to the market in Telese for the first time. The market happens every Saturday but this is the first time I've gone. I received an email from my next farm saying I need to bring rubber boots. The market is the best place to find almost anything. So I rode in and was taken by surprise when I saw how enormous it was being that Telese is a relatively small town. There were 3 merchants just for fresh fish. Many for fruits and veggies. Several for cheese and salumi. But it's the tables of piles of clothes that amaze me. Each table has a price stating what each piece costs. It's either 1 Euro or 2 or 3 up to 10 Euro. But I had to find boots and disregard all this amazing stuff for very little cost. I did have to stop at one tables though and found a sweater, zip front, 80% wool with leather patches on elbows and a high neck. It would feel good on me when it gets a little chilly. But it was 4 Euro and I probably wouldn't have room for it. Most everything is new; some used.
A pizza truck would do really well here for the 5 hours of the market. They close off at least 2 roads completely for everyone to set up. Shoes! Lots of shoes and socks and underwear and kitchen wares and winter coats and leather bags. I found the perfect rubber boots-new- for 10Euro. But I had to have them and I really don't have time to shop around being I'm leaving next Saturday. I bought 2 really large golden delicious apples for .50cents. That was breakfast. Home I went on the one speed with my bag of boots hanging from the handle bar.
WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT GROWN FROM SEEDS THAT WERE NEVER MODIFIED
Maria Pia is a member of a small group of professionals who are constantly seeking out organic and NON genetically modified foods to either grow or just eat.
So 3 cars of these people met to go to a farm in Benevento owned by Rocco's parents who, on their land, grew this sought after grain which was just cut and the wheat kernels removed and put on plastic in the barn. We all got there and scooped the whole grain into sacks each weighing about 40-50Kg each (around 80+lb). The farm owned by Rocco's parents, Luigi (85) and Angela (75) was perfectly clean and very much in order with no clutter or anything out of place. Angela's newly planted garden (Winter garden) was very large. I'm guessing about 1/3 acre with an occasional olive tree here and there. There was not ONE single weed in that garden! It was amazing to see how this tiny little woman of 75 could manage such a place. Her husband, Luigi I'm sure was of no help being he walked with much difficulty and a cane. I wish I had my camera. He looks like a very typical old Italian man with a kind of constant smirk on his face. More like a grin. Very happy looking man with a hat.
The view from the house was spectacular looking out over the huge Benevento valley with all the farms in brown and green patchwork and the mountains all around.
After loading a total of about 750Kg (about 1700 lb.) of wheat into the cars we went into the house for beer and cookies.
Today I rode the "one speed" to the market in Telese for the first time. The market happens every Saturday but this is the first time I've gone. I received an email from my next farm saying I need to bring rubber boots. The market is the best place to find almost anything. So I rode in and was taken by surprise when I saw how enormous it was being that Telese is a relatively small town. There were 3 merchants just for fresh fish. Many for fruits and veggies. Several for cheese and salumi. But it's the tables of piles of clothes that amaze me. Each table has a price stating what each piece costs. It's either 1 Euro or 2 or 3 up to 10 Euro. But I had to find boots and disregard all this amazing stuff for very little cost. I did have to stop at one tables though and found a sweater, zip front, 80% wool with leather patches on elbows and a high neck. It would feel good on me when it gets a little chilly. But it was 4 Euro and I probably wouldn't have room for it. Most everything is new; some used.
A pizza truck would do really well here for the 5 hours of the market. They close off at least 2 roads completely for everyone to set up. Shoes! Lots of shoes and socks and underwear and kitchen wares and winter coats and leather bags. I found the perfect rubber boots-new- for 10Euro. But I had to have them and I really don't have time to shop around being I'm leaving next Saturday. I bought 2 really large golden delicious apples for .50cents. That was breakfast. Home I went on the one speed with my bag of boots hanging from the handle bar.
WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT GROWN FROM SEEDS THAT WERE NEVER MODIFIED
Maria Pia is a member of a small group of professionals who are constantly seeking out organic and NON genetically modified foods to either grow or just eat.
So 3 cars of these people met to go to a farm in Benevento owned by Rocco's parents who, on their land, grew this sought after grain which was just cut and the wheat kernels removed and put on plastic in the barn. We all got there and scooped the whole grain into sacks each weighing about 40-50Kg each (around 80+lb). The farm owned by Rocco's parents, Luigi (85) and Angela (75) was perfectly clean and very much in order with no clutter or anything out of place. Angela's newly planted garden (Winter garden) was very large. I'm guessing about 1/3 acre with an occasional olive tree here and there. There was not ONE single weed in that garden! It was amazing to see how this tiny little woman of 75 could manage such a place. Her husband, Luigi I'm sure was of no help being he walked with much difficulty and a cane. I wish I had my camera. He looks like a very typical old Italian man with a kind of constant smirk on his face. More like a grin. Very happy looking man with a hat.
The view from the house was spectacular looking out over the huge Benevento valley with all the farms in brown and green patchwork and the mountains all around.
After loading a total of about 750Kg (about 1700 lb.) of wheat into the cars we went into the house for beer and cookies.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
The New Zealanders and 10 days till the exodus
The New Zealanders left this morning. They've been here for 9 days. Kate (24) and Matt (26) arrived here from spending a week in Sicily on vacation. They've been gone from home for 6 months. And they will be returning home in another month after WWOOFing in Rome for a week, another farm for 2 weeks and one week in Bath England with Kate's grandmother. I think they spent almost 3 months vacationing all around Europe and 4 months WWOOFing.
When they arrived here last week, Kate said she wanted to leave the very next day. This place was just too rough for what she was used to. But they stuck it out until last night when Maria Pia had words with Matt about Kate and this morning they told her they were leaving right away. So for the next 10 days until I leave for Puglia I have to be alone and eat supper with Maria Pia. Italo doesn't eat supper. Things are very awkward here because the same day that I leave (Oct. 20th) she herself will be leaving. Just when I was having some fun. Listening to the New Zealanders talk was hilarious. We laughed so much. Maria Pia didn't like it. Tomorrow we will be planting strawberries to harvest in March. We've been very busy pulling up many plants and planting more. Right now we have sooo much lettuces and leek and peppers and broccoli and cabbage and the corn is just starting to be ripe. The gardens are very beautiful right now. The nights are getting cooler and the days are still quite hot. And now she's leaving without a plan of when she'll return. I don't know who will take care of the cats (My cats). Italo doesn't like pets. He'll feed the chickens only to get eggs and to eat them (the chickens) one day. The day I went to Naples, they killed 6 chickens to sell and put in their freezer. On Sat. they'll kill 2 more. I'll leave for the day. If this was the start of my 7 weeks here, I'm sure I'd be looking to transfer to another farm real soon. Many things I just don't like. It's a challenge every day to NOT piss her off. And it's a challenge to get Italo to smile. These 2 are pretty miserable people. Looking forward to going to Puglia and back to the coast. Hoping the next couple does not have issues.
After Puglia, it's Christmas in Sicily.
When they arrived here last week, Kate said she wanted to leave the very next day. This place was just too rough for what she was used to. But they stuck it out until last night when Maria Pia had words with Matt about Kate and this morning they told her they were leaving right away. So for the next 10 days until I leave for Puglia I have to be alone and eat supper with Maria Pia. Italo doesn't eat supper. Things are very awkward here because the same day that I leave (Oct. 20th) she herself will be leaving. Just when I was having some fun. Listening to the New Zealanders talk was hilarious. We laughed so much. Maria Pia didn't like it. Tomorrow we will be planting strawberries to harvest in March. We've been very busy pulling up many plants and planting more. Right now we have sooo much lettuces and leek and peppers and broccoli and cabbage and the corn is just starting to be ripe. The gardens are very beautiful right now. The nights are getting cooler and the days are still quite hot. And now she's leaving without a plan of when she'll return. I don't know who will take care of the cats (My cats). Italo doesn't like pets. He'll feed the chickens only to get eggs and to eat them (the chickens) one day. The day I went to Naples, they killed 6 chickens to sell and put in their freezer. On Sat. they'll kill 2 more. I'll leave for the day. If this was the start of my 7 weeks here, I'm sure I'd be looking to transfer to another farm real soon. Many things I just don't like. It's a challenge every day to NOT piss her off. And it's a challenge to get Italo to smile. These 2 are pretty miserable people. Looking forward to going to Puglia and back to the coast. Hoping the next couple does not have issues.
After Puglia, it's Christmas in Sicily.
NAPLES
MONDAY OCT. 8TH
I, with the New Zealanders, Matt and Kate got on an early train to Naples for a day of exploration. I knew Naples was an intimidating and very dirty city but I'd heard there were many nice parts too.
We decided after going through the guide book a few times that we wanted to go the the Royal Palace down by the waterfront. It was an 18th century palace with some beautiful artwork inside and an amazing architectural feat of marble and stone. The intricacies in the sculpturing was not unlike many others I have seen in Italy. We were almost the only ones visiting the palace that day. The architecture was so much like that of the castle I was at in Battaglia only this was of course on a much larger scale. I like seeing these kinds of places but find that I couldn't wait to get back outside to see more of the real city of Naples. The streets were narrow and the alleyways between the buildings were so narrow that a tiny car could barely fit. But still some did. The city (old part) was so full of scooters with their crazy drivers that it was very stressful trying to walk some of the streets while dodging the scooters flying by and getting so close, I don't know why I didn't witness at least one accident. We had to have a piece of pizza at one of the street venders. I mean Napolitan pizza is infamous. At least that's what I've read. It was by my taste the perfect pizza with the very thin crust. A popular flavor here is ham and peas or ham and mushroom. It was very, very good. After enjoying our 1st piece of pizza we headed to Dante's Plaza. It's a popular place for students probably because of the many, many used book shops there. The University of Naples has parts all over the city and the cost to go there remains quite affordable at about 1,500 Euro/yr. plus the cost of books. Maria Pia attended to get her PHD in Philosophy many years ago when the only cost was for books and a place to live-no dorms.
From the Dante Plaza we went to the DUOMO which like most of the churches I've seen is just over the top beautiful, huge and very ornately decorated with artwork being very exquisite.
By this time we had to find our way back to the train station to catch the 6 p.m. train back to Telese. I really liked the city of Naples and would return to see more. But it's not one of my top 10.
I, with the New Zealanders, Matt and Kate got on an early train to Naples for a day of exploration. I knew Naples was an intimidating and very dirty city but I'd heard there were many nice parts too.
We decided after going through the guide book a few times that we wanted to go the the Royal Palace down by the waterfront. It was an 18th century palace with some beautiful artwork inside and an amazing architectural feat of marble and stone. The intricacies in the sculpturing was not unlike many others I have seen in Italy. We were almost the only ones visiting the palace that day. The architecture was so much like that of the castle I was at in Battaglia only this was of course on a much larger scale. I like seeing these kinds of places but find that I couldn't wait to get back outside to see more of the real city of Naples. The streets were narrow and the alleyways between the buildings were so narrow that a tiny car could barely fit. But still some did. The city (old part) was so full of scooters with their crazy drivers that it was very stressful trying to walk some of the streets while dodging the scooters flying by and getting so close, I don't know why I didn't witness at least one accident. We had to have a piece of pizza at one of the street venders. I mean Napolitan pizza is infamous. At least that's what I've read. It was by my taste the perfect pizza with the very thin crust. A popular flavor here is ham and peas or ham and mushroom. It was very, very good. After enjoying our 1st piece of pizza we headed to Dante's Plaza. It's a popular place for students probably because of the many, many used book shops there. The University of Naples has parts all over the city and the cost to go there remains quite affordable at about 1,500 Euro/yr. plus the cost of books. Maria Pia attended to get her PHD in Philosophy many years ago when the only cost was for books and a place to live-no dorms.
From the Dante Plaza we went to the DUOMO which like most of the churches I've seen is just over the top beautiful, huge and very ornately decorated with artwork being very exquisite.
By this time we had to find our way back to the train station to catch the 6 p.m. train back to Telese. I really liked the city of Naples and would return to see more. But it's not one of my top 10.
Fungi Fest
October 6th Saturday
There were posters everywhere as far down as Naples for the infamous "Fungi Fest" or more specifically the Porcini Festival. Apparently many years ago there were so many porcini mushrooms growing in and around the mountainside village of Cusano that it warranted having an annual festival for the local people. But for the past 20 years or so the popularity of this festival grew so rapidly that (apparently) now they have to import porcinis from Yugoslavia selling them off to visitors who remain unaware of their origin. Maria Pia will never go to such a festival. But the 3 of us WWOOFers HAD to go. Being up into the mountains and about 25 Km away and having only a 'one' speed bike, riding there was out of the question. So we asked if we could take the car. The New Zealanders (Kate and Matt) were only familiar with driving on the left so I drove Maria Pia's car; a little opal 5 speed manual. As soon as we got in the car and drove away we had such a good feeling of freedom! We were out! And on our way to the very beautiful town of CUSANO. We had to drive through the town of Casserta first; also very nice. The New Zealanders are now at a very low budget time of their trip being away now for 6 months. So saving any money today was very important.
First we had to find the location of the fest so as to find a free parking spot. So here I was driving this little 5 speed after not driving at all for 12 weeks in an unfamiliar town in the mountains on narrow streets with the crazy Italian drivers.
I took a turn off the main road once in the town of Cusano thinking it would take us to the top of the old part of town. In getting there we passed a group of people sitting outside their home and they all shouted at us, waving their arms. We thought they were just partying but what we soon realized was I was driving up a one-way street going the wrong way of course. So back down and up another alleyway even narrower than the first. As we were climbing and climbing up the road continued to get more narrow and so steep I didn't think the little car could do it. So we asked some people standing there watching these crazy, unaware foreigners if we could drive up here. "NO, it's just a walkway". There was no way to turn around because the road had deep gullies on both sides for water drainage I think. So I had to back down all the way to the beginning. Quite hairy I must admit. But I did it!
In all this driving around we did see that the festival was being held in the old town on top of the mountain. So I parked for free at the base and hiked up to the top of the town.
It was only 4pm and not much was going on-very, very few people. I guess they were all home still napping.
But as time went on and things started to open, many, many more people came and we got lots of free samples of food. Fresh porcinis were for sale for about $10/lb. Not sure about the dried.
We split a cheese and porcini pizza and some arancini. (stuffed rice balls with porcini and cheese)
very good. By the time we walked as much as we could, seeing everything at least twice, it was about 9 p.m.-we're ready to leave and the place is really just started to get hopping. But I had to find my way home in the dark, Got lost once or twice but all in all was a real nice day-good food-and good friends.
There were posters everywhere as far down as Naples for the infamous "Fungi Fest" or more specifically the Porcini Festival. Apparently many years ago there were so many porcini mushrooms growing in and around the mountainside village of Cusano that it warranted having an annual festival for the local people. But for the past 20 years or so the popularity of this festival grew so rapidly that (apparently) now they have to import porcinis from Yugoslavia selling them off to visitors who remain unaware of their origin. Maria Pia will never go to such a festival. But the 3 of us WWOOFers HAD to go. Being up into the mountains and about 25 Km away and having only a 'one' speed bike, riding there was out of the question. So we asked if we could take the car. The New Zealanders (Kate and Matt) were only familiar with driving on the left so I drove Maria Pia's car; a little opal 5 speed manual. As soon as we got in the car and drove away we had such a good feeling of freedom! We were out! And on our way to the very beautiful town of CUSANO. We had to drive through the town of Casserta first; also very nice. The New Zealanders are now at a very low budget time of their trip being away now for 6 months. So saving any money today was very important.
First we had to find the location of the fest so as to find a free parking spot. So here I was driving this little 5 speed after not driving at all for 12 weeks in an unfamiliar town in the mountains on narrow streets with the crazy Italian drivers.
I took a turn off the main road once in the town of Cusano thinking it would take us to the top of the old part of town. In getting there we passed a group of people sitting outside their home and they all shouted at us, waving their arms. We thought they were just partying but what we soon realized was I was driving up a one-way street going the wrong way of course. So back down and up another alleyway even narrower than the first. As we were climbing and climbing up the road continued to get more narrow and so steep I didn't think the little car could do it. So we asked some people standing there watching these crazy, unaware foreigners if we could drive up here. "NO, it's just a walkway". There was no way to turn around because the road had deep gullies on both sides for water drainage I think. So I had to back down all the way to the beginning. Quite hairy I must admit. But I did it!
In all this driving around we did see that the festival was being held in the old town on top of the mountain. So I parked for free at the base and hiked up to the top of the town.
It was only 4pm and not much was going on-very, very few people. I guess they were all home still napping.
But as time went on and things started to open, many, many more people came and we got lots of free samples of food. Fresh porcinis were for sale for about $10/lb. Not sure about the dried.
We split a cheese and porcini pizza and some arancini. (stuffed rice balls with porcini and cheese)
very good. By the time we walked as much as we could, seeing everything at least twice, it was about 9 p.m.-we're ready to leave and the place is really just started to get hopping. But I had to find my way home in the dark, Got lost once or twice but all in all was a real nice day-good food-and good friends.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)