Oaks, truffles and a scam

These are two oaks trees that mark the westerly edge of the grove. Below them there is a track that runs along the border of the grove. In terms of cutting the grass it is a good milestone to get down to here.

There are truffles growing under this tree as a couple of years ago someone pruning some of neighbours trees asked if we knew there were truffles we said no and so he took us down there poked around in the layer of dead grass and leaves and picked up a truffle the size of an egg. Very fortuitous.

We are hoping to persuade Daniella to bring here dog Stella down when it's truffle season as she has been trained to sniff out truffles. Our dog Winnie can do dog biscuits and chasing lizards and that's about it!

There are a number of (fenced) fields around and about that have been planted with oak saplings inpregnated with truffle spors. I think there must be a great scam opportunity here as you have to wait some 6 years before you are liable to get any truffles.

Picture the conversation. "So you're sure these saplings are full of truffle spor. Oh yes sir - here's my number if you have any problems"!!

The wonder of lavender

We have a lot of lavender dotted around the house. It is a great plant. It is very low maintenance, produces lots of flowers, smells nice. You can cut to add to flower arrangements or just have them on their own.

They also attract a lot of fertilising insects which helps with other parts of your garden or olive grove and are resistant to disease.

When the flowers are spent in late summer we cut them and put them into bags and then into our wardrobe to ward off moths.

I have made lavender infused olive soap which is curing in our deposito. It's had about 4 months and needs another two just so the bars are nice and hard.

We also take a lot of cuttings each year so we can replace any plants that get a bit leggy.

They think it's all over.....

So with England exiting the World Cup last night all of the teams with which Casa Margherita could show any connection have been eliminated.

The curse of Casa Magherita has accounted for Italy, England, France and New Zealand. This does not account for Wales and Ireland who both failed to get there with which Rachel has connections.

So we have obviously quickly switched our allegiances to Spain and The Netherlands. That will do for them.

Trevi Farmers Market

Every 4th Sunday Trevi has a farmer's market. I take a stall selling Casa Margherita olive oil. Today was a good market. For some reason none of the other oil producers were present so I was the only stall selling olive oil much to my advantage. I hope this continues.

It was sunny, there were lots of tourists and a lot of locals having a coffee and a stroll before lunch in Trevi.

Had a good chat with another stallholder who grows saffron. I am going to get some bulbs from him in July and have a go.

From sheep to donkeys?

The hills are alive with the sound of tractors mowing and people using grass strimmers in the olive groves.

Now before WW2, and before the advent of tractors and strimmers,  most if not all olive grove owners would have kept sheep. These would have provided the family with wool, meat and milk. The other great benefit of the sheep was that they kept the pasture down in the olive grove.

Nowadays there are very few sheep kept and so there is a plethora of tractors and machines to do the job they used to.

Which brings me onto donkeys. Apparently there has been a decline in the numbers of Italian donkeys and so a number of breeds are considered at risk of extinction. The EU is offering subsidies to farmers who take on a donkey. I have heard of an agriturismo business which has given a home to two donkeys. Donkeys are like sheep and eat everything, grass weeds the lot and so are perfectly suited to keeping the grass down in an olive grove.

Rachel is very keen and wants 2 possibly more. But I have put my foot down and said no asses in the Casa Margherita grove!

It is a nice thought that the Umbrian hillsides may soon be dotted with donkeys keeping the pasture down in the olive groves.

Vincanta, olive oil & work

Dropped off 6 bottles of olive oil to our friends Masi and Gabi who run an Enoteca halfway between Trevi and Spoleto in Campello - www.vincanta.it and then went on to a wood merchant where we bumped into one of our neighbours Luigi who is building a very nice swimming pool at his house in Manciano - it's from a kit but clad with wood on the outside and the inside is formed without using concrete which his dislikes intensely.

This afternoon back to strimming the grove this afternoon which is going quite well.

The photo below is a sign which we passed this morning which shows Trevi as a member of the Citta Dell Olio. A movement that promotes Italian extra virgin olive oil. I like the graphic. - graphics in Italy tend to be of a very high qualit

Clearing the grove

Having been a month without my trusty strimmer (I'll only say don't skimp on cheap 2 stroke oil) for a month I am back in the grove clearing the grass as can be seen from the photo with Trevi in the background.

Actually I quite enjoy doing it and it's cheaper than going to the gym and your outside enjoying the sights and smells of the countryside.