The end of the day

We have begun the harvest here at Casa Margherita and this is a typical view in most groves at the end of the day. We are doing well so far with over 300 kilos of fruit gathered.

Terziere

These are the tree areas of Trevi that take part in various contests during Ottobre Trevana with the most important being the Palio.

In addition to this they each open a Taverna for the month of the Trevana. The format is rustic but the food is great (with lots of Trevi celery dishes available) and the atmosphere ebullient. The food is also very reasonably priced which means they are also packed.

A rakes progress

Harvest time beckons here at Casa Magherita and so we have been checking our nets, buying some more plastic crates for handling olives and of course finding our rakes. In older times we would have used a rake like this to strip the olives from the branches of the tree but we have made progress and so will be using a vividly coloured plastic one. Much less romantic I agree but it does do the job and doesn't rust.

Il frantoio di Casa Margherita

This is the mill that we use for producing our olive oil. I have tentatively booked time next Friday for pressing but as I sit here it is raining and has been for most of the day so we will need the weather gods to be on our side.

La raccolta - it's started.

You can see the nets lined out in the groves, ladders rested up against trees, Fiat Panda's rushing here there and tither and the roads slightly busier with tractor movements. This and the shopkeeper question of "have you started"?

Yes, this years olive harvest has started in earnest. We here at Casa Margherita are playing it cool and not starting till next Monday as we think the olives could do with ripening just a little more. That and the fact we are not quite ready!

Sunday at Ottobre Trevana

Yesterday we were busy manning Rachel's temporary gallery at 8 Via Roma. It was a perfect sunny autumn day and Trevi was thronging with people. It is not often like that but when it is it is a joy.

Quite a few people came and browsed in the gallery and Rachel had a number of interesting chats. There were also a couple of TV camera crews present so she may well be on TV. I think the guy from RAI does all the festas in Umbria and so was very worn down.

I had an extremely good couple of hotdogs with both red and yellow sauce - a throwback to old eating habits I afraid but very nice. The Italian touch was that I washed them down with a glass of red. What style eh.

Sedano nero

This is the famous sedano nero of Trevi.

It is currently on sale in every shop in Trevi, every restaurant in Trevi has numerous dishes with a base of this celery - it is omnipresent.

It is a celery unique to Trevi and has been awarded Denomazione d'Origine status. It differs to other celeries as the stem is longer, it is a darker green than others and has a intense smell and a particular taste. Its stem is much more curved than other which lends itself well to being filled with various ragus and with cheese. Alternatively, it can be enjoyed raw with some extra virgin olive oil and salt.

It is only grown in a small area in Trevi and a huge effort has been made since 1965 to protect, sustain and develop this particular celery. The growers are now producing sedano nero pasta as well as various bottled celery sauces.