Barmy not balmy

Ah the lovely early summer skies in Umbria. Not. It is wetter that a Scottish pop band. Basta I say. Roll on the real summer and pronto. Everything is desperate for some warmth.

Oh what lovely onions you have.

The orto is looking very good this year with a great crop of onions, garlic, radish, broad beans, rocket, strawberries currently being enjoyed and so much more yet to come. Picking your own vegetables is much more rewarding than shopping in a supermarket

Tenderhooks

Every olive tree this year seems to absolutely laden with flower boding well for the harvest. However the weather continues to be very wet and very cool (17°c) for the time of the year. The temperature should be comfortably in the middle 20's °c and with very little rain. Hopefully the weather will turn..............

Mothers Day 12 May 2013

Looking for ideas for Mothers Day then why not adopt an olive tree from the Casa Margherita grove. Perfect for the Momma. To find out more go to www.casa-margherita.com

A good day out - really!

AgriUmbria is a favourite show here at Casa Margherita. All that is new in agriculture and horticulture and much much more. Old tractors like above. Resistance is futile.

Every year we go and as always Rachel wants to return with a couple of floppy eared rabbits and a Jerusalem donkey. We resist as always but this year I did finally buy a lemon tree which I had been craving after for some years. So maybe next year the donkey.

Rant and roll

Online car insurance. Couple of clicks and job done. What's this? To pay with a credit card with Direct Line Italy I need to print a form off, fill it in including all my credit card details and fax it back to them. Do not compute - fax and online. I then need to wait a couple of days before cover is in place.

Unbelievable. But hardly surprising in a country that cannot form a government and is unable to elect a President.

Dreary dreary me this place is maddening sometimes.

Springtime in Umbria

This weekend the weather has turned for the better with lots of sunshine. This has in turn encouraged people to get out in to the countryside and in the olive groves and pick some wild asparagus. One of these precious spears is shown above. They grow at the base of olives trees and in embankments.

They are eaten in a wide variety of ways but in a sugo with pasta is one or in an omelette another.

Other olive grove news is that we have finished pruning here at Casa Margherita and so it is off to a new grove I have rented this week to knock that into shape.