Posted by Bob on Jul 14, 2013 | 0 comments

We had a wonderful Sunday lunch today as guests of  Giselle and Mark  who operate Gusto the Umbrian Wine Tours company. We had the chances to really appreciate the lovely and quite diverse Umbrian countryside, from lowland plains to mountain forests and lakes to valleys abundant with Olive trees, Grape Vines and Sunflowers. Quite different from Le Marche yet only a stones throw away. Also of  course the very excellent Umbrian wines. Get in touch if you fancy a tour, www.gustowinetours.com or call +39 338 3298691    Mark...

Posted by Bob on Jul 13, 2013 | 0 comments

Something different last night, a Tibetan Dinner. A charitable dinner cooked by a group of Tibetan monks who have fled from persecution  and ended up in Smerillo, very well attended, we ate a rice dish followed by vegetable and meat dumplings and if you could handle it a very hot sauce. Some interesting artwork and traditional crafts were also displayed and for sale, very good night enjoyed by all.

Posted by Bob on Jul 7, 2013 | 0 comments

Pruning Olive trees by Brian Chatterton From The Mediterranean Garden No 34 July 2003 Art or science? Most books written on olives in English describe pruning as a mystery buried deep in ancient folklore. There are exceptions such as Gucci and Cantini and our own book, but the majority have failed to understand the basic principles. Books in Italian (for example Del Fabro) are more practical and less mystical. A good pruner of olive trees can be compared to an artist where talent and technique are moulded together. The fact that a great artist may be a poor teacher of perspective should not disguise the fact that perspective is a technique that can be learnt. Similarly with olives. The techniques can be learned (the master pruner may not be the best teacher) and a reasonably competent job done. Why prune? Most readers will have only a few trees or perhaps a small grove and will pick their olives by hand or use simple hand-held machines to speed up the task. In either case a good density of fruit on each branch is required for productive picking. An unpruned tree will have olives scattered in groups of one or two all over an untidy bush. Such trees are costly and frustrating to pick. Even if you are picking with your own labour and the unpaid help of friends, efficient picking is important. Slow work is most disheartening. A primary objective of pruning is to produce dense clusters that can be stripped off the tree in great showers. It is inevitable that ladders will be needed for mature trees but good pruning will prevent the trees becoming excessively tall and difficult to pick. In the early days of the New Zealand olive industry when pruning was rudimentary, one grower ended up employing the local fire brigade to pick his tall trees. There has been considerable scientific research conducted on every aspect of olive growing and oil production. One of the important facts to emerge is that the olive fruit requires strong sunlight at every stage from fruit set to oil production. Olive flowers that are in deep shade will not set in large numbers. Those that do will not produce good levels of oil. Pruning is therefore needed to reduce the density of the foliage and allow sunlight to penetrate into every part of the olive tree. Our pruning teacher from the University of Perugia suggested that every olive should be in direct sunlight for at least some part of the day. This objective is compatible with the need to produce trees that are convenient to pick. By reducing the density of the foliage one reduces the tendency of the tree to race up and out in a desperate search for more light. Alternate cropping. Olives are not the only tree crop to produce alternate heavy and light crops. Apples are...

Posted by Bob on Jul 6, 2013 | 0 comments

Don’t forget, if you are in the vicinity of Civitanova this evening, pop into the gallery and take a look at Ben and Michaels exhibition of Mosaics, Sculptures and Paintings. See my previous blog for the address. I welcome the opportunity to promote not only ex pat talent but more importantly local talent, it is easy sometimes to think that all the artists live in the big cities not just up the road in the countryside. These local artists don’t get the recognition they deserve and we should all support them when we can. Take a look at Ben’s website to give you an idea of what to expect...