Umbrian Wine
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...
read moreHare Krishna
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.
read moreDo Not Miss This.
The Colmurano ARTI STRADA (Street Artists Festival) also known as the international Buskers festival takes place from 11th – 14th July. Street artists from around the world gather in Colmurano to provide an amazing variety of displays from acrobatics, music and street performances to art exhibitions. A wide choice of food and drinks will be available during the performances which take place from the early evening till late. Ample car parking is available. Enjoy. ...
read morePruning, How and why.
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 as bad. The apple tree naturally produces a large crop of small apples one year and a small crop of large ones the next. The supermarket-driven demand for mediocrity in all things forces the apple grower to control the trees and produce a medium crop of medium apples. The mechanism is similar in olives. The tree produces a large amount of vegetative growth one year and has little energy left...
read moreJust a Reminder
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...
read moreSnakes Alive
What’s going on this year ? There seems to be snakes around every corner, a couple of days ago a massive grass snake was sunning itself at the back of the house on a pile of stones, there for two days in a row until Pongo spotted him. Yesterday i lifted a large stone on the recently cut bank (thank you Job and Fran), and nearly died uncovering a nest of vipers ( no i don’t mean the cast of eastenders), and today not far away from the same place yet another metre long grass snake lying motionless on the grass, until Pongo spotted him that is. Am i getting more than normal or what ? love to know if anybody else is getting more than they usually do...
read moreExhibition in Civitanova Marche at 18.00 Saturday 6th July
If you are in Civitanova this Saturday (6th July) why not visit the Permariemonti contemporary art gallery at Viale Vittorio Veneto 53 – 62012 tel/fax 0733.774115. Starting at 18.00 the Exhibition features some amazing Mosaics, sculptures and works of art by local artists Ben Craven and Michael Eldridge...
read moreBonnie and Clyde
It was without doubt the major social gathering of the month in Le Marche, the birthday party for Felix…the future tennis superstar. Fans from far and wide arrived laden with tennis related gifts to try and satisfy the appetite of the ever eager sporting fanatic. It was then that they arrived, the recently renamed Bonnie and Clyde (AKA Pongo and Percy), after re-enacting that movie classic (The Great Escape) , they appeared as if by magic in the midst of the partygoers, clearly out of breath but looking very pleased with themselves . Panic ensued for a time but a crisis was avoided when they were successfully rounded up and detained in the temporary detainment area that was quickly set up. We have at this time been unable to locate the secret excavations used to enable their escape and detailed searches are continuing. Focus quickly returned to the host participating in exhibition matches on the immaculate rear lawn and the unveiling of not only a tennis racquet culinary masterpiece but also a mountain of doughnuts that required some degree of mountaineering expertise by Felix to extinguish the attached display of pyrotechnics (AKA Candles). The lovingly tended BBQ by masterchef Ben Ja Min (brieflybreaking away from his forthcoming tour of India) provided both excellent salsiccia panini’s (AKA Hot Dogs) and some heating for those who ventured into the pool. The event was also an opportunity to say farewell to our hardworking Workawayer Job who travelled from the Netherlands to give our Adopt an Olive Tree grove some very much appreciated cosmetics. He followed Francisco our Mexican visitor who partnered him on many of his projects. We wish them both all the best for the rest of their journeys (Francisco to Slovenia, Job to Sardinia) and say thanks again for the fantastic work they completed for us. We look forward to tomorrow when Maurizio will arrive with his little orange tractor to give the Oliviotree grove grass its annual trim....
read moreThey’re coming and i like it, i like it a lot
Here at oliviotree world we have some fantastic news, they are only tiny but they are definitely there…yes ! the olives have arrived, the 2013 seasons fruit is on the trees and it looks like it could be a bumper crop. Those tiny little green gems will soon be soaking in the summer sun and turning it into that liquid gold that tastes like nothing else. Don’t delay, be part of it, live the dream..Adopt a genuine Italian olive tree today and in a few months time that oil could be sat on your dining room table, just oozing...
read moreReaching Out
Pleased to notice that news of our Adopt an Olive Tree seems to be spreading world wide with our website oliviotree.com having been viewed by potential customers in America, India, Spain and the Netherlands. Visitors to our site will now see that we have certification to show an oleic (acid level) of 0.19% which is well below the required maximum of 0.8% that is allowed in order to classify the olive oil as 100% Extra Virgin. Our Oil is of course First Press only, for those that don’t know many inferior Olive Oils do not consist of 100% first press oil but oil from subsequent pressings and oils from other sources. It is interesting to see recent news articles stating that Chinese buyers are now buying 400% more Italian olive oil than previously because they don’t trust the oils real content from other sources. Say no more...
read moreAccommodation
For a luxurious self-catering holiday see The Hideaway website.For a peaceful bed and breakfast stay with a magnificent view have a look at Casale delle Rondini.
Why not combine a visit to your olive tree with a fantastic wine tour in Umbria?Explore the Gusto website.
List Italy is a comprehensive guide to services, businesses, properties and food in the Le Marche region of Italy.
More info on their website.
For some fantastic mosaic handcrafted art vist Ben Craven Mosaics.