Vines and olive trees, for her, have virtually no secrets. Do you want to know which is the best time to harvest? The procedures for pruning or when you should treat a vineyard? Or maybe what opportunities are available for young people who try to set up a farm or agribusiness? She will give you all the answers you need.
The she in question is Lisa Volpi, 37, a graduate in forestry with now more than ten years’ experience in the service of many Tuscan companies in the sector. From next week, her experience and knowledge will be shared with all the users of eChianti.it through the column “Agriculture without secrets” through which good practices for the sector and the businesses linked to it will be presented along with financing opportunities for farms and the various deadlines to be fulfilled by the diverse companies. Moreover, there is yet another look at the typical products of the Chianti, recommendations and warnings on how to recognize a genuine product and avoid disappointments, tips on specialization courses and even instructions on how to open a farm, forest cuttings and so forth.
All with an eye to the many possibilities offered by the sector. “Let’s consider for example the youth package linked to the Rural Development Plan of the Region – she explains – by June and for 6 months thereafter applications for access to special financing for young farmers under the age of 40 who have never had a farm or a VAT account in agriculture will be able to be submitted. It’s a really interesting opportunity for those who want to start a business in this area.”
Ruffino
An authentic piece of Italy’s winemaking history, Ruffino is an important Tuscan winery founded in Pontassieve, near Florence, in 1877 by the cousins Ilario and Leopoldo Ruffino.
Recipe: Boar slices with herbs
Wild boar is a lean and tasty meat that lends itself to many recipes, here is Elisa and Laura’s proposal.
The “Cala-mai” (The ‘Never-Descenders’), those paratroopers from Ponte a Ema…they hardly ever airdropped!
“The Cala-mai have come down to liberate you, the Florentines,” was written in the leaflets dropped by paratroopers of the 1st Squadron of the Ricognizione Folgore (Thunderbolt Reconnaissance) as they passed through Ponte a Ema in 1944.
The Cànova of wine (and others): in San Donato in Collina a sign of entertainment … and vice!
The term Cànova, now completely disappeared, would signify “the shop where they would sell retail wine, oil and other essentials”. The Canabae were shacks that stood at the rear of Roman military camps where the Canovai would sell bread and wine to the soldiers and services to prostitutes!
The parish of Vicchio and the “student spirit” of the Signoria del Trentesimo (Lordship of the Thirtieth)
The Signoria del Trentesimo (Lordship of the Thirtieth) or of San Antonio had their residence at San Lorenzo parish in Vicchio di Rimaggio and kept their banner inside the church. Its members gathered under the porch which, at that time, had three arches and had a stone fireplace at the back.
Antilla, Mompillo and a love story behind the origin of the name Antella
Following the course of the Isone stream, after the Antella cemetery, you come into a valley just below San Donato in Collina which still preserves naturalistic and historical aspects and some evocative names such as Val di Lucciole, La Granchiaia, pescaia di Bacchus, Gamberaia and borri del Mascherone e degli Abeti.
Don Milani, the family and those origins on the hills of Antella
Perhaps not everyone knows that Don Lorenzo Milani, the Prior of Barbiana, could have been born in Antella. On April 5, 1914, the Albano siblings, Giorgio, Pierluigi and Elisa Milani bought the villa and the adjoining farm Mona Giovannella (between Antella and Osteria Nuova) from Ernesto Nathan, the mayor of Rome.
The Fountain of the Pidocchio (Louse) and the army of Charles V for the conquest of Florence
At the junction of the old Via Aretina with the new route (today Via Roma) opened in 1761, where the climb to the Hospital of Bigallo begins, a spout pours into a pile of stone.
Recipe: Curled octopus in a garlic, parsley, onion and herb artichoke
Do you have little confidence with the pressure cooker? Elisa and Laura offer you a simple recipe precisely for this type of cooking.
