Italy: Small Towns, Amazing finds Orvieto

Orvieto, Italy

Photo from Wikipedia web site

The Cathedral of Orvieto is a large 14th-century Roman Catholic cathedral situated in the town of Orvieto in Umbria, central Italy (Wikapedia)

Located between Florence and Rome on a train route qualified Orvietto as a town I would be able to visit.    Riding either the small orange bus or taking the funicular from the train station, you are quickly in the heart of Orvietto.  

The Duomo or cathedral has much to see but the day I visited there was a wedding so non guests were restricted to where we could wander in the church.   

No matter, I was fascinated by the exterior carvings.  Some of the history of the reliefs can be found here.

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The carvings on the freeze running across the front of the cathedral is so detailed you could spend hours looking from face to face.   This was one day a guided tour would have been most helpful to explain the origin of the subject matter.   The lower portion of the carvings is covered by plexiglass in what I expect is an attempt to stop visitors from touching or tracing the faces of the 'souls on their way to hell'

Even with a telephoto lens it was difficult to obtain clear photo but every time I return to these photos I find a  new detail or expression on one of the faces of the dammed.

On my next visit I shall ask for more information and perhaps they will lend me a ladar.

Olive Oil the Italian Way

Olive Oil the basis for all Italian food

In Puglia I learned how to taste olive oil, how to cook a Mediterranean diet for health and long life

The Taurino Olive Farm, located in Squinzano, has been a family operation since 1942 and is now managed by  Donato and Rosaria Taurino.   Their state of the art pressing and bottling facility can be seen on my blog on how to taste olive oil:   http://bit.ly/14osDbr   

Yle with Yltour.com took me to visit the Taurino farm on my last trip to Puglia.   As you turn into the road that leads to the main building, there are endless rows of olive trees, 60,000 +- I was told latter!  Some of the trees dated back hundreds of years.  


When you read advertisements for property in Italy you often see that the property includes vines (wine) and olive trees.    Olive oil is a staple in the Italian diet and having your own supply of olives 

Valentino is a wealth of information on Olive Oil.  I had no idea before we met that tasting olive oil was a skill and not the process of putting bread into a dish of oil!     The Taurino Farm has just launch the Oliva line of extra virgin olive oil and it is available for purchase and shipment to you.  (detail inquiries directly to Taurino's) 

Italy: my 1,000 year old OLIVE TREE is getting cut!

HOW TO TRIM A 1,000 YEAR OLD OLIVE TREE


A few months ago I adopted a 1,000 year old olive tree on the Taurino's olive farm in Puglia Italy, in memory of a first generation Italian, my father.

I will be visiting 'my tree' for the first time later this year but . Dr Valentino Valzano keeps me informed about what my tree is 'doing'.    All the trees are just awaking from a winter nap.  The sun is warming the Salento soil in Puglia.

And it is time to prune 60,000 olive trees!


Valentino writes:

    . In the coming  days we will start with the Pruning Operations;

This operation does not take much time, but it is fundamental for the final quality (of the oil)   We try to have trees in a good healthy status. We are pruning the old trees in order to also  facilitate the harvesting operations.     We use elevators, as you can see in the picture.

OBJECTIVES of the pruning operations
In mature trees, pruning is mainly required to renew the fruiting surface of the tree and achieve high yields, maintain vegetative growth of fruiting shoots, maintain the skeleton structure, contain tree size, favor light penetration and air circulation inside the canopy, permit control of pests and diseases, prevent aging of the canopy, and eliminate dead wood. Under certain circumstances, pruning can be required to alleviate the effect of abiotic stress, to re-form the canopy after damage by frosts and pests, to rejuvenate old or abandoned trees, and to adapt an obsolete training system to mechanical harvesting. In modern olive growing, the training system should permit easy movement of machinery in the orchard; little attention needs to be paid to specific tree shapes.

TIME OF PRUNING

Pruning should be performed between the end of winter and flowering and because of  this we prune in January, February, and March.

Cutting stimulates metabolism and growth, which makes the plant tissue more susceptible to plant injury.         In mild climates, with no spring frosts, pruning can be started in winter. Pruning before bud break is risky in cold climates, however, because of the high probability of frost that may damage the remaining tissue and delay wound repair.

An advantage of pruning after bud break is that even the inexperienced grower is able to assess the number of flowers and the potential crop removed by pruning, whereas flower buds cannot be distinguished macroscopically from vegetative buds at or before bud break.

1,000 year old olive tree at Taurino's farm

 Taurino's olive tree farm in Puglia, Italy  selected a

1,000 + year old tree for their first 'adopt an

        Olive Tree program  and I am the 'parent'!    

What was life like on the olive farm when my tree was planted 1,000 years ago?     Probably my tree started life as a graft.    Within 6 years this tree would start to produce olives and  supply the family with the oil  they would use for the entire year.

Over the coming year I will update you on  what is happening at Taurino's  olive farm:     new tress leaving

the 'nursery',  pruning the trees (see part two of this blog),  organic fertilization, olives starting to form on the branches and finally the harvest.

You can also adopt a tree in Italy.   Adopt in the memory of a family member, to commemorate an event, birthday or a loved one.    Your adoption is for one year.   In addition to your 'adoption certificate' you receive a photo of your tree and updates over the year as your tree is cared for.

See part 2 of this blog to learn about pruning an olive tree. There are 60,000 trees at Taurinos so this may take some time....

Adopt your tree today.   What a great gift for you nonna or nonno, a lovely way to remember a loved one, a memorial for an Italian ancestor or to become connected with your Italian heritage.

Every tree will be pruned in particular way, in order to have the best quality oil.
Every adopted tree will be registered and every customer will receive one time a year 3 liters of EVOO oil.
Customers who adopt a tree, may  visit the farm during the harvesting period and enjoy the
rural experience, sampling  typical foods in the store.

Every month, customers will receive a newsletter with a description of what activities are happening at Taurino's olive farm.


Only $130.00 per year.

Payment by pay pal at donato.taurino@libero.it.   

Taurinos fine olive oils

Tasting of oils and other Taurino products

I Adopted an Olive Tree in Puglia



Part of the 16,000 trees in  the OLIVE FARM

I am adopting in Italy!  And it is 1,000 years old!

As an Italian American I continue to feel that there is part of Italy that I am missing or do not belong to.     Is this why I return to Italy EVERY year?  To reconnect to the people who are my heritage.

Or to find a place in Italy where the slow life seeps into your bones and you breath deeply every day, NOT just the 2 weeks of vacation you have each year.

So, after visiting the Taurino Oliva Farm in Puglia in December, I was thrilled that they planned to open an Oliva field with 200 trees that would be available for adoption! 

 Everyone has heard of programs where you can plant a tree or buy a star but here at Taurino's Oliva Farm I will be able to select a tree that I can adopt in memory of Big Ed.  

There are 50 old, big trees, 50 classic trees and 100 young trees in the field.     There was no question that I wanted one of the old trees.  And we are talking OLD:  1,000 years old!  Just think what my tree would have seen over the past 1,000,    this shall be a later blog on what was happening in Puglia 1,000 years ago.

DR. AGR. VALENTINO VALZANO, shall help select 'my' tree, shall photograph Big Ed and send me a digital picture along with my adoption papers.

As my tree is cared for over the year:   organic fertilization, pruning, harvesting the olives and pressing the oil, I can receive an email update every 3 months.    With advanced reservations I may also be able to attend the harvest!

The Taurino Olive Farm, located in Squinzano, has been a family operation since 1942 and is now managed by  Donato and Rosaria Taurino.   Their state of the art pressing and bottling facility can been seen on my blog on how to taste olive oil:   http://bit.ly/14osDbr