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The next day the “Welsh Girls” were keen to get back to work.
We threw down the gauntlet saying that the most olives ever gathered to take down to the mill in a single drop was 400 kilos. The girls were determined to beat this record over the next two days.
We all got into the swing of things, and worked really hard and efficiently as a team.
Yet there was also time for a great deal of joviality, general larking about and of course cups of tea.
Dont mess with these girls !!! Elsie and Kay
Kay and Sylvia
Elsie and Kay
Kay and Sylvia
Karen, Sylvia and Kay ... Dance of the 7 Veils _???_
Sylvia practising her Belly Dancing routine !!!
Karen ... Just looking cute !!!
That afternoon Moustapha, our 7 ft Senegalese friend from the market, also volunteered to lend a helping hand … he was ideal for reaching the loftier branches with the olive clapper !!!
"Just a bit higher Mousapha !!!"
Moustapha
Moustapha enjoying and English cup of tea
The next morning the girls were up early and worked all day like crazy to fill more cases with olives.
By the end of that day we had gathered 408 kilos of olives, beating the previous record by 8 kilos.
Well done everyone !!!
Karen, Kay, Elsie
Sylvia, Paul, Karen, Elsie, Louise
Elsie, Karen, Paul, Kay, Sylvia
We then loaded up the car with the 21 cases of olives.
Sincere thanks to Kay, Elsie, Karen and Sylvia, and not forgetting kind Moustapha for their hard graft and sterling efforts over the past week. We couldn‘t have done it without you. Well done !!!
You may have thought that the “Welsh Girls” would have been exhausted after their laborious day …..
But No !!! They went on to perform a Belly Dancing Extravaganza at the Bellavista Restaurant in Itri that evening !!!
See next post !!!
The Belly Dancing Extravaganza !!!
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Two of our friends, Kay and Elsie, who are regular visitors to Tre Cancelle, volunteered to come and help us with this year’s olive harvest. Elsie also recruited two of her friends, Karen and Sylvia, who all belong to a popular Belly-Dancing group in South Wales.
Itri’s undulating hillsides are tinted with the silvery green foliage of olives trees, indeed Itri has been noted for the quality of its olives since Roman times.
The “Itrana” cultivar is exclusive to this specific area, thriving as a consequence of the unique environment, quality of the fertile soil, temperate micro –climate, sea breezes and fresh mountain air.
So for the last month the olive groves around Itri have been a hive of activity, with the cheery banter of workers laughing and jesting whilst preparing for the olive harvest, strimming grass and weeds and trimming and burning suckers. Little “apes” (pronounced Ah-Pays, which translated literally mean “bees”) – small three wheeler vans noisily buzz and rattle along the local lanes, sometimes with a husband and generously proportioned wife cosily crammed inside the tiny driving cab.
By November many of the olives have grown round and plump and are gradually turning from bright green to dappled pink. Those harvested in November / December produce the much sought after “Early Harvest” Extra Virgin Olive Oil and / or Green Table Olives.
Other farmers prefer to harvested their olives when they are fully ripe, during February / March, to produce the “Mature Harvest Extra Virgin Oil and / or Purple / Black Table Olives.
After the well received comments from our last years November oil, we elected to harvest our olives early in the season, which whilst it produces less in volume, yields a wonderfully green and intense olive oil.
The weather seemed to be in our favour being set fair for most of the week. The “Welsh Girls” were keen to get stuck in.
We started by carefully spreading out nets around some of the trees on the first terrace to be worked. Paul fired up the compressor to which can be fitted a variety of pneumatic tools, in this case a mechanical rake on a 4 meter telescopic pole, which is used to comb and vibrate the laden branches, causing the olives to cascade onto the nets below.
Sylvia
Elsie and Kay
Some of the trees had grown very tall, and required pruning back, so Paul climbed up a ladder, and with his trusty chain saw, and lopped off the tops to a more manageable height of 4 meters, thus allowing the olives to be easily harvested at ground level.
This is done by hand either by using small rakes or by gently running one’s fingers over the fronds, popping of the colourful fruits, a task I find enormously satisfying.
Elsie
Sylvia
Inevitably the odd stray olive manages to bounce off the net so we scrambled about under the trees collecting these up.
The nets were then carefully gathered up and the olives rolled to one edge, where stray twigs and leaves are pulled out before pouring the olives into the waiting plastic crates. The huge nets were then lugged to the next batch of trees to be harvested.
Elsie, Kay and Karen
Kay, Elsie, Sylvia and Karen
Ideally the olives need to be processed within 48 hours of being harvested, to preserve the very best of their natural characteristics.
The minimum batch size to take to the olive mill is 200 kilos, or 2 quintale, to ensure that your olives are processed in a single lot, and that you retrieve your own oil at the end of the process, and that it is not a mixed with someone else’s olives. We think this is very important because by choice we do not use pesticides and herbicides whereas some other producers are not so ecologically minded.
Therefore, in general we tend to work two days on and one day off. Our team of volunteers worked well and following the first 2 day harvest we were able to take 209 kilos of olives to the mill.
The following day the “Welsh Girls” deserved a well earned day off.
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One of the best things about what we do is meeting so many interesting people and making new friends from around the world. At the end of May we welcomed our first visitors from New Zealand – a couple of lovely ladies, Rosie and Susan from Christchurch.
They had planned their trip well before the tragic series of major earthquakes had struck and brought Christchurch to its knees. Both had been deeply affected by the quakes, but after taking stock, with careful consideration they courageously decided to go ahead with their holiday. These plucky ladies had organised, all by themselves, a three week whistle-stop tour of many European countries such as Holland, France, Switzerland, Greece, Italy and Malta.
Rosie contacted us as, after having read about the tiny little village of Campodimele. For several years she had had a burning desire to visit this location and see it for herself. As she and her travel companion were lacking their own transport we agreed to put them both up at “Tre Cancelle” and personally drive them to Campodimele which is not so far from Itri.
One afternoon we pootled off and ventured inland, navigating the sharp twists and turns of the road that snakes its way up into the Aurunci Mountains. First, en route, we headed up to the nearby Sanctuary of the Madonna della Civita to take a look at some of the splendid panoramic views from this point.
View of Itri and beyond the Gaeta Peninsula and the Island of Ischia in the distance
We then continued along the meandering mountain road which finally led us to Campodimele.
The picturesque, medieval village is perched high on a hilltop overlooking a sheltered fertile valley. It is encircled by formidable turreted walls, which were built many centuries ago to protect its citizens from attacks by marauding Saracen pirates.
Rosie at Campodimele
A path, known by the locals as “Lover’s Lane”, winds itself around the town walls, from which there are stunning panoramic views of the surrounding verdant countryside.
In the village square stands an ancient elm tree which was planted in 1789 to commemorate the French Revolution.
As I mentioned earlier, back in New Zealand, Rosie had read of the village’s renown. This tiny little town has been awarded the European title of “The Village of Eternal Youth” as it is noted for the longevity of its citizens. It seems that they are a particularly hardy breed, who seldom have the need to visit a doctor, rarely die before the age of 85, and it is not uncommon for its citizens to attain the age of 100. The World Health Organization sent researchers to the village to try to discover its secret.
Some of the contributing factors must surely be: the clean salubrious mountain air, the locally grown fresh ingredients that make up the typical good wholesome diet, which of course includes the excellent local extra virgin olive oil. Also the fact that the elderly do not retire early, preferring to keep themselves busy and active as possible. Campodimele’s senior citizens are not left to grow old alone, they are well cared for and supported by their family and others in the close-knit community. Indeed, even here in Itri, our 89 year old neighbour seems to be living proof of this, as he is still fit enough every morning at 6 am to climb his ladder, with secateurs and pruning saw in hand, to lovingly tend his olive trees.
The locals of this area are indeed resilient people who have a strong connection with the land. The old folk have toiled relentlessly over the years and also had to overcome indescribable hardships during WW2. Thankfully they now can enjoy better stress-free times in their twilight days.
Leathery skinned, elderly residents can often be seen sitting in the town square under the shade of a tree, or on a chair outside their front door, where they watch the world go by, not that much does go by in tiny Campodimele !!!
However on the particular day of Rosie and Susan’s visit, which was a Sunday, there wasn’t even one aged inhabitant to be seen anywhere. Very strange we thought, had they all suddenly died off ???
Then we came across an announcement that had been posted on the village notice board. -
“This Sunday - A Special Coach Excursion For The town’s Senior Citizens To Visit Rome and See The Pope.”
That explained it all !!!
Find more information about Campodimele here at
http://campodimele.shapcott-family.com
Susan and Rosie at Sperlonga
Rosie and Susan, we continue to think of you all in Christchurch,
and of course all of those reeling from the earthquakes in Japan.
It was a pleasure to meet you. Keep safe girls.
We hope you will return to Campodimele and Bella Italia one day .
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A recent article in the Telegraph Newspaper about Campodimele:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/8627933/The-secrets-to-a-long-life.html
Here at Tre Cancelle our Farmhouse and Olive Groves are immersed in the greenery of the Italian countryside. Just behind us stands Monte Marano, which reaches a height of 516 metres.
We are so lucky to be surrounded by abundant wildlife including many species of song birds as well as Kestrels, Hawks, Buzzards and Owls.
Our favourite is our Hoopoe who visits every year and calls out its calming, reassuring and steady “Hoop-Hoop-Hoop” from the top of our tall pine tree. He is a very fine bird, quite large in size with a long slightly curved bill, a pinkish-fawn head and breast, an impressive crest and black and white striped wings.
* photo by j m carg
We also have other regular visitors such as wild boar, porcupines, foxes, hares, and stone martens.
Indeed, this area of South Lazio is so rich in Natural Beauty – It is blessed with the best of many worlds:
The nearby Coastline with its sandy beaches, rocky crags and coves, hidden caves and sheltered harbours …
Yet closeby here in Itri we have the dramatic Aurunci Mountains and their Protected Natural Park. Much of the rock is limestone, and the scenery is ever changing as the mountains spectacularly tumble down to meet the sea.
Also locally there are several more wonderful Protected Natural Reserves to explore:
Sperlonga has the Roman Ruins of the Villa and Grotto di Tiberio and Coastal Path
Fondi has the Ausoni Mountains and 3 Coastal Lakes with dunes which form a peaceful natural haven for diverse wildlife.
In Gaeta is the Parco di Monte Orlando which has dramatic rocky crags and cliffs overlooking the beautiful Gulf Of Gaeta.
In Scauri is the Parco Suburbano di Gianola e Monte di Scauri
In San Felice Circeo there’s the extensive and varied Parco Nazionale Del Circeo
There are also stretches of beautiful coastline which have been designated as Marine Natural Park, collectively known as the Oasi Blu, which is maintained by the World Wildlife Fund WWF, that ensures optimum water quality providing an ideal environment for an extensive variety of marine life. Therefore these areas are popular with scuba divers.
All of these nature reserves are an absolute paradise for nature lovers and bird watchers, providing tranquil habitats for numerous animal species, particularly a wide range of bird life ranging from birds of prey, to sea and water fowl.
All the parks have well signposted hiking trails which traverse wonderful varied terrain, providing magnificent vistas and panoramas of the mountains, coastline and nearby islands. There are also routes suitable for mountain biking. We have a selection of useful maps and local guide books.
So all in all Tre Cancelle
is an excellent base for discovering and exploring
the boundless natural beauty of South Lazio.
Perfect for True Lovers of Wildlife and Nature.
Come and see for yourself !!!
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You may recall that back in August some of our American guests found two puppies abandoned by the roadside.
What could we do other than take them in a look after them? They were just six weeks old, starving hungry and covered in fleas and sores from flea bites.
See our previous post:
http://trecancelle.wordpress.com/2010/08/07/101-evas-journal-two-abandoned-puppies/
Well just to report … Yes they are still here with us. They are now approximately 12 weeks old and have grown about three times the size and are well and strong.
However they are both little characters. The male, “Mini Max”, now just named “Max”, as he is not exactly mini these days, is naturally very calm, docile, very loveable and cuddly, but is also a keen escape artist.
Max
The female, who was originally named “Little Lizzie” we now more often call “Busy Lizzie”, as she is always up to mischief and somehow manages to rope in “Max”.
Busy Lizzie
We use a plastic washing airer on which we peg clothes out to dry, and have regularly found items missing or strewn on the ground, or even worse – used for a tug or war.
“Busy Lizzie” also just loves digging, especially digging up my lovely collection of potted plants, the remainder of which we have had to move onto the back patio for safe keeping.
However one day the gate was left open and the result was puppy mayhem.
They are also keen on a good old “rough and tumble”.
We have asked around our friends if they could possibly help by taking on a dog or two, but sadly there have been no takers. Not far from here there is a large kennel, a compound run by the local Comune for the many dogs that have been abandoned in the locality. We are told that the dogs are well looked after, but it doesn’t seem that they have much of a life in there.
So the total of “Woof-Gang” members currently stands at 13.
As you can imagine it is quite a job looking after them all.
Our kindly vet, a nephew of our dear friend and Doctor, comes up to help us from time to time.
All the older dogs have just had their booster vaccinations for this year, and the puppies have also now been inoculated. The Vet is so kind as he only charges for the medication and not for the time he spends here. We are always deeply endebted to him.
Paul has recently befriended a couple who run a Butchers shop in Itri. Once or twice a week they put by some off-cuts and large bones to boil up.
The bones are so large that Paul has had to cut them up with his chain saw.
The resulting meaty broth certainly gets the canine noses twitching !!!
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More About the Tre Cancelle “Woof-Gang”:
http://tcdogs.shapcott-family.com
Any donations to the “Woof-Gang” Fund always gratefully received.
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At the end of August we were delighted to have our younger son Ben, his “other half” Emma and “Baby Bump” to stay. They are expecting a little arrival at the end of November and were both much in need of a relaxing holiday. This was to be Emma’s first trip to Italy.
Although their stay here was all too brief, Ben and Emma managed to fit in ….. a couple of days at the beach …..
some local sight-seeing (Sperlonga) …..
and a day in Rome.
We were all kindly invited to our friends, Luca and Loredana’s home, for a special meal to celebrate Luca’s 50th Birthday. Buon Compleanno Luca !!!
By the way -such a landmark birthday is shortly looming for
Paul this October !!!
One day we were also invited to San Donato and Atina in the Val di Comino and enjoyed another delicious meal with our Italian cousins.
Emma is a very passionate and creative cook and during her stay, delighted in preparing some srumptious food for us all.
Local tomatoes, Mozzarella di Bufala Drizzled With "Tre Cancelle" Olive Oil
Breakfast - Emma's Tasty Potato Cakes
Please come back soon Emma !!!
“Papa Woods” and Emma are about to move into their new home together in Cardiff, in time to get settled before the little addition to their family arrives.
We wish them all lots of love and all the very best in their new home.
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some local sight-seeing
One Saturday evening, we received a phone call from one of our friends in Itri, asking: “What time our local road was going to be closed tomorrow?”. This was the first we had heard of it, but we were soon to learn that, on Sunday, our normally quiet little lane was to be transformed into a race track . Evidently the local residents had been given little or no prior warning of what was due to take place, a car rally on their doorsteps. This is Italy !!!
Come to think of it, we had noticed an increase in noisy traffic that day, presumably as some contestants had been familiarising themselves with the route.
This 3 day event over 11-12-13 of June 2010, was the very first Gaeta Rally which consisted of various trials and heats over different course routes: http://www.rallygaeta.it/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=3
The finishing line of the Sunday race was to be located down by Itri Cemetery.
So, not quite knowing what to expect, the following day, we braced ourselves for the off. In the morning, a marshal, dressed in a high visibility jacket arrived on the stretch of road outside our house and on the sharp bend proceeded to put up a “safety barrier” consisting of a reel of red and white striped plastic tape, tied between the olive trees up the side of the road.
A blue and white Polizia car then drove around the course with siren sounding loudly, followed by the official marshal car with its yellow light flashing.
Before very long we were to hear the screeching of tyres and the revving, roaring and intermittent loud backfiring of highly tuned internal combustion engines reverberating around the valley.
We must admit it was somewhat exciting to watch, but the dogs, poor things, were in totally awe of the proceedings.
This mayhem continued intermittently all day, with only a 45 minute pasta break at lunchtime.
By 7 pm we felt we had had quite enough excitement for one day, and we were more than glad to revert to the normal peace and quiet of the Italian countryside.
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One morning, in amongst the normal chatter of the birds and chirping of the ciacadas, we could hear voices coming from down the hill, and recognised that they were different from those of the normal olive workers trimming their trees. Very soon it became obvious that the noise was coming from one of our neighbours who has a tiny country villetta on a corner of land adjoining ours. The whole family had gathered for the annual ritual of making tomato passata. Being curious we wandered down to check out what was going on.
We were warmly greeted by the family, all three generations, who were working on the terrace, under the shady pergola of the grape vines.
They were keen to show us the preparations and procedures of the task in hand. We learned that they had ordered and taken delivery of 350 kilos, or three and half quintale, of fresh ripe plum tomatoes.
To make the passata, batches of the tomatoes were first chopped into quarters.
These were added to a large saucepan and cooked for a short time over a wood fire until the tomatoes began to soften and the skins loosened.
Next they were passed through a special type of mincer or masher which separates the pulp from the skins and seeds.
Using a funnel the tomato mixture was then carefully poured into an array of clean beer bottles that had been carefully gathered by the family throughout the year. Then, there was another device for fitting crown caps to all the bottles to seal and make them air-tight. The bottles were than stacked in beer crates.
We walked down into the lower section of their olive grow where the men folk were busy preparing three large empty oil drums, which had been placed on metal frames to allow a large wood fire to be set underneath. In the bottom of each oil drum some old rags had been thrown, upon which the filled beer bottles, some 250 of them in total, we being arranged on their sides in layers, gradually filling up the drums.
A hose-pipe was then used to add water to a level to cover the top layer of bottles. A fire was then lit under the three barrels and the water slowly but steadily brought up to the boil. The passata bottles were then kept in the boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes, and then removed and left to cool.
Meanwhile some of the women folk were busy chopping yet more tomatoes into quarters, which were then being placed into large wide-necked jars, which were to be sealed and boiled in a large container of water in a similar fashion to the passata.
These ancient methods of preserving capture the very essence of summer, allowing tastes and aromas to be released in the darker winter months when the delights of fresh grown juicy tomatoes are a distant memory ….. well until the next summer.
Later that day we were the very happy recipients of three bottles of lovely homemade preserved passata, still warm to the touch, and ready for storage.
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Well, we have had a busy summer here in Itri, and a very hot one, with temperatures getting up to around 40 degrees C during July. We had a second heat-wave towards the end of August, which zapped our strength.
We have welcomed some lovely guests from all around the globe, from the USA, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Germany, Serbia, England and Scotland in the UK. Consequently we have had the great pleasure of making some very special new friends. Here are just a few:
Ivan and Derryn
Kathy and Claudio
Nonna Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Carol Ann and Sandra
Mike and Jane
Our first guests from Russia were Marina and Andrei, who kindly presented us with a calendar of their home city of St Petersburg, together with a bottle of rather special Russian Vodka. They absolutely loved Sperlonga and the little medieval hill top town of Campodimele.
Andrei and Marina
Paul was delighted when an ex-work colleague, Martyn from Bristol, paid us a surprise visit en route for a week’s holiday with a group of friends in Sorrento. Martyn seemed very taken by the beautiful area that we are so lucky to live in.
Martyn, with a View of the Coastline and Beautiful Sperlonga
The abandoned puppies that we took on, as you can see, have continued to grow well and have benefited from lots of love and attention from all our visitors.
Alessandro, Emigliano, Monica, "Mini-Max" and "Little Lizzie"
Emigliano, Monica, "Mini-Max" and "Little Lizzie"
Solenn and "Mini-Max"
Solenn and "Little Lizzie"
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The puppies, as you can see, have continued to grow well and have benefited from lots of love and attention from all our visitors.
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