The garden is the result of a four year passionate work of researching seeds and plants, of studying the peculiarities and adaptability of the species and therefore of their cultivation, in the summer garden as well as in the greenhouse.
“Four years ago I decided to devote myself to our garden, to the selection of essences and the search for seeds, some rare and difficult to find. We have reached about 150 species and every season we increase the varieties to obtain more and more facets and textures of tastes in our dishes.”
In our gardens we do not use pesticides and we exploit natural fertilizers of animal origin (rabbits, cows and chickens) and vegetables or our compost to have a recirculation in its entirety of all fruit and vegetable waste, we also provide watering through tanks for the collection of rainwater and spring wells. All this guarantees an intense flavor to all our products as they absorb the nutrients necessary for the plant in a natural way.
Many botanical varieties are rare and particular, we want to tell you in our dishes how we cultivate and how we respect nature.
During the pandemic we decided to install the greenhouse, essential for maintaining a favorable habitat and a temperature as constant as possible in order to create a suitable environment:
– to the survival of perennial varieties
– essences from distant places
– provide us with the possibility of spring pre-crops
– Increase longevity in cold weather
In our travels we usually come back with some souvenirs, plants, seeds, vegetables. Sea fennel, for example, is not available in distribution and we found some spontaneous seedlings during a summer trip to Trieste, where we went to visit chef Antonia Klugmann at the Argine in Vencò. We transported the seedlings and took great care of them on the long return journey and then transplanted them into the garden and tended them until they adapted.
For all our varieties, at the end of their respective life cycles we collect the seeds both for use in the kitchen and for maintaining the biodiversity of our essences.
“In every hole you always put three seeds: one for us, one for the insects and one for safety.” We strongly believe in respect for the environment, as the peasant culture of which we are the bearers of the inheritance, taught us how important natural cycles are, without forcing the crops.
In our gardens we also grow vegetables that we use in our menus, we are also lucky enough to have inherited several orchards from our grandparents with plants that have almost disappeared such as dogwood, ancient varieties of apples, cherries, peaches…..
We periodically organize "trips out of town" with all the staff, in order to strengthen team spirit and to collect wild herbs which we then keep for use during the winter in our preparations.
