Monthly Archives March 2014

March 24th: Lunar gardening

The fence is almost done! I’ve just got to finish some final joins and strengthening (in case of particularly persevering animals!) and then it’s complete! Chicken-proof! Deer-proof! Cinghiale-proof! Too optimistic?! Never. In my haste to get the fences up I may have missed the PERFECT week to plant the potatoes. Well, assuming I am still attempting to plant by the moon… Never heard of it? Nor had I. Planting by the moon has been a long standing way of farming for many hundreds of years. The Italians being the Italians, following their favourite motto of “If it’s not broke, don’t fix
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Categories: Latest from Lunigiana.

March 21st: The Cinghiale returns

Since Spring seems to be springing I have been spending a lot more time outside sorting out the land for the summer growing season. We have an olive grove, a vineyard and a vegetable patch that continues to grow in size; we have our work cut out! The olives are in the final phase of being pruned and prior to the next downpour they will be fed. The main priorities at the moment seem to be linked to fending off animals. I’m trying to get the fence up around the vines as quickly as possible, before the dreaded deer and
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Categories: Latest from Lunigiana.

March 14th: Waterfall walk

It finally feels like Spring is gearing up. Flowers, birds, sunshine, people are looking less grumpy! I am planning on getting outside this weekend… definitely…. not watching the football… honest. While I was looking for a good walk I came across this website http://www.apathtolunch.com which has loads of walks and local tips. I think I’m going to follow their High on the Magra walk as a guideline. I have walked around here a lot but have only made it up to these waterfalls once before (and on a bad choice of days- misty followed by rain!). The walk takes you through
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Monday 3rd March: Massa Carnival

I’m really enjoying carnival and making the most of it especially as we don’t celebrate it at all in the UK (other than a few pancakes!) Massa seems to provide the best celebration around here, filling the squares and outdoor areas of the city with fun particularly aimed at children and young people. I went on Sunday it was great and silly, with lots of music, dancing and costumes; as carnival should be. Oh, and, as I’m sure you assumed our olive oil didn’t win any prizes in Filattiera! We did meet some proper olive aficionados’ though!
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Categories: Latest from Lunigiana.