Still not fully spring

 

April is going fast but spring has not fully arrived yet, or better, the stable warm weather we would expect at this time of the year. We still have fluctuating temperatures, going up to 20 degrees and dropping next day to 10. 

Having said that, the country side is  like an open garden in bloom.

                                                              poppies under the olives

At the beginning of the month some of the first developing flowers of the vines were burned by the frost, but it seems that the second lot are now looking good. First and second pruning is now completed (vines)and the next step is to start taking off the excess growth at the bottom of the plants and then tie them securely to the wiring. 

On the vegetable side, potatoes are developing well and new lettuces, cabbages, onions are also growing. Courgettes planted at the front of the house have now a few new leaves which is a good sign of healthy growth. Tonino has bought more vegetables today (19/4) and with Lesley we also planted more peas and French beans which are already appearing out of the ground.

                                                 New vegetables to be planted. 176of them.

 Not all,  but  a few almond trees have plenty of almonds on them already at a good stage of development. This year we will finally be able collect them having had none in the previous three.

                                                           new almonds. still green

                                            Fig trees have also started to show  new fruit.

                                                                       Figs starting

On the 12th we went to the seaside house at Marazzino to do  3 days' work in one of the bedrooms as we are changing a window, and previous works were poorly done by the builder at the time. 

                                               preparing the opening for the new window

This Saturday we are going to help my brother to prune some olive trees in his wife's land. It will be a day of work between 4 or 5 of us. The place is in Esporlatu, a small village in the Goceano area.

I am keeping cutting excess growth from olive trees and preparing big piles to be burned as soon as possible. Also we still have lots of old vines to be cleaned and cut to size for the stove in Oliena. This is a tedious job but needs to be done now as the vines and roots are now dry.

The 4 meter long root of an old vine. Vines are a very strong plant and roots can go very deep.

More work has been done between my brother Graziano and my Aunt Cicita's  land. We opened a dry wall section to facilitate the passage between the two pieces of land.

                                                                          Job Done

        

First broad beans and Lesley meditating under the olive tree in front of the house (encouraging the zucchini).

Sunset on our mountain Corrasi and Aunties Maria and Cicita preparing a king size meal for Easter day

Back in Sardinia

 After four months in Scotland we are now back in Sardinia. We have since heard that we left snow and cold in Drumnadrochit but here, although the temperature is around 12 / 14 degrees average in day time, the sun is shining, and the other day we reached 21 degrees at midday.  The overland journey by train and boat was pleasant and we looked in at the house in Marazzino for a quick check, Pietro and Andrea having come to pick us up from the ferry in Porto Torres. Lesley decided to stay  there for a while,  and I have started the routine work on the vineyards and some of the vegetables.

                                            Hanging out at one of numerous fountains in Toulon

First job has been to clean and prune the vines, weed the plants and plough the vineyard with the tractor. Some of these jobs have already been completed here in our land at Locoe. My brothers Tonino and Pietro have now started to do the same in the vineyard at Dule, a short distance away.

Some tools for the cleaning and pruning process. The small bottle contains alcohol for disinfecting the cutters. The big one contains the disinfectant for the plant when cut.

Our happy hens and the cockerel. While we were in Scotland, Pietro purchased a few more to add to the flock.  They are usefully occupying the orchard in front of the house, thriving on the grassy winter growth beneath the fruit trees.  They will also have plenty of space to scratch around in when the flowers and grass die back in June. Plus free manure for the trees!

Week Two: Vineyard pruned and freed from weeds. Next job is to replace the missing supports (bamboo from the river)and to put more tension on the metal wires to support the vines.

some bamboo prepared today (15/3/23) ready for replacing the missing ones.

Cutting bamboo from the river side.

Almond tree near the house in bloom. Fingers crossed this year we should collect almonds after  three years of failed harvests. The fragile flowers can be damaged by frost or wind but even when the almonds start to develop they are still delicate and subject to strong winds. The young almonds are green and soft ( called here cucuia) and can be eaten whole which means you are eating the seed and then two layers of protection. As almonds mature the top layer  becomes inedible and the second one will be hard as a rock. This one needs to be cracked to expose then almond seed as we know it when we buy it in the shop.

Yesterday( 14/3/23) we were making bread back in Oliena with my brother Tonino and aunties Maria and Cicita (81 and 77 years respectively). We make the typical Carasau bread. We also made some casadinas ( pictured above) which is a typical regional savoury made at Eastertime with fresh cheese. The other casadinas are made with fresh cheese but are eaten as a sweet tart. In some parts of Sardinia they are made with ricotta. These pictured above are about to be cooked in the open fire oven when the bread-making is over.

Potatoes Lesley and me planted last October. My brother thought that the frost had killed the plants but I am still finding them and enjoying.

          Some of those potatoes for tonight's dinner adding some wild fennel and spring onions.

Early morning in Locoe. The last three days have been very cold in the early mornings. Down to zero degrees. As soon as the sun is out the temperature will go up quickly.

Yesterday Andrea worked with the tractor preparing the vegetable plot. Soon we will start planting a variety of vegetables. We started yesterday by planting 450 potatoes.

An old house here in Locoe with the backdrop of Oliena mountain. A possible painting?

March has just finished and we have enjoyed very pleasant weather throughout, in contrast to last year's rain and cold. . Just a couple of drops of rain and some strong winds but generally warm and sunny.  

There was snow on Oliena's mountain last year at the beginning of April, so we would not be surprised if the weather changes and brings a cold spell. Rain will be more welcome but we will see. Recently we planted some broad beans and peas with an addition of few vegetables but then main crops will be planted in the next two weeks or so.

Work continues in the vineyards both in Dule and here. Second pruning ( a more selective one) has started in Dule and as soon as we are ready we will start here. At the moment we are burning last October's  cuttings (olive- and vine-prunings, chessa, and other undergrowth). This is needed before the usual ban on fire is imposed in the middle of May.

It could be that my attempt to return to the 'land of my fathers' has infected my brother Graziano, who recently purchased another piece of land which became vacant, adjacent to his patch of olive trees here in Locoe.  Although still working full time, he is champing at the bit to be able to retire, and has now  planted 16 fruit trees of 6 types, and three varieties of  grapes, 60 vines in total.  This project implies more work in the meantime, establishing the plants, but that's what Italian families are all about, it seems! (Lesley's comment).  As there is no water supply on this piece of land, we need to take the trailer weekly and water the new plants until they are established (for about 3 years??)

A trip out to the mountain

Day out on our mountain - May 2022

From our room in Locoe we look out towards the mountain that towers above the town of Oliena and a friend of the family, Davide, offered to guide us one day to explore a different landscape there....

The route we take up the mountain is a little tiring, but there are no navigational issues as it has become a popular destination for day-trippers, most of whom only make it as far as the car park at the top of the ridge.  There are stunning, precipitous views down towards the town and across to the provincial capitol of Nuoro.

View down to Oliena from the road up Monte Maccione

     At the top of Corrasi waiting for the rest to arrive  

                                                                             

View across towards Tiscali and Gorrupu

Our guide, Davide, leads us across the rocky terrain of the vast mountain plateau heading for picnic lunch at a shepherd's hut known as a pinnettu in Sardinian.

Big tree....
 

More typical, smaller trees....

'Su cuile Vilithi'(1,170m) appears, camouflaged amongst the rocks and low-growing vegetation, as it has been built using juniper wood and rocks from the surroundings...

The high point in any day is, of course, lunch - wherever you might find yourself.

Outside is the now disused enclosure for the sheep.  All around there are cracks and crevices between the rocks(limestone) in which we see that lots of species of flower and succulents are able to survive at the height of 1,463 metres (summit Punta Corrasi); there are a very stunted juniper trees and one large tree in a narrow gully that we passed on the way over.

Cyclamen...

Farming in a changing world

 Here in Locoe Land the rain has arrived. Welcomed.

Most of the vineyards around this area have been harvested and the rain has arrived at the right time to feed the dry soil and help the  (few) olives to mature further. I have started to prune the suckers at the bottom of the trees in preparation for the harvest of the olives which should take place sometime in late November or December. This is a job that is done at least once every year. In the past the area under the tree would be cleared completely, but today's way is simpler as we use big nets to surround the base of the tree as wide as the branches expand outwards. 

                          Before and after. Suckers growing  at the base of the olive tree.

 

Lesley transporting the cuttings to a pile. They will be burned at the end of October  when forestry rangers will give us the permission to start a fire. Restrictions on fires here are important as Sardinia suffers hundreds of fires every year in summer.

Here we are also starting to plant new vegetables with the hope that a moderate climate can help them to develop. Some crops were not successful earlier on as the heat was too great even if you were watering them every two days. Since we left last end of May there has not been any rain and temperatures were always on a daily basis above 35 with peaks of 45. Very difficult for any farmer to control these extremes. 

                                                        New vegetables in this morning

But still, some vegetables were successful and we still have tomatoes, aubergines, courgettes, basil, peppers and a few other things. As far as fruit is concerned, there is an abundance of apples and pears, figs and the perennial prickly pears..

Tonino had a delivery of farm manure so we have been weeding and then mulching the vineyards and fruit trees in preparation for their winter rest.  Hopefully there will be plenty of rain to replenish the vitality of the plants - they've had a thirsty time of it since April!

    The drying machine (for want of the correct jargon), has proved useful.  We have now dried the remaining tomatoes and bottled them in oil. Tasty!

And here are the figs ready to be put into the 'essiccatore'

We are already in the middle of October and the temperature has dropped by 15 to 20 degrees. Ground is wet in the morning and some mushrooms are already starting to appear. Last  weekend we went to see my  " ranger " brother and extended family. We planned to go for a a couple of walks in the hills around the village of Esporlatu (inhabitants 370 circa) where they live. The place is beautiful and surrounded by wooded hills. Esporlatu itself is around 600 meters above sea level. Unfortunately, like many other small villages in Sardinia and elsewhere in the continent, young people are migrating either to cities or abroad. Many of the villages  will be deserted by 2050. Only last month 8000 people left Sardinia. A haemorrhage that political decisions have a great responsibility for.

The walks were great and in wet conditions but we visited a couple of ancient forests, one of which is now unmanaged on an experimental trial. On the way we found several mushrooms which provided us with dinner for the evening.

Field mushroom

                                      In the Anela forest (managed by the forestry workers)

          Inside of one of the oldest and biggest quercus of Europe. The tree is in the Illorai area.

We also paid a quick visit to one of the many Nuraghi to be found all over the island.  This one is known Nuraghe Murones.  They are thought to be three and a half thousand years old.....

In the meanwhile here in Locoe we have started to plant broad beans, peas  and potatoes. Also the collection of goji berries has started as the fruit is now ready for harvest. Pears are falling from trees and I am collecting them to be stored for the winter.

A couple of week earlier we made a new chicken house or a villa as we called it. 6 square metres of space for two chickens! Not the A4 space as in battery farm accommodation.. Outside the house the two fortunate creatures have 120 square metres of orchard to play in!

                                                                           Goji fruit

                                                                         Winter pears

                                                        The new spacious chicken house

This year my brother has decided to try to plant potatoes much earlier than normal. We had a couple of hundred potatoes from the previous harvest starting to sprout, so we decided to plant them now. It seems that finding potato seeds is becoming harder and harder. An order has been placed but there is no guarantee that we can get them. Only option left, which is a good practice, is to keep the seeds ourselves. We will see how things go with this lot.

                            220 potato seeds planted between 15th and 17th of this month.

Soon we will be leaving Sardinia. Lesley is already at the Marazzino house and I will join her this week end. Some work there has to be done in the last week before going back to Scotland. Some new doors, windows and shutters and fencing the garden to try to contain the wild boar which visit the garden often  uprooting water and electrical cables!

View from our roof towards the North-east and sea

At the seaside, autumn waterport enthusiasts in full flight