Olives and Chestnuts

The Tower Still Leans!

After another rest stop in Florence and a couple of dazzling daytrips to the quaint villages of Lucca and Pisa (yes, where the Leaning Tower resides!), The Prancers decided to part ways for a couple of weeks to gain independent experiences on 2 types of WWOOF farms.....

JILL:

So, I DID get to fulfill my dreams of working on a real olive farm! Marco, a friendly tuscan olive farmer, graciously took me in as a volunteer to help with this year's olive harvest. Upon arrival, I met Marco and his two sons, Fausto (18) and Aaron (16) whom were amazing guys! Also at the farm were 2 other young couples there for the tenth year to pick olives ("oliva" in Italian) and even a 3 month old baby with one of the couples.

Jill with Matilda and Carlo

We had such a fun time sharing languages and learning so much from each other, not only about olives, but also about life. The process of picking olives was quite relaxing, not much more than draping a very large net under the tree, climbing up in ladders with a special type of cutting mechanism for dead branches and a plastic tool to scrap the olives off the high branches, and then pouring all of the green and black olives spread out on the net into crates to take to the

press.

The relaxed atmosphere of the farm and my kind fellow pickers allowed for me to learn so much about the olives and their beautiful rich lime green oil. I even got to go to the press and watch the process of "olio d' oliva" being made from start to finish -- including driving that young oil home and spooning it onto anything edible each and every day! What a treat! I have never experienced the bitter sweet flavor of the lime green oil that was produced on the farm, which I luckily made it home with too!

Other than working leisurely on the farm, I passed the time reading, talking with my friends (whom were from Italy and Switzerland and had MANY similar interests), going to a natural hot springs in the rain, roasting chestnuts and sitting by the bonfire, picking vegetables in the garden, cooking, and going on long walks in the tuscan hills. I feel very lucky to have experienced life on a working olive farm. Thanks, Marco, for taking me in as a WWOOFER!!! And another special thanks to Matilda, Carlo, Ansel, and Alessandra for their continued efforts to exchange both mixed languages and everlasting friendship on the farm.

TOM:

While deciding upon a WWOOF farm to work at you are ultimately taking a random chance. Jill and I have learned this very point throughout the numerous times we have looked through the farm list and chosen a place to work. Some farms can be disappointing while other farms make the experience well-rounded and interactive by doing a number a different activities. Sharing stories, keeping the work varied, providing extra activities that bring everyone together, truly supporting the organic movement, but most importantly, making the atmosphere pleasant. Finding a farm like this is, more or less, a random chance and despite write-ups from the WWOOF brochure, you have no idea what to expect upon arrival at a farm.

With the timing of the season and having already worked on a winery in Tuscany, the options of available farms were somewhat limited. As a result I went with a farm that left me completely in suspense as to what to expect. This being, picking a chestnut harvest in the eastern hills of Tuscany on the border with Umbria. The owner was a German-speaking Italian (he also spoke Italian and a little bit of English --- although his English was way better than my Italian) from the region of South Tirol, a gorgeous area in the north of Italy that borders Austria. Toni picked me up from the bus stop and as we began our introductions while arriving at the base of his magical land, named Podere Tepolino, I instantly knew my upcoming experience would be rich. The land is the epitome of what I would expect a WWOOF farm to be: huge vegetable garden, natural spring running through it, a forest that was once an Etruscan settlement with an ancient stone road running through his private land, a stunning Tuscan stone house completely rehabbed by Toni himself and the best part --- 3 donkeys that fight with each other! Toni made mention that other WWOOFers would be joining me but I had no idea who, when or how many of them would be arriving. Later that day a man from Munich and a girl from Canada arrived. In addition, later that week a girl from Israel and a woman from northern Italy would also arrive, forming our group of six for the next week and a half. The meshing of different cultures was truly amazing and the conversation never seemed to halt.

The work was truly perfect as we sifted through the forest in search of the best chestnuts. At first we would grab every chestnut in sight and the next day sort them out based on size and whether or not they had worms. This went on for the first week, a day picking followed by a day of sorting. The second week we became more selective in our gathering and left the worm filled nuts to the bonfires that would later fill the air. The work was never dull and although my back and hamstrings were tight from bending down on a constant basis...the fresh air, the Tuscan sky and the serenity of the setting made for the passing time to fly by. This was only half - if not less - of the experience that I want to share.

Our time away from the work was always varied and full of fun. Our evenings were normally filled with incredible, fresh meals, nonstop conversation as Toni and Victor (the man from Munich) would make the rest of us die with laughter and several of the nights, bonfires where we would roast the best chestnuts we gathered earlier that day. Every day Toni would give us something new and unique to do as he never wanted our experience to become dull or predictable. A master of the African Djembe drum himself, Toni pulled out his collection of percussion instruments on several of the nights and created the perfect jam session for those of us interested in joining him. Being someone that's always tapping on the table or steering wheel myself, this was literally music to my ears. Toni would start by giving us a chorus line beat and once we had nailed it...he would provide us with a little freestyle. Inevitably we would lose our train of thought and ruin the base line - ultimately leading to intense laughter on our part - but Toni would bring us back together as our hands were flailing around the animal skin surface. None of us had ever taken part in this type of group style drumming before but the experience was lasting as I have since then driven Jill to complete insanity with my nonstop "beats." Apart from drumming lessons, cooking class (another daily activity), riding the horse and/or donkeys, searching for wild mushrooms and/or the donkeys when they escaped once, grabbing coffee in town or knitting scarves - as you can see, the experience was rich and fulfilling - we simply enjoyed the setting in which the land is situated. There truly is something special about Tuscany and I know both Jill and I understand that more completely now. The two weeks flew by and the people I met there were simply wonderful. I thank them all for making the experience fulfilling but most importantly, real.

A special thanks to Toni for inviting people of all ages to experience the glory of his land. The land stirs up emotions in one's heart because of the natural beauty but also because of an ancient presence that is so evidently felt. The night time skies were always mesmerizing, the sunsets continually captivating and experiences always changing. A perfect time to return to nature and its purity.