Life on a Tuscan Farm

This Saturday, November 25th, we celebrated Thanksgiving Spannocchia style. The turkeys were already in the oven at 4am and all morning the wonderful aroma filled the air, prompting nostalgic sighs from ex-pat Americans and interns alike. The meal, hosted by Spannocchia owners Randall and Francesca, is a special American-Italian way of saying thank you for all the hard work of the staff throughout the busy guest and farm season.

The feast started with bruschetta and olio nuovo (new olive oil!) in the fattoria, and special crostini made by Daniela. Then on to the sit-down lunch for 70+ guests prepared by Francesca and her many helpers beginning with huge portions of lasagna, and followed by all the traditional Thanksgiving fixings such as turkey (2 huge birds that barely fit in the oven), stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas, squash, cranberry sauce and topped off with a huge buffet of all kinds of pies and cakes and of course espresso and a shot of grappa to help digest all that wonderful food. A presto!

Castello di Spannocchia is the nonprofit education center located on the property at Tenuta di Spannocchia. The Castello hosts a wide range of educational activities including a residential internship program, education and enrichment programs, school visits for local children from the Province of Siena, collaborative dinners with the local Slow Food convivium, research projects that use the property as the base for environmental and historical research, and seasonal events for the local community.

Program participants are housed in two wings of the Castello - the Fattoria and the Villa - in double bedrooms with private or shared baths. Each facility has its own distinct character, and each room has a different feel - many of our returning guests request their favorite room on repeat trips to Spannocchia. The kitchen at the Castello provides meals for program participants, interns, farmhouse guests, residents, and staff, using primarily ingredients that are grown, raised or produced at Spannocchia, and the menu features traditional Tuscan recipes.

The staff at the Castello provide a warm and informative environment that encourages guests and visitors to explore the rich historical and natural gifts that the property has to offer.

Daniela, our Castello Director, is the glue that holds Spannocchia together. She wears many hats, from organizing the menu in the kitchen, to leading visiting school children on walks to find wild edibles on the property. She also organizes all of the activities and scheduling for the education and enrichment programs, and helps to lead the Italian Table program, a week-long tour featuring local food and wine producers.

Carrie, our Education Director, knows everything there is to know about running an Internship Program. She is responsible for everything related to the development and coordination of the Internship Program, and has been on a field trip to virtually every place of interest in the Province of Siena. Carrie works with Daniela to organize the school visits, and also handles all of the label design for our farm products.

Marta, our Housekeeper and Day Cook, is a dynamo of cleanliness and creative cuisine. She prepares all the rooms for guest stays, and cooks lunch for our programs. Her recipes will be featured in the vegetarian section of our new cookbook, coming out next spring.

Graziella and Gaetana are our Dinner Cooks. They have a special touch with our vegetables and can turn even the toughest wild board meat into a tender stew with tasty polenta. Graziella’s tiramisu is to die for, and Gaetana is always ready with a quick smile and a taste of whatever is bubbling on the stove.

We are lucky to have such a fabulous group of dedicated people to run the Castello and make our guests’ experience unique, welcoming, and educational.

Buono. Pulito. Giusto. Good. Clean. Fair. This is the three legged stool on which the food of the future should be firmly based according to the 2nd edition of Slow Food’s Terra Madre conference. The event brought farmers, producers, cooks and scholars from every continent (148 countries!) to this revolutionary “world meeting of food communities”. Six members of the Spannocchia community were among the more than 6000 participants of Terra Madre held in Torino from October 26-30, 2006. The delegates had a chance to meet one another, share stories of food and farming, attend seminars and taste the world on a plate in the Salone del Gusto held concurrently just a 2 minute walk away.

Some of the most interesting topics during the 5 days were: biodiversity, wild resources, water management, eco/ agro tourism, quality products, GMO food, to name a few. Some favorite speakers included Indian agricultural activist Vandana Shiva, food writer Michael Pollan, and the founder of Slow Food Carlo Petrini, along with top Italian government officials. However, some of the most moving speeches were given by people whose names are not “significant” in any circle except their own, but whose stories are profound. From an Israeli woman working to employ Arab women from her community in agriculture to promote dialogue and trust between the two groups, to Native American foragers seeking to protect their identity and the abalone that has been a main food source for thousands of years, to a Sicilian manna producer searching for lost species of trees to attain a special product.

We are excited to have made even more connections to the Slow Food movement and look forward to continuing to host events and promote involvement with Slow Food on the local, national and international level.

The Spannocchia Foundation was formed in February 2002, with the intent of supporting conservation, research, and education at the Tenuta di Spannocchia, an 1100-acre organic agricultural estate in central Tuscany. Our vision is to become an internationally recognized example for sustainable development in rural areas and an educational center for students, scholars, researchers, artists, and others committed to preserving cultural history and the environment for future generations. The Spannocchia Foundation has its administrative base in Portland, ME, but Foundation-sponsored activities take place at the Tenuta di Spannocchia, near Siena, Italy.

Mission: The mission of the Spannocchia Foundation is to encourage global dialogue about sustaining cultural landscapes for future generations through the example of the Tenuta di Spannocchia.

Areas of Interest:
Natural resource conservation.
Local ecology.
Sustainable agriculture and forestry.
Cultural history including crafts and the fine arts.
Traditional land management practices.
Farm based education