Turkeys in Italy
30 November 2009
Happy (late) Thanksgiving!!! Spannocchia celebrated with a feast fit for a king…or pilgrim as tradition would have it. As happens every year on the farm, guests, friends, interns, volunteers and staff convened in the villa dining room to celebrate the most American of holidays, albeit not on the actual day. The afternoon started out with Enzo tending the fire and, in turn, bruschetta which would be rubbed with garlic and topped with our olio nuovo for all to sample (lucky us!).
The herd eventually ambled into the dining room where one and all were welcomed with a delicious squash and porcini soup followed up by roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas and, of course, cranberry sauce (thanks to an always prepared Francesca who had brought back the hard to find berry from a recent trip to the States!). And what Thanksgiving feast is complete without the requisite apple, pumpkin and pecan pies? It was a delicious meal shared with warm company that everyone, German, Italian, Canadian, Australian and American, could equally enjoy!
A presto…
It’s HERE!!! The best time of the year has arrived…first press 2009 olive oil is on our tables! After a week of on again off again picking due to rain, team Spannocchia headed to the mill to oversee the pressing of the first 300 kilos of olives of the year. The group watched from start to finish as Spannocchia olives were cleaned, crushed, pressed to produce a brilliant green, almost neon, new olive oil. Most mills include a room adjacent to the pressing area where an open fire blazes so that oil makers may toast bread to sample the oil as it comes out of the press. Spannocchia interns and volunteers were more than happy to take part in this tradition and were shocked and awed at how wonderful the brand new oil tasted. It is truly an amazing (once a year) treat! 
Fall in Tuscany is synonymous with mushroom hunting. Every local seems to have a secret spot and know just when to head out into the woods to find these treasures of the season. Though porcinis are most commonly known in the area, tons and tons of other types can be found including chanterelle and the famed truffle, both black and white. While the last few years have been a bit too dry to coax out a good amount of any sort of mushroom in the Spannocchia hills, there are still plenty of interesting ones to be found. Interns were lucky enough to hook up with a group of mycologists from the States in order to get a better sense of what mushroom hunting is all about first hand. This incredibly gracious group of hunters took the group up into the hills of Perugia where they were taught what to look for, how to harvest and some basics on differences between species. A fascinating, not to mention beautiful, day. Examples of the booty can be seen here…thanks to Liz for the wonderful photos!
Two major events have occured in the greater Spannocchia area within the last couple weeks, giving everyone lots to talk about. First, a couple Fridays ago the new Coop opened in Rosia. For those that have not had the chance to come to Spannocchia yet, the Coop was/is the main grocery store (granted, its a big big chain) in Rosia, the closest town to the farm. Our Coop was quite small but sufficient enough. Times have changed, though…the new Coop is, by common standards here, HUGE! Not only are there more organic options, but the cleaning and slippers sections have doubled in size leaving shoppers dizzied with choices. Most of Spannocchia made it down for the big opening on Friday which included the mayor, a priest, a band and some clowns…che festa!
Later that day we welcomed another addition to the community…a baby donkey!!! The donkeys are, of course arguably, the cutest animals on the farm. The Asini Monti Amiatrini, a rare breed indigenous to the area, is a fuzzy, dark brown donkey with wonderful big ears and a little black stripe across the back/shoulders. Floppy, our new additon’s mother, is watching carefully over our yet to be officially named baby in the giant fields out towards the Castiglione. Che carino!!