Le Sorgenti Week 3

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Our final week at Le Sorgenti was a relaxing one, we had some tasks to take care of which we mainly did in the mornings so that our afternoons could be spent exploring the countryside around the farm. Our main job that week was to continue clearing some thorny brush and we succeeded in making a huge pile for burning, it was roughly 4m wide and 3m tall. The last night before Costel left for Romania we made a gargantuan pot of vegetable stew. Costel gave us complements on the stew although we knew he would have liked it better with some Carne(meat). The stew was so massive that we ate some for either lunch or dinner for 5 days straight. James had to finish it off in the end with three bowls; Emily could stand no more on the fifth day. Another one of our tasks was to show Dario the ins and outs of taking care of the goats and buffalo. He was quick to pick it up and a great help throughout the week, even giving us our last morning off to freshen up and tidy up the casa. Grazie Dario.

The weather was chilly in the mornings but the sun was out a lot and our afternoon walks were quite nice. We found a great trail behind the farm that lead us through the woods, past a cute little river with lots of trout and to an amazing abandoned property. This property was fun to explore; it had a large swing on a tree and a tire swing hanging over the river. We both took our turns on each of the swings and even swung together on the tire swing. The property even had its own hand made badminton net out front. As we explored the area we were lucky enough to see some of the local wild flora and fauna, deer, lizards, birds and fungi to name a few.
On the afternoon before we left, we got our work done early and James had a great idea to have a picnic at the secluded abandoned property. Our picnic consisted of a cabbage and mustard salad that Emily whipped up, cheese, bread, olive oil and of course some vino; it was a delight with perfect weather!
Our final night was spent with Monica, Dario, Riccardo, and Cuchilia. Monica, Antonio’s sister whom lives downstairs from the main house, graciously invited us to dinner on our final night and cooked us a fabulous meal of vegetable pasta, cheeses, bread, olive oil, and several amazing pastries. After dinner we spent some time talking with Monica and Dario, it was a nice, relaxed conversation which we enjoyed very much.
Monica is an amazing artist with several of her pieces displayed in the agritorismo rooms and all over her house. She began her career in Milan and since has lived on the farm for the past 5 years. The following day Monica drove us to Grosseto to the train station and thanked us for all of our hard work and invited us back anytime we were in the area. We will truly miss the farm and all the amazing people we met and became friends with. We may visit them again after our visit to Sicilia to help with the trimming of the grape vines. Hope to see you all soon! But first to Roma!

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Comments

[greenleaf]

great blog
The pics and text are inspiring - aloha bg