Italy: September and October - home and garden

At the end of our time in Italy it was a satisfying feeling to be able to enjoy a tidy garden and raise a glass to a productive period there.  It wasn't all work as there were days when we were able to go out or spend time with family, but this post is about those days when we were at home.

After an early breakfast we were in the garden.  A girl went jogging by up the lane at the same time every morning before returning and effortlessly running back up the hill.

Baby snails munched at the young vine leaves.

A colony of adults were crammed into a space between the branches of the oleander and jasmine bushes.

Early morning was a good time to take a walk in the garden especially as most of the time I was working indoors. I was thankful for the sunshine streaming in through the windows. I did get rather obsessive about cleaning and sweeping!

Some of our fruit and nuts - table grapes, apples, end of season figs, hazelnuts and walnuts.

All the hedges and trees needed a drastic pruning and thinning out. The fruit and nut trees are fine, but we're rethinking what to do about the ornamental trees as they've grown too tall and bushy.  I don't like the idea of cutting down healthy trees, but that's probably what we shall do with them next Spring.

Meanwhile we hired the local logger who, with his wife, has a wood yard and logging business across the way to come and cut down the fir tree. When we first planted the fir tree the electric pole was much thinner and not in the same position on our land, but now the branches are a nuisance and the thick trunk is too near the high retaining wall.  It needed an expert to come and fell it and it was fascinating to see him make steps of the branches in order to climb higher before cutting off the top and then slowly working downwards.  Finally he cut up the branches for us, but then my husband had to split the logs.  It had to be done before the wood hardens off and even so it was hard work to cut up the bigger logs and then store them.  Thankfully a brother-in-law came to help.  We shall be glad of the logs especially as the hard wood will burn slowly and last longer in the wood burner.

                         Small branches were stacked outside and the logs stored in the garage.

 It wasn't all work and no play.  Next time I'll write about one of our visits to a local town.                       

         

September/ October Update

Before our time away in Italy some of the produce we had been given or grown was bottled or stored and the rest left for our daughter to pick and use. The last tomatoes were brought in this weekend and there are still quite a variety of vegetables to harvest. They'll be welcome during this week when we have family around during the half term school holiday.

                                                       (The beginning of September)

                                                         (this weekend - end of October)

Regular readers of this blog will know that we've been going over to our home in Italy when we get the opportunity, usually in the Springtime and Autumn. Now that our family commitments are beginning to change we're able to spend more time there, which is certainly a better way to live so that we can manage the maintenance of the house and land and get into a more relaxing routine.

However, it's still a challenge to look after the land when we're not there all the time even though a brother in-law regularly tends the grape vines and his wife looks after the house. Our generation is getting older, less mobile and this year the weather has been very unsettled with days of rain then days of sunshine. As a result the rough grass has grown even higher than usual and for everyone food production has suffered especially the olives and grapes. We were prepared for some hard work in order to get the land back into shape and freshen up the house. We also had the grapes to harvest as well as family gatherings and a village festival to enjoy.

This was the garden when we arrived and after all the hard work done during our time in March it was a question of starting all over again. However, this time we hired someone from the village to come with his tractor and cutter to do the job that my husband might have once attempted with a scythe and then a mower.  (There was still plenty of other work to do pruning and trimming the trees and bushes).

We were up early every day and I never got tired of watching the sun come up from behind the wooded hills as each morning the sky and the colour of the distant mountains looked different depending on the weather which, fortunately, remained dry and sunny apart from one morning of rain showers and another when it was dull and cloudy.

When the time was right for some of us to get together we helped one another bring in the grapes and start the wine making process.

More next time.......