Experiences/Harvest
ALMOND AND PISTACHIO HARVEST
In the 50’s and 60’s the territories of the Sicanian Mountains were full of almond and
pistachio trees. Over time the fields have lost their importance and people often dedicated
their labor to an easier source of revenue. Today, after decades, people have rediscovered
the value and importance of agriculture and of work connected to the land; more and more
families have returned to cultivate the land through great sacrifice and effort in order to
ensure a more secure income. In this context, pistachios and almonds, are the crops that
best ensure a good income for the family after the conclusion of a regime of production.
During the day you will spend time with a farming family while helping them in the harvest.
We will have lunch with the same family in the countryside.
OLIVE HARVEST
Olives and olive oil are now an important resource for small families as they still use olive oil
to barter for access to other goods, or simply to sell it to other local families, but also to
northern Italian families or abroad. Today the number of foreign guests that ask for a
shipment of olive oil after the experience is steadily increasing. We will dedicate this day to
one of Sant’Angelo Muxaro’s families, helping in harvesting operations with curtains and
sticks. We will eat with the same farmers who will also prepare the lunch for us. At the end of
the day they will bring the freshly harvested olives to the mill for milling where you can taste
the freshly produced oil on a slice of warm bread.
GRAPE HARVEST
Around here the vendemmia does not take place in large expansive vineyards and the
owners are not large companies which then also deal with bottling, labeling and marketing in
general. Here the grape harvest involves families that produce wine for themselves and often includes friends and relatives. Obviously we will spend the whole day with those families and consume lunch together.