the farm
Agricultural use has changed significantly during the last hundred years; due to introducing chemical fertiliser and mechanical working equipment, the productivity has increased while the number of people employed in the field has decreased. Today, 3% of the population produce food for 97% of consumers, who are employed elsewhere. Agricultural farms have become specialists, who produce certain natural commodities, which then most often are processed other places.
We would like to return to an "antique" understanding of agriculture, where food is produced and processed gently and biologically at one place, so that we know exactly where the food on our plate originates from.
Agricultural use has changed significantly during the last hundred years; due to introducing chemical fertiliser and mechanical working equipment, the productivity has increased while the number of people employed in the field has decreased. Today, 3% of the population produce food for 97% of consumers, who are employed elsewhere. Agricultural farms have become specialists, who produce certain natural commodities, which then most often are processed other places.
We would like to return to an "antique" understanding of agriculture, where food is produced and processed gently and biologically at one place, so that we know exactly where the food on our plate originates from.
Our organic farm spans 54 hectares, 1 km north of the lake Lago Baratz and 2 km east of the beach Porto Ferro. The rolling hills are surrounded by an infinite panorama and make for a stunning view, especially to Capo Caccia, the peninsula with wonderful rock formations.
When we "stranded" here in 2009, we found a field that had been leached out through 30 years of mono culture. The field was unbalanced, dystrophic and eroded. Since then, we have been working intensively with regenerating the micro-organisms and humus. We have turned around the production completely, so that there`s an annual rotation between grain and legume cultivation, green manuring and fallow areas. To counter erosion, we handle the clayey soil carefully, exclusively in favourable conditions and following the lines of the hills. We installed a gentle canal system to work against the marshiness of the lower areas, without draining too much of the precious water. Spacious areas are planted with lucerne, which will enhance the soil for 5 years with its profound taproots. We have started to rise anti-pollution groves, hetches and fruit trees. Their numbers are supposed to increase steadily, and they also serve as protection against the wind. Knowing where our food comes from, is important to us. That is why we grow our own vegetables and only eat meat, cheese and eggs that have been produced on our land. Naturally, we feed our animals exclusively with self-produced hay and crop.
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Our main object at the moment is the cheese making. Around Christmas our goats (20 at the moment) give birth and the milking season starts. We produce "caprelphia", our version of Philadelphia (MUCH better!! see recipe on products-page), cream and butter, ricotta, fresh "primo sale" and "cacioricotta", "fiori sardi" aged for around a month, "caprembert", paneer and yogurt. Looking forward to buy a steering machine to produce norwegian "brunost", mjam!!!
