Slow is Good...

Part of the Case Vecchie Garden. It's big. We have Cyprus trees

 Slowing Down in The Garden

At the bottom of the estate lies the Case Vecchie garden, where I spend most of my time pruning, digging, planting, forking, foraging, hauling, cultivating and maintaining the peace. It's a slow process. Weedy terrorist cells like Oxalis officinalis ( family of Wood Sorrels, often confused with clover. Most kids know it as sour grass - small trumpeted yellow flower? you know the one...) keep me occupied.

Garden bed with thyme, lemon and mint

Any gardening guru or plant bible will tell you NOT to rip out Oxalis. Its seed pods are not only designed by nature to explode, but their root systems snap at the slightest provocation. They are the IED's (Improvised Explosive Device) of the plant world. In fact, their physiological structures even looks like tethered explosive devices! As for not ripping it out of the ground? Well, if I carefully separated all of the Oxalis, removing its many fuses by the root, I'd be in Sicily for the next 20 years, in the same garden, disarming the same plant. It's a meditation that requires a slower approach than what I'm used to. It's a good thing. "Weeds" can teach us a lot if we listen. 

Oxalis articulata - Pink Wood Sorrel

 Like all things, gardening is about the cultivation of relationships. And for all its bad press, Oxalis actually has many redeeming qualities. For example, Native Americans used to eat varieties of Wood Sorrel or Oxalis on long journeys as a way to suppress thirst. And sailors would eat the stems during extended voyages as a source of much needed vitamin C. It also belongs to a plant family that contains hundreds of now hybridized cultivars grown as well-behaved, very beautiful, ornamental's. Oxalis articulata or pink wood sorrel, is one of my favorites. It's amazing what we can learn by going beyond surface value judgements. Could be a Oxalis or any other "weed" in the garden, but a small amount of research yields some really interesting facts!
 

Green House Lovin

When I'm not negotiating with the Oxalis, I can be found in our very tiny green house where I've been busy propagating Salvia's from cuttings and planting seeds. It's been so long since I planted anything, I've had to re-learn some of the techniques. I can hardly remember the last time I planted a seed and expected it to grow haha. Common questions like "How deep should the seed be planted?" "How many seeds per hole?" and then I start to panic. What if they don't germinate!? What if they protest and refuse to sprout? The packages say to plant 2-3 seeds per hole.

My creations! Cilantro, Chives & Companion Plants

I plant 6 just in case... And every day for the last two weeks I've carefully inspected my creations, hoping at hints of growth, hints of life.

Finally, yesterday after 10 days (as predicted by the packages) cotyledons have nosed their way through the surface of the potting soil!! Which is more exciting and more stressful then the initial planting! I am now responsible for the life and death of around 50 seedlings....I feel like I'm the lead surgeon in a medical drama where every day I whisper with a furrowed brow, pointing at each sprout " Don't you little f*ckers die on me!" "We can do this....we can do this together! "We have the power, we have the energy!". I don't actually act this out...but the drama inside my head....is real - part zen, part Tony Robbins and part Paul Giamatti (because he brings the kind of intensity I'm conjuring up and I think it's funny). So far so good. Hopefully my little plant buddies will make it to the field this spring. What will be come of these seedlings? Food. Mostly herbs. Mostly delicious. I'm not a huge fan of dill...

Compost bin!

One of my other responsibilities here at Case Vecchie is to help maintain the compost bins. A delicate balancing act, composting requires good sources of nitrogen and carbon. Not too much green material, not too much food waste. Rotation is very important. Once the pile starts cooking and the organisms do the Harlem Shake, the last thing you want is an anaerobic (smelly) pile of rotting waste. Again, this is a process is slow. it takes time for the food and beneficial organisms to mingle, to dance and to cooperate. The result (in theory) is a gorgeous soil mixture that is reused in the garden, adding the nutrients back into the soil. And it's this endless cycle that makes gardening, farming and cultivating so important a concept to grasp. Nothing, not even the Oxalis works in isolation. It's all connected. Mutually inclusive. This begs the question, what lessons could we learn from sustainable relationships in our gardens that could be transplanted to the creation of more sustainable businesses? Cultivating sustainable business solutions, slowly.... A topic for another blog.

Fabrizia on the left, Patrizia in center and Linda Lou on the right

 The Ultimate Remedy to Anti-Aging

Last week the Case Vecchie team had the distinct pleasure of hosting Dr. Patrizia d'Alessio at the school. Patrizia is a long-time friend of Fabrizia and for the last two decade has been busy innovating in the field of molecular therapeutics. After years of research studying steroids and synthetic, anti-inflammatory drugs, she finally decided that it was time to find a new, natural anti-inflammatory molecule.

It took her five, slow, years and a lot of science that I wont get into here, but she found one! It's so top secret, I can't even tell you where this molecule can be found. If the science is correct and the clinical trials on cancer, inflammation and aging are positive, it could be a game changer for people who want a natural way to prevent and treat anti-inflammatory related illnesses. At the Case Vecchie food lab, we brainstormed on ways this molecule could be infused with different types of food, delivering long-term health benefits to people. Dr. d'Alessio is an awesome lady who's committed to helping people live healthier, stronger lives. 

Gelato taking form!

                   Homemade Gelato
 My Italian experience wouldn't be complete if I didn't learn how to make gelato! One evening while we were again, in the food lab (we spend most of our free time there) sou chef, Linda Lou threw together a delicious vanilla gelato using REAL extract (Vanilla pods soaked in alcohol). I was mesmerized by the process. I'd always wanted to learn how to make gelato, so I quickly took note of the ingredients and began fantasizing about what my first batch of gelato would be. How it would taste.

Vanilla with Toasted Wild Fennel Seeds

With vanilla already being my favorite ingredient, that was definitely going to be in the recipe. Finding the second ingredient could have been easy as most flavors go well with vanilla, but I wanted something a little different, something unusual and unexpected. Would wild fennel seeds work? Would the vanilla compliment the fennel? Playing with the flavors in my mind, I had to find out.

Three hours later, I had my first batch of gelato. And it was surprisingly good! Of course I would say that having made it, but seriously, for my first attempt, the combination seemed to work. Even Fabrizia approved. Add a drizzle of vino cotto (delicious cooked wine sauce = divine) and you've got yourself a direct line to God himself.

I was so excited about my creation that the next day I made a new batch, this time using vanilla and madarino jam! Yes, that's right, jam made from mandarins grown in Sicily. I was going for the 50/50 orange creamsicle flavor I had loved so much as a kid. Now, it goes without saying that I'll pretty much eat any ice-cream I produce, but pshh, despite it being a little icy....I think I nailed it. Are they really any good? Who knows...but I feel like all those years of eating weird food combinations, that most of my friends made fun of me for, is finally - slowly - revealing itself in my ice-cream concoctions. For better or for worse! Next on the list is Bergamot extract and Rosemary! 

Whether I am in the garden or I am playing around in the kitchen, the idea of "slow" is slowly re-teaching me how to focus and concentrate. There are no real shortcuts to planting seeds or tilling a plot of land. It's one seed and one step at a time. For a person like myself who's mind happily ebbs and flows, distracted by the tiniest of stimuli, having the grace to be a beginner and move slowly through this experience is teaching me that those small steps add up. For now, I'm perfectly content with slow.