Pergolas

Getting there

 From Wikipedia:

A pergola or arbour is a garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained. 

I would argue that woody vines and other climbing plants are almost invariably trained on any pergolas worthy of that name...

The pergola is the ultimate 'garden feature' which tends to be both functional and decorative. I assume pergolas have been around for a long time. The Chiostro Verde of Santa Maria Novella, in Florence, has a wonderful depiction of an early renaissance pergola. 

The Perfect Woodstack

Zen 

and the 

Art of Building a Woodstack

How to fool a bumble-bee

...and further your species.

The other morning while hanging out the washing I spied an interesting flower bobbing in the grass. It had three mauve petals and was being plundered by a bumble bee. Or so it seemed.

 

On closer examination the bee turned out to be part of the flower which was a tiny orchid.

A Rose is a rose is a rose

Roses in May


In a 2013 post Roses are pink , Le Ripe's roses were introduced; here is the next chapter.

  My inherited cultural references being at least partly British, I usually associate the optimum blooming of the rose with the month of June, but here at the 43rd parallel north things start getting exciting in mid May; this year some summery weather has accelerated the excitement.

Pizza in Chianti

The Requisites of a Good Pizza

We have had an outdoor pizza oven at Le Ripe for one year already but it is only now that we feel relatively confident about our pizza production; we still have to be tested for large numbers.

Below is a summary of the 10 most important things we have gradually learnt about making - and eating - this Neapolitan specialty.

Slow Food in Greve

 Greve does it again

You cannot deny that Greve is bursting with initiative. Last weekend it was the Flower Show, this weekend the town is hosting its annual Slowfood market which highlights the produce of a number of Italian Comuni or towns, from Grumes (Trento) in the north to Positano in the south. 

that lovely backdrop again, plus a stunning sky this weekend

Greve's Annual Flower Market

Greve in Fiore

Once a year at the beginning of May Greve's beautiful piazza is enhanced by serried ranks of flowering plants.

Found in Woodpile

Nest eggs

Uncovered in woodpile, roughly-woven nest of moss, straw and wood shavings with six tiny eggs. Might be redbreast or starling eggs?

If anyone reading this blog can identify the eggs, please send us a message.

Walking from Radda to Volpaia

Cross-country Commandoes

our goal: the hill town of Volpaia, as seen from the hill town of Radda in Chianti. Volpaia is the cluster of buildings just visible below the skyline slightly right of centre.

Our guidebook Walking and Eating in Chianti* is 10 years old, but we depart Radda confident in the knowledge that Volpaia will be visible from most of the route: we can overcome any potential problems 'navigating by sight'.

Leaving Radda is easy enough, the guide's description extremely precise. It is a perfect day for a walk, warm but with a breeze, sunny but with occasional clouds.

The way is lined with grassy olive groves dotted with wildflowers

Wild herbs and weeds for lunch

Country lore and the table

The 4th Sunday of every month a small organic market is held at Greve in Chianti where almost all the produce is local. The market is called Il Pagliaio which literally means straw rick or stack.

Fresh bread and other baked goods, herbs and spices, preserves and jams, cheeses, wine and oil are all on sale. One or two stalls also sell their farm-grown vegetables. And one stall in particular, run by two soft-spoken farmers, husband and wife, specializes in fresh herbs and edible 'weeds' gathered in the countryside. 

strigoli, clematis vitalba sprouts and wild asparagus

Spring Report

abundant clematis armandii: and the perfume!

It may seem trite, but the joys of spring, the return of vitality to our world never cease to delight. A small record of it seemed in order. 

Chamois of the Alps in Chianti

On Goats and Cheese at 

Podere Le Fornaci

first glimpse of Podere Le Fornaci from a cypress-lined avenue which leads to Villa Calcinaia and Podere Le Fornaci

Since the year 2000, 30 hectares of farmland just north of Greve in Chianti have been home to an increasingly large herd of chamois goats. 

 

the podere (Tuscan name for farm) with its goat huts below the hills

the farm from near the river flats where a large basin (right) has been created to collect floodwater from the Greve river; otherwise it is used for grazing

the younger of the only two billy goats at the farm; the beard and the thicker horns are the giveaway. This individual is one year old; his name is Canederlo; the older one is called Elvis