Back in Puglia

In April we finally returned to Contrada Papariello to find the place in not bad shape despite being neglected for more than four months.  The fava beans Sue had planted before we left had produced an abundant crop and the weeds were soon brought back under control with the rotovator.

But the most time-consuming task in the maintenance of our little acre of Puglia is the pruning of the olive trees, an especially important task this year as the tree-killing disease xylella fastidiosa advances from the South and one of the only ways to stop the insects that spread it is to keep the land clear of growth and the trees well maintained.  This year we used a fairly new technique, paying our neighbour Paolo to help, which is like having a turbo-boost as he can prune approximately five tress to our one.  While he was at it he also felled our big old walnut tree, which was diseased and we’ve been meaning to get around to removing for years.

After the big prune our land was covered in olive cuttings which we burnt over several days.  It’s a strangely satisfying business burning olive branches as the leaves are oily and when the fire really gets going they go up rapidly with a whoosh of flame and a loud crackling noise which makes me think of the burning bush in the Bible.  Day after day we returned to the house in the evening smelling of sweat and woodsmoke and stinging from the small burns from olives leaves that had been blown skyward by the flames and then floated down as a ash to prickle our skin.

 I don’t share Sue’s passion for growing stuff but have developed an affection for this strange artichoke like beast.  It’s an old type of vegetable popular in the middle ages called in English a “cardoon” and in Italian “cardo”.  It just suddenly sprung up in an unexpected place on the edge of one of Sue’s vegetable plots a few years ago and has grown there ever since.  Right now the heads have burst into a hairy mauve flower which is very attractive to bees and other insects.  Perhaps one day it will take over the World.