Organic Mountain Farming in Val Germansca

Bella Baita View-
looking into Val Germansca

Recently we spent the day over the river and up the road in Val Germanasca, which is the mountain range that we gaze at every day from our balcony. Spring is such an incredible time of the year to explore in the mountains, as the greens are so varied as the forest leafs out. The wildflowers begin to make their way into the meadows in earnest and the hills are truly alive.
Since I started this post, the greens have moved on to luscious solid green and the wildflowers are plentiful and everywhere. We got busy here at the baita and I really haven't had time to catch my breath or gather my thoughts to share all of the interesting and fun things we have been up to, but I will back track a bit. Val Germansca has been hiding from us lately so it nice to share some of the mountains' charm with you from our visit to Franco Peyronel's organic mountain farming operation.

Farming is never easy, given the fact that farmers are held hostage to mother nature's mercurial temperament, but when you add some altitude, then you are upping the mercurial factor quite a few more notches. Franco's family have lived up around 1,000m (3,600ft) in the Gemanasca valley family for several generations, doing whatever it is you need to do to make a living and feed your family. There's never a shortage of things to do, projects in progress, animals to feed, milk, clean up after, or even butcher, crops to plant, harvest and put up for what can be some long, cold hard winters. Never a shortage of things to do.

Peyronel family farm in the Germansca valley

His parents still live up in the mountains in a neighborhood where most everyone is related to him and certainly everyone knows him. His family has long kept some animals for supplying the family with fresh milk, cheese, eggs and meat when needed and selling off the surplus when there was some over the years. Franco is married and lives in town, but has always helped his family with their various farming endeavors. Three years ago Franco decided he wanted to farm organic fruits and vegetables on his family's land.   

Some new strawberry plants

With that in mind, he with his family's help, mostly his Mom, put in over 1,000 strawberry plants and blueberry bushes too. Potatoes, who are native to the Andes mountains and a perennial favorite for most mountain dwellers, round out his crop selection, as it is usually a reliable crop. Our mountains are no exception and produce some wonderfully delicious potatoes and so, he's growing those along with other crops who can thrive in a cooler climate with a short growing season. With all the rain we have been having I hope that reliability holds true this year.  We bought some of his lettuce a couple of years ago at one of our town festivals ans I was so impressed with how beautiful and tasty it was. We have been trying to get on his ever expanding list of recipients. Organic produce is increasingly in demand here in Italy too and Franco's produce is worth seeking out. I really admire his hard work because being in the mountains means that flat land is at a premium and terracing plots is the only way to go to maximize his land to produce organic fruit and vegetables.  

Franco Peyronel and Fabrizio

I imagine many of these plots were terraced many years ago, as if you look closely everywhere in our mountains there are hand built rock walls holding up what would have been some family plots and now all that remains are the stone walls after the families have died out or moved on.  It's nice to see these terraces being extended, maintained, and brought back to their former usefulness. It is a joyful sight to behold.

some of the families terraced plots

We wish him continued success and I am looking forward to being the recipient of some of the fruits of his labor. Waiting for the mountain produce means you have to be a little more patient as it's behind the crops of the valley and plains, but that makes the eating all the more delightful and I am looking forward to that. 

When we were looking for his place we stopped to ask someone where exactly his place was. Turns out it was his grandmother and so as we headed out for our other appointment, we stopped and Fabrizio asked if we could take her picture. She obliged and and so here is his 92 year old Nonna. I hope to be able to share one of her favorite recipes one of these days, but until then I am enjoying her photo and wondering about all the stories she could tell about her mountains and her life.

Nonna at 92

Euro Gusto 09- Tours, France

 

"Bernard...elixir... dal 1902"

I'm finally back home from visiting my family and friends in the US and our promotional trip to the premiere, biennial edition, of Slow Food International's Euro Gusto 09 in Tours, France, so I just might get back on a regular blogging schedule. Goodness knows, I have plenty of things to say, and even some interesting events to say them about! One can certainly hope.

The last few days working at Euro Gusto 09, has been another wonderful, affirming experience. We traveled with our friend, Enrico Bernard of Bernard Elixir, to help promote his families' local mountain liqueur business, bringing his range of secret family digestive recipes, or elixirs as they are called, to a broader audience. We did the same back in March in London, but this event has the distinction of being a Slow Food exposition, and with that, you can rest assured that the products are of the highest standard, produced or grown with uncompromising integrity with respect for tradition and sustainability. Fabrizio and I created our TEM Association with the express purpose of bringing wider recognition and more tourism to our "off the beaten path valley", while supporting our fellow Val Chisone mountain businesses and encouraging sustainability and ecological practices.

In the words of the Euro Gusto organization, 

"The new event of the international movement “Slow Food”, Euro Gusto is held in alternating years in the City of Tours in the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Loire Valley in France. Euro Gusto presents a unique opportunity to...

• discover and purchase quality food products from across Europe and France and the “Centre” Region;
• understand the cultural, economic and environmental implications of food that is “good, clean and fair” and, 
• Learn to be an informed customer, supporting an environmentally sustainable food system 

We know when we attend any Slow Food events, like our local Torino Salone del Gusto, we will meet interesting and passionate people, producing foods from near and far that I never even knew existed. The diversity of offerings is staggering and inspiring. I always leave with not only a bag full of goodies familiar and not, but a renewed sense of purpose to achieve the highest level of quality myself that we are capable of achieving with our food from our locality. Make sure to seek out some local events in your area, you'll be surprised as to what is being produced in your backyard. Or you could even tailor a visit to one of our European events for a taste of the exotic and familiar. I know you won't be disappointed. Our Torino Salone del Gusto, next year runs 21-25 October, 2010. Mark your calender.
It was such a pleasure to participate in an event with such diversity and quality. As usual the attendees were as interesting as the participants and the crowds were manageable so you could  sample the many wonderful cheeses, cured meats, pastries, chocolate, oysters, wine, digestivi, vinegars, organic fruits and vegetables, marmalade, breads, fleur de sal, butter caramel, and  on and on.... Such diversity should be shared, so I put together a slide show of many of the participants to give you a healthy dose of what was on offer and maybe just maybe tantalize you into putting a Slow Food event on your calender.We'd be happy to point the way.

Salone del Gusto & Terra Madre 2008

To say it was sensory over load would be putting it mildly!

A week has come and gone, more guests have come and gone, and yet the buzz of Slow Food's Salone del Gusto 08 still lives on. That is, at least for me, especially when I break out some of the delicious foods and products that I bought during my long day out. I continue to attempt to do something with all of the photos of and videos of the music that sprang up spontaneously through out the massive series of halls. The sounds are great and give a good feeling for the event even though the videos all seem to be out of focus. It's clear I haven't used that feature much. I have enjoyed reading about others experiences and thoughts on this event. I will list a few links at the end of the photos to some others blogs.

We came in with our friends the Bernards whose Genepy and Barathier are uniquely flavored mountain beverages enjoyed throughout the Italian and French alps. They were the only producers to receive the Slow Food's Maestri del Gusto award this year.

Sampling oysters and smoked fish from northern Germany as well as Beba Beer's newest seasonal brew

Colorful pasta from Torino

Chocolate from America, Boston in fact, well actually via central America.
Taza Chocolate
buy their chocolate directly from certified organic farmers. They process their chocolate minimally using Mexican stones to grind their chocolate to give a very unique chocolate. I found the 85% bar to very sweet and flavorful and unlike any their type of chocolate I have had. Their chocolate nibs were extremely tasty, which reminds me, I need to go find the bar and nibs I put away for a rainy day.
It's been raining all day, so you know what that means.

Gorgonzola

The many ways with Pork

And of course the many ways of cheese.

This aged French cheese drew and maintained a crowd throughout the day and night. All of these cheeses were aged at least 2 years and up to 5 and with it's unusual gray exterior it generated much interest.

Even though I spent the entire day and evening there, I still felt like I really didn't do it justice, as I found I just wandered around and maybe didn't dig into the products as deeply as I would have liked. Oh well, there's another chance to in 2 years. Maybe by then I'll have a better camera as well.
David Liebovitz summation of his first visit to Slow Foods Salone del Gusto, captured my feelings on the event quite succinctly.
...."this isn't an elitist opportunity to congratulate ourselves on our ability to appreciate organic arugula and lardo, but the opportunity to taste foods from all over the world, meet the people who produce them and learn about their cultivation. And in many cases, rally for their preservation."

Related Links
Salone del Gusto 1 (David Liebovitz)
Salone del Gusto 2 (David Liebovitz)
Slow Food's salone del Gusto (Ms. Adventures In Italy)
Slow Food Fair (FXcuisine.com) I can't seem to make it link
Salone del Gusto 2008 (YouTube )

"Frutto Permesso" The Permitted Fruit

Staying on a theme from the whole Slow Food/ Terre Madre experience.... We made a visit to Il Frutto Permesso while my nephew and niece where here.
In addition to my nephew being a full time artisan baker, the family has a small organic vegetable production operation, "Little Hands Organic Vegetables" which the whole family works together and and they also oversee their local community garden that is adjacent to their operation. Their young daughter is quite the experienced little hand, general organizer and trainer of people new to their little operation. She knows where all the tools are kept and helps identify some of the pesky pests that need to be persuaded that this isn't the right place for them. But I digress...

We took them to have a look around this wonderful cooperative, Il Frutto Permesso, just out of the mouth of our valley in Bibiana. What a welcome we received and a great tour during this busy time of the year. Dario took the time to show us all round their operation even though they were still in the thick of harvest time, and they were hosting 20 Ugandan farmers that evening for a tour of operations and dinner featuring their fabulous products. The original 4 families of the cooperative started in 1987 to meet the EU standards of certifiable organic and have picked up more farms and families during the ensuing years making a total of 12 farms. We continued our tour over to Michele's farm, where he has been in the apple business on this family land his whole life. I asked him how it was the first few years when they started to make the switch to organic. He said the first year was devastating as they didn't know enough about how to control the pests and they lost almost all of their crop. The next year improved as they got a handle on how to control the pests naturally. Now he says it's so rewarding to see his vigorous apples and other fruits flourishing again. The changes in the environment have been very rewarding also. It was contagious to see their genuine enthusiasm for their organic way of farming now.
Between the 12 farms all aspects of food production are covered from cereal, fruits and vegetables to animal husbandry. They make a wonderful line of juices , fruit and vegetables, cheeses, salamis and mush more. They have added a very far reaching education program mainly aimed at children from day trips to summer stays. They was a double decker busload of high spirited children there during our visit. Tomini production was well underway (a local ricotta style specialty) and a long line for the pony rides. It looked like some place I would have loved as a kid!
Well, come to think of it I wouldn't mind staying there and enjoying dinner as well.
That too is possible.