I recently went with Heather Jarman from Sapori-e-Saperi to the very beautiful agriturismo, Alle Camelie, in Pieve di Compito, just outside Lucca. It takes its name from the gorgeous camellias growing on the property. Most of the trees flower in spring, but luckily for us the sasanquas were covered in blooms.
The property has been in the Orsi family for centuries and lucky guests get to stay on a working farm in magnificent old buildings with heavenly views over the surrounding Lucchese countryside.
The family also grows grapes and makes excellent wine which we enjoyed with our lunch. (more on that later)
Grape picking is finished now and soon the vines will lose their leaves for the winter.
The main reason for our visit was to learn a little about olives and to try our hands at picking the ripe fruit. Augusto Orsi took us for a walk through some of his 4,000 olive trees. There are 3 varieties grown on the property, frantoio, pendolino and leccino, each grown for their different properties.
Augusto, with Heather translating, told us about his olives. The farm uses biological methods, which means, among other things, no artificial chemicals are used on the plants. All prunings are put back into the earth to help the soil nourish the trees.
These blue bags hanging in the trees attract male bugs and the poor little critters are sterilised and sent on their way. It is not a complete solution, but it helps.
We were given some instructions on olive picking and we headed off to the trees with nets spread out under them to catch our picked olives. The picking is all done by hand. For us it was fun and not too messy. The olives come away easily from the branches and they are clean and dry. I’m not sure we would feel the same after 4,000 trees.
The nets are put under the trees on the day of picking and the olives are pressed as soon as possible after the fruit is picked for the best results.
Augusto also showed us the equipment used to press the olives to make the oil. The new method may not sound as romantic as the old stone presses, but we are assured that the resulting oil is much better.
We are taken into the olive grove to see the drainage system for the terraced land. It rains quite a lot here in winter and the terraces would wash away easily if not for the ancient solution. The terraces slope towards a trench which carries the water safely away. The trench and the dry stone walls were put in place a couple of hundred years ago and still work very well, with lots of maintenance of course.
It is absolutely beautiful in the olive grove, and it would be tempting to lie down in the green grass and gaze at the blue sky.
But something very important called us…….lunch…..cooked to perfection by Elena Pardini.
The first course was a delicate white bean soup, followed by delicious ravioli (which I gobbled up before I got a photograph) then tagliata, delicious vegetables and salad.
The red wine was also made at Alle Camelie.
A heavenly fruit crostata followed.
Thank you Inge (below) and Augusto (and Heather) for a great day.
Alle Camelie….Via Della Pieve, Pieve di Compito
Telephone (39) 0583 55505
What a treat, Debra! The olives look picture perfect and there is no doubt that their products must be superb. I would have loved to see the large camelias in flower, perhaps you may go there in spring and take a few pictures. The food looks superb…and it must taste great.
By: mulino dominillo on October 27, 2012
at 9:40 am
The whole town takes part in a camellia festival in spring. I will have to go.
By: Debra Kolkka on October 27, 2012
at 1:15 pm
Heavenly Debra, absolutely heavenly! How I would have loved to be there with you and Heather!
By: janinevasta on October 27, 2012
at 10:58 am
One day…..
By: Debra Kolkka on October 27, 2012
at 1:14 pm
Your day in the olive grove with lunch afterwards sounds great.
By: Karen on October 27, 2012
at 11:31 am
There is so much to do in this area, I will never run out of things to do…..and tell you about.
By: Debra Kolkka on October 27, 2012
at 1:13 pm
Thanks for the many, many joys in this post. Wow … what a place! … and to end it with such a great lunch!
By: aFrankAngle on October 27, 2012
at 12:04 pm
We had a lovely day there…..it must be fun to stay there.
By: Debra Kolkka on October 27, 2012
at 1:12 pm
The beauty of these places is heartbreaking. I LOVE that door. And…tell me about those vegetables. What on earth are those vegetables? Somehow, not very recognizable…
By: The Daily Cure on October 27, 2012
at 12:15 pm
Pumpkin, potatoes and leeks……delicious.
By: Debra Kolkka on October 27, 2012
at 1:10 pm
Reblogged this on unwillingexpat.
By: unwillingexpat on October 27, 2012
at 1:27 pm
Aah, made my mouth water 🙂 Those olives look plump and beautiful! Fabulous images Debra!
By: Madhu on October 27, 2012
at 2:39 pm
Alle Camelie is a beautiful place. I am very lucky to be able to do such fun things.
By: Debra Kolkka on October 27, 2012
at 8:25 pm
Gorgeous gorgeous, the meal the olives the wine and that black door, I loved that black door.. another great post, i do so enjoy your blog.. c
By: cecilia on October 27, 2012
at 6:06 pm
Thank you, it seems I will never run out of great things to write about on my travels.
By: Debra Kolkka on October 27, 2012
at 8:25 pm
Wonderful photos. That soup looks so delectable. 🙂
By: adinparadise on October 27, 2012
at 10:15 pm
The soup was delicious. White beans are a speciality of the area, and very good.
By: Debra Kolkka on October 28, 2012
at 6:22 am
That sounds like it was such a fabulous day out! I love your door photo (my obsession!).
By: Where's Wiwi? on October 27, 2012
at 10:52 pm
Door fascinate me too. I have hundreds of photos of them…..mostly green.
By: Debra Kolkka on October 28, 2012
at 6:22 am
To follow the olive picking and visit with a meal like that sounds absolutely delightful! 😀
By: Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella on October 28, 2012
at 10:41 am
What a fabulous way to spend the day. Stunning photos as usual…the olives look amazing as does lunch!
By: jenny@atasteoftravel on October 28, 2012
at 1:38 pm
I hope I can do this next fall with my group. A few years back I stayed in a house right down the road form here and it is such a lovely area.
By: paninigirl on October 28, 2012
at 3:43 pm
I will take a second Paninigirl trip to Italy in order to pick olives with Sapori-e-Saperi at tis beautiful farm. What a great addition to your fabulous itinerary.
By: Patti O'Callaghan on October 29, 2012
at 1:47 pm
Goodness, but you have an “awful” life 😉
!!
By: Lu on October 28, 2012
at 6:05 pm
I manage to cope.
By: Debra Kolkka on October 28, 2012
at 6:11 pm
Lunch looks lovely. I hope the weather in your part of Italy is better than it is here in Lake Como- still even cloaked in mist and rain the region is beautiful.
By: Just Add Attitude on October 28, 2012
at 6:26 pm
The weather here is just awful and doesn’t show any signs of getting better. It is probably just as well for me. I leave in a few days and this is encouraging me to stay home and get things in order.
By: Debra Kolkka on October 28, 2012
at 7:28 pm
I am totally jealous and wishing to be there with you guys!!! LOL!
Such fun – and food – makes for a perfect day.
By: Our Kitchen Inventions on October 28, 2012
at 6:33 pm
Heather always organizes great things to do.
By: Debra Kolkka on October 28, 2012
at 7:28 pm
What a wonderful day! I can see some of your olive pictures in large-size glicee on my wall 🙂
By: Karen Overton on October 28, 2012
at 8:46 pm
It was fun and you realise how much effort is put into making great olive oil.
By: Debra Kolkka on October 29, 2012
at 5:21 am
Fabulous post and photos 🙂
By: Travelbunny on October 29, 2012
at 8:40 am
I have this place posted under “my most favorite day”-My then 8 year old and i had a glorious day at this estate, I still have some of the lavender massage oil, but we ate the olive oil up quickly!!! Thanks for these pictures to remind me of this glorious day.
By: Melonie Carideo on October 29, 2012
at 3:47 pm
[…] Continue reading here: Olive picking and camellias « Bagni di Lucca and Beyond […]
By: Olive picking and camellias « Bagni di Lucca and Beyond | Arounder on November 4, 2012
at 7:36 pm
Over thirty years ago I picked olives in Crete, by hand, with donkey and nets for several months one winter. We lunched on lentils and raw onions chopped in for flavour, a litle different from your beautiful meal, but the spirit of the olive groves is special wherever they are. Thank you for prompting my memories xx
By: Joanna on November 5, 2012
at 8:49 am
We didn’t have a donkey, I feel I have missed something.
By: Debra Kolkka on November 5, 2012
at 10:46 am