Teaching farm at Agriturismo Il Poggiolo

Agriturismo Il Poggiolo is well adapted to numerous outdoor activities such as gathering fruit, wild herbs, taking long walks in contact with nature, with the presence of farm animals.
The courses offered, besides demonstrating these, also inform about the cultivation and transformation of wheat into bread, olives into olive oil, and grapes into wine.
It is also possible to experiment with making homemade bread.
Emphasis is placed on the observation of nature and the activities of the farm. The main objective of these is to learn more about the territory, seasonal productions, and above all the traditions of rural life.
In this way our guests can participate in the old fashioned values of farm living.

We show how wheat that we cultivate is made into homemade bread.
The wheat is sown in the Autumn and harvested between June and July. The blossom of the wheat is the spike at the top of the plant, from which come the kernels, that are taken to the mill and ground, to obtain flour.

How to prepare bread: the ingredients are flour, water, yeast and salt.
The ingredients are mixed until the dough is homogenous and elastic.

The dough is allowed to rest for 50/60 minutes to allow it to rise, then it is placed in the oven.

The olive harvest normally takes place between November and December. We harvest our olives manually. Once harvested, the oil is extracted. This involves four phases:

• washing of the olives to remove solid sediments.
• crushing or the grinding of the olives to make a paste.
• kneading to keep the paste homogeneous and to keep the oil from separating from the solid parts of the paste too soon.
• extraction which is done through meccanical means to divide the oil from the solids and water.

The oil that is extracted must be stored in steel tanks, away from light and air.

Grapes are the fruit of the vine and are harvested manually between September and October.

Once harvested, the grapes are sent to be made into wine.

First the grapes are pressed to make "must" which includes the liquid part (grape juice) and the solid part (grape skins and stems). Then, the must is pumped into the fermentation vats where grinding and fermentation is done. When the fermentation process is complete the wine goes through ageing and bottling processes.

Besides visiting the animals, we explain their importance in the old fashioned farm life, and the correct methods for raising them.

Discover the numerous fruit trees that surround the Agriturismo, learn the planting techniques and the health of the trees, and eat the freshly harvested fruit.