Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
We are part of a consortium of local hoteliers joined by same goal: to make the people know and love their territory. Through local and international trade fairs we are trying to promote our products and our territory. Before being a tourist company, we are a family of 6 people who contribute each one in their own, but with large interest and conscience to help its community. We contribute to the support of the most needy, devolving blankets and clothes into disuse, but without a deadline set, when we can we tend our hands.
We have been equipped with solar panels for over 10 years. The rooms and common areas of our Cilento bed & breakfast accommodation are equipped with energy-saving lamps. The guests are asked to have a careful compliance of the good rules of coexistence. The change of linen and towels is biweekly. Washing machines use water warmed by the solar panels. We produce handcrafted soap, as the old times, using animal fat (lard) or vegetable fat (olive oil), according to the necessity. We don’t always offer soap produced by us as a courtesy: it depends on which quantity we succeeded to obtain. Through proposals for local dishes, we try to let the guest know the traditions of the place. You can request or book “ancient” cooking lessons with related discussions on the origin of dishes.
We don’t use fertilizers or pesticides. We use natural fertilizers as the excrement of animals (not from hens, usually the cow’s one that we take from neighboring farmers) and fertilizers obtained by composting. We use natural traps in biological control, but more often we just eat fruit already bugged by insects. (The grandfather says it is a good test of the quality of the fruit!). In the garden we produce some authentic and selected cultivars. We respect the seasonality of fruit and vegetables and plant vegetables forever available in our lands.
We have 2 wells for irrigation of gardens and orchards, more than that Cilento is irrigated by the waters of the Alento’s dam. Many birds stop to drink in our biological lake during migration, but they stop just the time to rest. In accordance with the territory, my mother has provided to the sowing of the flowers for the most part indigenous or originating in these areas. Furthermore she has cured in an artificial dune different marine and wild flowers, trying to preserve their history. Around the resort there are fields where we still collect wild vegetables.
We recycle plastic, glass, paper, batteries and expired medicines. As for paper, glass, plastics we do a separate collection together with the community. Batteries and expired medicines get brought in pharmacies or in places used for their collection. Guests are invited to perform individually a collection of their waste. In the yard of our structure there are separate containers for the collection.
We have tried to restrict the use of paper in our offices, but it’s still present. We reuse the back of unwritten printed sheets for reminders, notes and so on. We are always helpful to give our guests all the information on our quarters, on sites of archaeological and naturalistic interest. In the rooms and in the salon is a wide range of material relating to the territory is made available to guests. More than that we have our own library provided with most known books about Cilento and its local authors. Guests staying at our Cilento bed & breakfast accommodation not only are made aware about which are the local products, but also where you can buy and taste them. Moreover, thanks to the presence of its "Cook Archaeologist" Tilde, we offer local antique dishes, which are also mentioned in Greek and Latin manuscripts. To encourage the use of trains (the station is a few Km) we reimburse the cost of any National standard fare ticket. In addition, together with the consortium to which we belong, we established a shuttle bus from Naples for guests arriving by plane. We also provide an opportunity to rent bikes from a shop near the farm.
We have two staff, cook and assistant, cook Assunta is the cook expert in local cuisine and Adelina is responsible for coordinating cleaners. They both come from Marina di Ascea, three km away from us. These people have our same traditions for which they do everything as if I were them. At first we worked together, now Adelina works alone, and I, Tilde, cook with Assunta. Pietro, from Ascea, 7 km from us, has rebuilt the exterior plaster and makes now the maintenance and he is the house painter. Giovanni, an electrician from Ascea, provided all the electrical equipment and each Christmas he transforms an Aleppo pine into a nice Christmas tree with all the lights; Tullio from Casalvelino, 6 km from us, made all hydraulic plants. We now have Luigi, from Marina di Ascea, who provided the recycling plant in the biological lake and makes the maintenance.
Among the organic products grown and produced by us appear "cultivars" ancient and protected as "Chickpeas of Cicerale", several ancient native fruits, such as" Limoncello or Ice apples". We have also reasessed various antique dishes still proposed in Cilento, such as the "goat cheese", "Cilento chickens", "pittima". Our farm is a biological farm: the products not produced by us are bought from farmers in our acquaintances, favoring biological products. The wine is bought from my brother, Antonio Vecchio who has a large vineyard on the property of my father in Cicerale 40 km from us. The flour for making bread and pasta at home, is bought at Capizzo, a small village, where there is still one of the few artisanal mills. The wheat comes from Cilento or Avellino. The vegetables are produced mainly in our garden. In our company we also have goats, whose milk lets us make a typical cheese called "cacioricotta" (Slow Food Presidium).
We buy the meat from the butcher Luigi, who sells meat of animals coming from this area, often bred in the wild and with all the certificates. Our village, together with Pisciotta 10 km away, is famous for anchovy fishing, with the "menaica" (Slow Food Presidium). On the other hand, we buy from the guys of Mandia, a small village 10 Km from us the wild strawberries and wild asparagus. We produce at home the “limoncello” (with lemons), the “finocchietto” (with fennels) and other liquors. We try to build a future on the history and the experience of a land and search its strength in the ancient culture and the people who live here. For us, tourism is environmental sustainability, social and economic!
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