Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
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The farm where you will be staying has an organic certificate. There are three hundred olive-trees which provide all the olive-oil used in the kitchen. Ducks and pigeons are reared for the table, hens lay eggs daily and a well-stocked garden provides fresh vegetables. Other food is bought in a a nearby farmers’ market. Chianti wine comes from local vineyards and only Fairtrade tea and coffee are used.
The farmhouse has been carefully restored using local materials: chestnut wood for the beams, terracotta for the floors. All the furniture has been bought locally. Oakwood for heating the house is brought from the Chianti hills: there is a large fireplace in the sitting-room and a woodstove in the kitchen which heats most of the house. All the water comes from a spring on the farm.
Jenny is an active member of CAI, the Italian rambling association, and helps to find and maintain paths all over the countryside. All riders and walkers are encouraged to recognise and respect the local crops and to refrain from leaving litter (the horses sometimes let us down in this respect, but what they leave is strictly organic). Jenny likes to teach the local children not only to ride but also to recognise the trees and flowers of the area, while Eraldo, the BHS instructor, tells them about the deer, the porcupine and the wild boar that roam the woods, as well as the birds: in spring it is common to hear hoopoes, bee-eaters and golden orioles, while the nightingales sing day AND night!
Everyone working on the farm is Italian, except for Jenny and her German colleague Michaela, both of whom have made Italy their home for many years. Pietro (83) presides over the kitchen but most of the cooking is now done by his son Sergio and Franca, a buxom local lady. Marco, Sergio’s son, does part-time work in the stables and Eraldo is our ebullient instructor and guide. Nicholas, Jenny’s son, is assistant editor of an ecology magazine, but finds time to help Jenny out when she has problems with her computer (frequently).
During this programme we either ride or walk, making as little use as possible of the car. For example, we walk to the tower of Galatrona (instead of driving there). The tower is kept open by local volunteers to whom however we do give a donation. The next afternoon we take the train to Arezzo.. Jenny teaches her guests enough Italian so that they can buy the tickets, and also advises them how to avoid expensive choices of journey.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
