This farm was founded in 1954 by grandfather Giuseppe, while some years later, his son Giovanni Rustici, who we met at the farm, took over the farm. A few years ago, he in turn let his sons take charge of the farm, while he’s mainly occupied with growing organic vegetables and fruits and some other tasks. In fact, the farm is totally organic, meaning that they have to, among other things, avoid using pesticides and artificial fertilisers. In addition, the sons of Giovanni are living proof that also young people, or at least a few of them, dedicate themselves to agriculture.
During our visit, we were free to roam freeely around the farm while we were waiting for Giovanni Rustici to guide us. In the meantime, we went to a rudimentary fence inide of which a group of about 50 pigs were walking around freely. Two sows were lying on the ground, each of them nursing a group of piglets, which changed irregularly from suckling and running around here and there. Actually, I visited the Rustici farm at Easter in 2009 with another teacher from the Terramare language school. Then, Giuseppe Rustici, one of the sons of Giovanni mainly showed us how they were raising cattle for meat and milk.
A short distance from the pigs, young calves were inside a fence, lying on the ground and ruminating, while the youngest ones were inside tiny buildings, getting used to staying away from their mothers.
When Giovanni Rustici arrived, we paid a visit to the slaughterhouse where a worker was cutting up pig’s meat in order to make sausages. Next, we went to the farmhouse dairy where another worker was removing mould from the surface of cheeses by means of running water and a brush. We also went to the farm shop where the wife of Giovanni was selling products of the farm to a customer. She told us that they make various types of cheeses and yogurt twice or thrice a week.
Finally, we followed Giovanni to another part of the farm where a huge ox called Palino was grazing all by himself on a field. Giovanni picked up some fresh grass from the ground and held it out for the ox to eat it. Having approached Giovanni, he got some fresh grass and a caress on his big, shaggy forehead.
Next, we followed Giovanni to a quite big field some kilometres from the farm where he’s in charge of growing a wide range of vegetables organically. Some of the vegetables were growing in greenhouses, but the major part was growing outside. During our visit, a worker was collecting celery and Giovanni put on his belt with a knife and whetstone, doing the same type of work for some time. He also showed us that these plants are full of fibres by dividing them longitudinally.
Next, we followed Giovanni to other parts of the field, which looked surprisingly well tended given that it was in the middle of November. Lots of varieties of vegetables were growing in rows, while I had expected that the field would lie more or less fallow until next spring. During our visit, there were some ibis birds, which were eating parasites from the plants, according to Giovanni. It’s worth having a look at this photo, which shows the impressive range of fruits and vegetables grown at this farm.
All the vebetables, which are being grown on these fields, are sold in the well-assorted farm shop together with meat from their cows and pigs together with milk, cheese, yogurt, olive oil, red wine, various types of pasta and so on where all of it has been made at this farm.
