Tag: pigs

Kovács Mihály -Pig farmer

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We met Mr. Kovács at a parking space because the road from there to his farm was only passable for a 4WD. Having entered his car, he drove us up a hillside, sometimes feeling that we were moving more sideways than straight ahead. Having arrived at his farm, we could see a haphazard collection of fences, enclosures, buildings, a silo where a man was working and lots of mud. Fortunately, he gave me some simple plastic covers for my shoes, else I couldn’t have entered his farm.

Mr. Kovács has one assistant, a man who has grown up on a farm and is used to handling animals.

Mr. Kovács has about 350 pigs and 500-600 poultry consisting of hens, chickens, guinea fowls, geese and pheasants. He was raising mangalitsa pigs as a hobby for 15 years, then it turned into a full-time job since he likes working with animals and being in nature.

He’s running an organic farm cultivating organic cereals for pigs and he got an official license in 2021. There are only 3 certified breeders in Romania since there are very strict requirements for pig farmers, and he had to build a wall down to solid ground around his farm.

When he wanted to start his farm, people from the nearby village had made an illegal garbage dump which had to be cleared first, and he had to remove 50 trucks of garbage. Next, he hired a company to find water which was located at 89 m depth.

All the pigs are living inside a pen with an electric fence to keep them inside and bears outside. They must be inside the enclosure because they can be dangerous to people. Besides, bears can attack the pigs. They are free to walk where they want inside the enclosure, parts of it being turned into muddy fields by the pigs.

The piglets were kept for themselves in a shed.

There is a 180-year bloodline of the mangalitsa pigs, no artificial insemination is done, instead letting the pigs breed by themselves. The farmer shouted for the pigs to arrive, but only the small ones came, while the big ones were satisfied with eating acorns somewhere else.

In hot summers, the pigs prefer to stay in mud baths.

A meat processing unit, where mostly mangalitsa pigs and game meat is used to make cold cuts, is located in the city of Sepsiszentgyörgy/Sfântu Gheorghe a short distance away.

Some male pigs are castrated when they are 2-3 months old, and they will be slaughtered when they are 24-28 months old, while the rest are used for breeding.

Some hens and other poultry were inside fences, while a group of geese were wandering aimlessly wherever they wanted.

I have visited another man, Mr. Sándor Huba , who is also raising mangalitsa pigs.

07/10/2024
Sárig Attila- farmer, part II

Leading two cows

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I went back for another stay at Attila’s farm. The children had grown a lot since last time and a small girl had been born since last time I was there.

The kitchen garden near their house had potatoes ready for picking and a man with a horse should plow the potato field, but he didn’t arrive.

In the evening, I followed Attila to a pasture where some cows and calves were grazing. All of them came when he called, the calves jumping and running, being playful and full of energy. He had bought two calves from Tirol and they should be more robust against diseases than the local cattle.

Playful calves

The cows went inside the building where Attila chained their necks, gave them cereals in a bucket, tied the tail to the hind leg, cleaned the udders with water and milked a small amount from each udder into a metal cup. Later, the contents would be given to the pigs.

Milking a cow

Next, he milked the rest into another bucket, pouring the contents through a filter into a stainless steel container each time he had finished milking a cow. Thereafter, he did the same procedure with the other ones.

Milking a cow

The cows were busy eating the cereals while being milked, even licking the bucket when it was empty. When all the cows had been milked, he let them out. In fact, they would stay outside all night inside an enclosure. The next day, they would be allowed to go other pastures.

Next, we went back again to a place where he had a bull to which he gave hay. Then, he entered the pigsty where he fed 4 pigs cereals, potatoes and pumpkins from the kitchen garden. Finally, he let them out such that he could clean it. Like the calves, the pigs also seemed very content when they were let out, running inside the courtyard.

Going for food

There were three types of potatoes, one red and two light brown or beige. They didn’t use any pesticides, but it had rained a lot and there was blight on some of them. Anyway, two of the potato types were good, while the third one was not good. The potatoes with blight would be given to the pigs.

On our way back, a horse was pulling a log being aided by a man who was using a tool to loosen the log, while another one was leading the horse.

A horse pulling a log

After sunset, I followed Attila’s family up on a hill above the village, listening for rutting deer. Unfortunately, I didn’t hear any deer, but Attila did. Obviously, his listening is better than mine.

The next day, his father’s cows were used as beasts of burden. He brought them to the kitchen garden and attached a yoke to their necks such that they had to stay side by side, added a piece of rope to be able to pull them and attached a plow to the yoke. Then, Attila led the cows and his father was plowing, everything at walking pace.

Plowing a field by means of cows

Using a mixture of encouraging commands and light strikes with a stick, Attila made the cows pull the plow, seemingly a very easy task for them, as potatoes were continually being exposed by the plow. When they reached the end of the field, his father detached the plow and Attila made them turn 180 degrees, making them ready for another round. The whole process was repeated until all the fields had been plowed.

Plowing a field

At last, Attila and his father were picking the potatoes by hand, sorting the big ones for eating, the middle ones as seed potatoes and the bad and small ones for the pigs. The amount of potatoes were enough for their families and the guesthouse.

Picking potatoes

Next year, the field with lucerne would be replaced by a potato field and vice versa and maize would be planted along the length of the potato field, like this year.

Various vegetables lying on the sides of the fields seemed to be irresistible to the cows, which ate whatever they could get with relish. Actually, they were always trying to eat whenever it was possible, in particular one of them.

When the plowing had been done, the cows were attached to some farm equipment and they were fed withered maize and turnips growing along the potato field. The hungry cow looked very content as it was eating the maize.

A hungry cow

Inside the courtyard of Attila’s family, a couple of ducks were roaming freely and a rooster was crowing from morning till evening inside the chicken coop.

It has to be mentioned that this village is acoustically interesting. During my short stay, in addition to the happenings described above, I could also hear people mowing hay, grinding their scythes, horses pulling wagons, cows being let out to graze in the morning, ravens, etc. I would like to come back and do field recordings. In the meantime, it’s possible to listen to these ones.

02/10/2019
La Scapigliata farm
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Going north on the Via Aurelia, we turned right when we were approaching the village of Talamone, then we passed the hamlet of Fonteblanda and going to the top of a small hill, we came to a group of buildings,. Having passed them, we were met by the owners of the La Scapigliata farm, Aurelia and her husband, who received us warmly. The name of the farm, meaning dishevelled, is derived from the former owner, who called the hair of his daughter scapigliata due to the ever-present wind.

Obviously, the owners of this farm love their work, which besides running the farm, has included restoring farm buildings dating from the 1900s in a skillful and original way. This work has been run by the owner Aurelia, who is an architect. It is striking how the huge building, which houses the restaurant and the spacious kitchen, was originally used for storing forage and hay, agricultural machines together with various products required to run a large cattle farm. She has also overseen the restoration of the barn, which was used to house cattle, The big trusses supporting the wooden roof are clearly visible, thw walls are covered with plaster and painted white, wooden boards cover the floor, all done with exquisite workmanship. Else, the troughs from which the cattle were eating, inclined floors with chutes made by red ceramic tiles and robust pillars supporting the trusses complemented our impression.

Moreover, there is an exhibition of Etruscan jewellery made by two local goldsmiths who tried to make exact copies of originals residing in museums, using only the techniques and tools, which were available to the Etruscans more than 2000 years ago. This prevented the goldsmiths from using any kind of magnifiers and not exceeding a temperature of 400°C, far below the melting point of gold.

Next, we entered the huge building, housing the restaurant and the adjacent, open kitchen where the husband of Aurelia had already started preparing our meal. During the preparation, we were free to follow and even photograph his activities. After some time, lunch was ready and we had the following menu:
- bruschetta with olive oil and garlic
- starter based on sheep’s cheese stored in pomace of Morellino together with various products from the farm
- soup with fresh vegetables and legumes
- pasta with tomatoes and basil
- beef stew
- peach pie
- digestive – Amaro Etrusco
In the tourist season from May to September, guests can also eat outside, weather permitting. In addition, jazz bands perform outside some weekends, making the experience of the guests even better.

We could also visit the following:
- the olive grove which had been harvested as early as September in order to avoid the olive fruit fly , which deposits eggs inside the olives in October. The olive grove consists of various types of olive trees whose olives mature at different times, leading to various degrees of maturation at harvest time.
- the vineyard, which was planted three years ago and has only given a tiny amount of wine for private consumption so far.
- A garden with solanales, legumes, strawberries, vegetables, cucurbita and aromatic herbs. Naturally, some of the produce from the garden is used in the kitchen as ingredients for meals for visitors.
Moreover, black pigs are raised at this farm (a cross between the race Large Black pig, Nero dei Nebrodi from Sicily and the local Nero Amiatino. About 50 adults and about 20 piglets which have been weaned are kept inside separate fences, while the smallest ones are staying with their mothers. The pigs are slaughtered when they are about 2 years old and weighing about 150 kilogrammes.

We also visited a group of adult pigs, which could roam freely inside a wide fence, but they had to stay inside an enclosure from dusk to dawn. Upon arrival, the pigs were hardly visible, but a worker called them, making them approach us after a short time. Mostly, they kept their snouts close to the ground, always searching for food.

It was a great pleasure to visit this farm.
04/11/2016
Szász Rózsika and Arpad – farmers

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Having visited Zita Tofalvi in the morning, later we went to visit Rózsika and Arpad Szász because they also live on the high level plain above the town of Corund. Both of them grew up in this area, but he worked for many years as an electrician in mines before getting a pension. Then, they lived in Corund before buying this farm.

The farm is located in a beautiful place, surrounded by wildflower meadows and deciduous forests, a neighbour was passing on a horse-drawn cart, songbirds were singing, a cuckoo was calling and no cars were passing. A rural idyll!

Since they were expecting us, we were served a wide selection of their home-made cheeses and bacon, while we got pancakes with urdă cheese with mulberry jam as dessert.

Having eaten, we were free to have a look at the farm where a group of hens, normal ones and Transylvanian ones with naked neck, together with a rooster went around pecking until they got fed cereals by Ms..Szász, who also had to tempt one hen and her chickens inside a coop with tidbits. One single guineafowl, which I was told, was used as an alarm in case birds of prey were approaching, was also roaming freely, but some poultry is taken by foxes or birds of prey anyway.

Three pigs were also being raised at the farm and they need to weigh about 220 kg when they are slaughtered. That is, they weigh much more than pigs, which are raised commercially, when they are slaughtered. While the pigsty was being cleaned, the pigs were let out one by one and they seemed very happy, eating grass and walking around the courtyard freely.

The Szász couple had 6 cows, all of which were grazing on a communal meadow, while a cowherd was looking after them, They were milked in the morning, then they were let out and they would walk with cows from nearby farms to a communal meadow and come back in the evening. During our visit, Mr Szász followed them home the last stretch, but when they reached the barn, each cow knew which cubicle to go to. Finally, both husband and wife milked them, while one male calf just had to suckle his mother’s teats. Having finished, he was hardly controllable and he was let out such that he could jump and run as much as he wanted, looking very happy.

Besides, the cows on this farm go outside twice daily to drink water from a spring in winter, making them in good shape and ready to go grazing in spring.

Having finished milking the cows, Mr. Szász brought the fresh milk inside the kitchen where it was poured into a container through a filter. Since they got milk twice daily, Ms. Szász had cheese mass in various stages on the way to become mature cheese. She grated cheese mass made the day before and put it in warm salt water, then she formed the grated mass into a clump, which she rolled into a sausage on a bench and tied it into a braid, She formed other parts of the grated mass into a flat piece which she extended, finally turning it a rose, showing us she is a real artist.

Regarding sharing of work, he does the repetitive task of churning butter, while she does the demanding task of making cheese with more or less complex shapes.

Some of the cheeses were mixed with oregano, cumin or walnuts and some cheeses were smoked in a small smokehouse next to the farm.

They also have a wood-fired bakery oven where they bake bread filled with mashed potatoes once a week.

They had three dogs and three cats, but unfortunately one dog had been taken by wolves the preceding winter.

Since winters are harsh and long in this area, they have to collect a lot of hay in order to feed their animals throughout winter. They only use cow dung to fertilise their fields because they can’t afford artificial fertilisers.

They grow potatoes and vegetables in a small garden near the farm, they have pear, apple, walnut and plum trees and they make rose hip and mulberry jam.

The pigs looked far from weighing 220 kg, but when they do, there will surely be a busy time after having slaughtered them. Then, the whole carcass will be turned into sausages, cold cuts, hams, etc.

All in all, it seemed like they took very good care of their animals and that that both man and animals were living in harmony.

07/06/2015
Sa Tiria farm and guesthouse

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Sa Tiria is located on land where members of the same family have been cultivating fruits and vegetables besides raising sheep and pigs for more than 100 years. About 12 years ago, they decided to build a guest house together with an on-site restaurant, all of excellent quality.

The area of Sa Tiria amounts to about 150 hectares, including the guest house, houses for the family, a garden, a barn for the sheep, a pen and a small pool for the pigs, olive forests, fields where they cultivate vegetables and fruits, meadows where the sheep can go grazing and fields for cultivating fodder for the sheep, in particular, in dry periods. The property also covers a large area of sparse trees with Mediterranean scrub.

There is also an abandoned quarry, where granite was extracted some decades ago, at the foot of the hill behind the farm.

The farm and guesthouse is located between the hill and the country road, while the sea is located about 1 km in the opposite direction.

Both the interior and the exterior of the guesthouse look very attractive, while it is surrounded by an ample parking space and a rich diversity of local trees and flowers. The guesthouse is managed by the sisters Carla and Linda, while their brothers Lucio and Salvatore take care of the farm. Their parents live next to the guesthouse, but leave the daily running to their children.

The on-site restaurant is large, high-ceilinged and airy, while a modern and functional kitchen is located in an adjoining room. An environment filled with fragrances of local dishes and where all the meals for the guests are made.

Every morning, one of the sisters would prepare a delicious breakfast of bread, home-made jams from strawberry trees, quince and plums together with yogurt and various sheep’s cheeses and cold cuts, fruit juices, home-made pastries and of course tea and coffee. A well-assorted selection of fresh, organic fruits was always available. While not cooking, they seemed to be always busy cleaning the premises. Besides, they were knowledgeable and always willing to share information about places worth seeing, spectacular beaches and anything else which could interest their guests.

The wholesome and ample dinners were also made from local ingredients and using local recipes. Starters were followed by various pasta dishes, while the main course could be e.g. roasted lamb or piglet accompanied by boiled vegetables, mixed salads, olives and roasted potatoes, followed by local cheeses, fruits and pastries. To drink, a bottle of wine was available together with water and a glass of myrtle was offered at the end of each meal.

The fine rooms were located sequentially next to the restaurant, while a terrace extended along the whole building. Comfortable garden furniture was outside each room such that it was possible to relax outside the rooms in the balmy evenings or any other time of the day, sensing the scents of the abundant Mediterranean vegetation on the property.

One evening, we followed Carla for a walk around the farm. The sheep were outside eating hay provided by one of her brothers. All or most of them were pregnant and they didn’t produce milk, but there was a room where the sheep could be milked after they had born lambs because, in general, they produce more milk than is required by their offspring.

We also paid a visit to the pigs, which had a large pen all for themselves and a little pond where they could cool themselves on hot summer days. Like many pigs, they looked at us curiously and expectantly, waiting for a treat.

Having stayed for four days at this welcoming place, we said goodbye to Carla and continued our journey along the south coast of Sardinia.

28/10/2014
Pagadizabal mountain farm

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We went back to Aia a few days after we had visited Joxean Bollain, the pig farmer. Having passed the village of Aia, we drove in a lovely landscape with meadows, groves, and scattered farms in a hilly terrain. Since there were no signs, it was rather difficult to find the Pagadizabal farm. There, the teenage son Joseba was preparing to make apple juice together with Jose, a man in his sixties. They had already filled the press with apples, remaining only to put a lid on the top and moving it downwards by means of a ratchet. After just a few turns, we were offered fresh, delicious apple juice.

Having arrived at a busy farm, another farmer had arrived while we were watching the apple pressing. He had come to buy two rams in order to spread their genes among his ewes. Having restrained both of them, he put them in his car and went away. The rams had nice, curved horns and, since there are so few of them, it’s important to pass on their genes to maintain diversity. Actually, we followed the farmer with the rams in his car for a part of the way until we arrived at a meadow where there was a flock of sheep. There, Peio, the father of Joseba let out their dog Lantz, a border collie. Letting him enter the meadow, Peio gave him short commands in Basque, which was enough to make him herd the sheep where Peio wanted. Having led them into a tight spot, he could inspect their feet, which are vulnerable, he told my guide.

Having gone back to the farm, we could appreciate the beauty of the surroundings of the Pagadizabal farm. Like the farm of Joxean Bollain, it’s located on the top of a steep hill and surrounded by groves, meadows, and hills. Birds of prey were circling overhead and sheep’s and cows’ bells could be heard in the distance. Again Peio let Lantz herd sheep, first a small flock on the top of a steep hill, then he was ordered to herd another one at the bottom of the hill. Obviously, a shepherd dog like Lantz is indispensable for the Pagadizabal family. Peio also let Lantz guide some geese which he did with ease.

There were also several cows and calves grazing in the steep hillside. Peio told my guide that the cows bear calves unattended, but since it’s so steep, sometimes the calves fall down the hillside. In order to help the calf, they first have to restrain the cow since she’s very protective of her offspring, in particular for the first 48 hours.

The hills around the farm were covered with fresh grass, and since their tractor had broken down, the Pagadizabal family first cut the grass with a scythe. At the same time, one of them prepared two oxen to pull a sled. It was a pleasant, but totally unexpected sight to watch oxen being walked next to each other, then having a wooden device put on their necks and having fastened everything by means of ropes. Being animals of habit, my guide was told that if an ox has been working on the left side once, it has to always work on the left side and vice versa. Having prepared both sled and oxen, the driver made them walk to the meadow where all the family raked the grass together and put it on the sled. Finally, the oxen pulled everything up to a barn where the grass was put in a barn. The oxen were completely docile because they had been castrated. In fact, there were several more oxen at the farm, which were not castrated and since they are so strong, they were getting dangerous. Peio was planning to castrate them too, but he was waiting for a cold day. I imagine they will let the oxen stay outside a whole night in order to make them easier to handle, but I didn’t ask my guide to enquire further.

Before we left, Peio ordered Lantz to herd the sheep inside a barn. Then, it just remained to thank the Pagadizabal family for letting us watch them at work in such lovely surroundings.

05/10/2014
Joxean Bollain, pig farmer

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We went to visit Joxean Bollain, a pig farmer who lives near the village of Aia. Having passed steep descents and sharp bends, we arrived at his farmhouse located on the top of a hill. A deciduous forest above, a meadow and a valley below, scattered groves and farmhouses, colourful flowers, songbirds singing, peace and quiet. In short, the area around Aia is beautiful and being from Norway where songbirds stop singing in the beginning of July, it was a pleasant surprise to hear birdsong in October.

Near the farmhouse, there was a shed in which two sows were letting their piglets suckle. As usual, chickens were walking around freely. Then, we went by car up to the main road again, and after a few kilometres, we ascended a gravel road up to a clearing in the forest. Before climbing a fence, which had no gate because Joxean told us that pigs will open any gate, no matter what, we could see two sows lying on the ground surrounded by suckling piglets. However, a strange grunting sound caught my attention first. Inside a shed, a huge sow was lying on the ground, grunting and looking content.

The piglets were very curious, some more than others as shown in the photo above. In fact, Joxean prefers to control the parentage of the piglets, but in this case a wild boar had jumped the fence and made one of the sows pregnant. Anyway, the piglets stay with their mothers until they are 8-9 months old when most of them will be turned into various types of meat products.

Having paid the piglets a visit, Joxean led us up a steep hillside, he running and we walking. On the top of the hill he soon located a flock of pigs searching for food in an oak forest. That is, they were digging in the ground using their snouts. Obviously, he was fond of of his animals, giving them acorns, letting them bite his hands gently, and caressing them. Being curious animals, they also used their muddy snouts to feel my trousers and one of them started biting my shoe.

The pigs could enter a shed if they wanted to and they were also fed cereals since the food they find is insufficient to feed them properly. On our way back, we also passed a water tank from which they could drink. All in all, it seemed like he took good care of his animals.

On our way back, he asked to be let off the car on the main road, probably to descend a very steep path back to his house.

02/10/2014
Mountain farm in the Rucar-Bran passage

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Having passed Dracula’s famous castle in Bran, we drove into a picturesque valley, called the Rucăr-Bran pass, flanked by steep hillsides and a wide creek at its base. Before our next visit, we had to give a ride to a local woman, Mrs Rodica Cojenelu, who would show us the way to an enclosure for some 80 cows. The owner, Mr Sumedrea Georgel, lets his animals stay foraging from spring to autumn in this fertile place.

Having ascended a rather steep and very green hillside, we could see a hut and some horses in the foreground and an enclosure with lots of cows in the background. A shed near the hut housed a group of piglets, while the pigs were more or less sleeping in the mud nearby. Entering the enclosure with the cows, we could see four men milking cows manually. Sitting on a one-legged chair, they made the milking look easy, while the cows being milked seemed like they weren’t even aware of being milked.

Walking around the enclosure, I could see a hut made of sticks and covered by plastic, one near to each side of the enclosure. Since a very dense forest was quite close, and big carnivores like wolf and bear live there, it was only natural to think that the cowherds were sleeping in those plastic huts at night in order to protect their animals. Of course, they also had a lot of livestock guarding dogs.

They would make cheese after our visit, but it would probably be made in more or less the same way as we had seen several times before.

On our way back to Bran, we could see several persons scything and harvesting hay in quite steep hillsides. When they were high up, it seemed like they put a canvas on the ground, covered it with hay, closed the canvas around the hay and pulled it down. In fact, the whole valley looked very fertile, and harvesting hay for the animals should hopefully last through the next winter.

28/06/2012
The Tafta farm

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We went to another Saxon village called Cincşor. As usual, it had a fortified church, but we were looking for a farm just outside the village. After just a few minutes drive, we arrived at a farm where we were met by Mr Vasile Tafta, a friendly man in his sixties who had come from the south of Romania in the 70s and stayed ever since.

After having entered their dairy located next to the farm, he poured some rennet into the cheese in order to separate the cheese mass from the whey. While waiting, he served us their own cheese together with a glass of pálinka, a homemade spirit which almost everyone in the countryside is making by themselves. Afterwards, we went back to the dairy, watching him using a utensil like a smoothing plane in order to transfer the cheese mass layer by layer from one container to another one. After having finished the transfer, the procedure was the same as usual. Tying a cloth around the cheese mass, compress it, and hang up the cheese mass for drying.

Afterwards, he showed us around the farm, letting us see the calves which were staying together inside, then we went to visit a young ox. He jumped across the fence and started stroking the ox who was alone inside. If I’m not wrong, it seemed like he really knew how to treat animals well.

Walking around the courtyard on the farm, suddenly some pigs and a dog arrived in the door opening of the barn, maybe they woke up from their afternoon rest.

Since the cows and sheep were out grazing, we couldn’t leave without having a look at them. One of Mr Tafta’s sons agreed to follow us and after having ascended a steep hill and walked for some time, we found the cows grazing on the top of a hill having a lovely view to the surrounding countryside. Then, we went on in order to see their sheep, and passing two guarding dogs, I really appreciated that we had a guide who knew them. Walking on rolling meadows and passing deciduous trees here and there, we arrived at a flock of sheep which was guarded by a shepherd. Fortunately, our guide showed us another way back such that we could see even more of this pretty part of Romania.

The next day, we went to the home of the Tafta family where Mr Tafta’s wife, Maria, had a small refrigerated room for storing their cheeses. Free tasting of the cheeses together with another glass of pálinka was included.

26/06/2012
The Busi farm

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The only means of sustenance of these poor families was raising pigs on their assigned properties, besides doing manual work in the countryside. Maria, who came from a village in the vicinity of Fertilia, married one of the sons of the Busi family in the 1960s. Uniting the entrepreneurial skills of her husband with her Sardinian traditional upbringing and passing these characteristics onto 4 sons, who are managing this big and modern farm, have reason to feel satisfied with the results of her husband’s and her own efforts.

Now, there are about 60 Frissona cows and one Charolais bull called Cicero at the farm. The cows are milked twice daily by means of a machine. During our visit, the cows were waiting in a line in order to be milked. When the farmer Mauro was ready, about 8 cows were allowed to enter at the same time. The milking was finished after a few minutes, then a new group of cows could enter.

The cow’s milk has a temperature of 39°C, but after having been pumped through various tubes into a big tank, the temperature is lowered about 10°C. After having milked all the cows, Tiziana, Mauro’s wife, started making a cheese called semicotto, literally half-cooked, by heating the milk up to 45°C and stirring it at the same time obtaining a thick substance called curd. After having added a small amount of rennet, in order to separate the fat and liquid parts of the curd, and after having stirred the curd until it seemed homogeneous, Tiziana extracted the fat parts from the curd and put them in small, cylindrical containers. Since they were porous, by compressing the fat parts, Tiziana was able to get rid of a large amount of the liquid parts, that is the whey. Tiiziana is also producing another type of cheese, which is called peretta, since it is pear-shaped.

The Busi family was among the first ones to sell raw milk in Sardinia, and the initiative has been met with much enthusiasm among the Sardinians. Naturally, the major part of the milk is treated in dairies before being sold in shops.

The calves are separated from their mothers shortly after being born. After the weaning, the male calves are kept in separate enclosures for some time before being slaughtered.

They are also raising pigs and wild boars at the farm. These animals live inside a large enclosure in which they can move freely. The meat is mostly for their own consumption besides a few customers.

23/03/2010
L’Aglientu farm

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At the foot of the mountain Casteddu, a granite ridge looming above the Mediterranean brushes, the farm l’ Aglientu is located. Here, the owners Antonella and Guido are cultivating fruits and vegetables in addition to running a small guesthouse. Both of them are working with the cultivation, while Antonella also looks after the guests. After having studied and worked with graphic design in Olbia, Guido has turned to full-time farming, putting into practice techniques and natural systems he learnt from an elder, local gardener.

Receiving seeds from local, organic greenhouses between the end of April and the beginning of May because night frosts occurring quite often before this period can easily destroy the seedlings. They are mainly growing cauliflower, fennel, savoy cabbage, broccoli, and radishes. Their produce is sold to customers who want to know where their food is coming from and how it has been grown.

About 10 days after having planted the seedlings, chicken manure is added. The soil consisting mainly of clay and dissolved sandstone is excellent for cultivating potatoes. In fact, due to heavy rains recently, soil and sand has been transported downwards to an olive grove, where Guido also has planted potatoes. A rotational system is employed such that various cultures are grown alternately in the same places at intervals of 3-4 years. There is a fruit garden located between the vegetable garden and the olive grove, where fruits like peaches, kiwi, cherries, plums, persimmons, pears are grown.

Most of the fields are watered using water droplets, leading to a low use of water. Instead, the olive grove is watered by spreading the water around the olive trees since their roots are spreading out.

Guido and Antonella are also planning to grow citrus trees in an area protected from cold, northern winds by high, dense trees. However, they also need a lot of sunshine.

We were also shown an enclosure where they will raise pigs. Since they are great diggers, Guido had covered the inside base of the fence with lots of stones.

The total area of the farm amounts to about 200 hectares and it is divided among various members of the Bonacossa family, meaning that the extension of the Aglientu farm is 43 hectares. Above the farm, there is meadows, mountains together with dense, Mediterranean brushes. Antonella followed us up to a meadow, from which we could see a flock of cows approaching. They are raising a race called Sarda Nera (known for its lean, rare meat) together with some Limousin cows. These animals are living outside all year, eating what they find together with some organically grown fodder.

Lots of steep mountains are located nearby, making excellent homes for birds of prey.

14/03/2010