Tag: yogurt

Rustici farm

Web site

Map reference

Photo gallery

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.

05/11/2016
Azienda agricola Rustici

Quest’azienda è stata fondata nel 1954 dal nonno Giuseppe, mentre da qualche anno, il figlio di Giuseppe, Giovanni Rustici, che abbiamo incontrato in azienda, pur avendo lasciato da qualche anno l’azienda ai figli, si dedica a diverse attività come la coltivazione biologica orto-frutticola. L’azienda è interamente biologica. I figli di Giovanni sono una dimostrazione di come anche i giovani, almeno alcuni, oggi si dedicano alle attività primarie come l’agricoltura e la zootecnica.

Durante la nostra visita, Giovanni Rustici ci ha mostrato la fattoria. In realtà, ho visitato quest’azienda in aprile 2009 sempre con una delle insegnanti della scuola Terramare e con il figlio Giuseppe che ci aveva illustrato i sistemi di allevamento e i metodi de prevenzione e cura omeopatica utilizzati per i loro allevamenti di mucche da latte e dei maiali; con il padre Giovanni, abbiamo potuto conoscere altri aspetti.

Abbiamo visitato la macelleria dove un operaio stava tagliando la carne suina in piccole parti per fare le salsicce. Poi siamo andati al caseificio dove un altro operaio stava togliendo la muffa dalla superficie di un grande formaggio con una spazzola e acqua. La moglie di Giovanni ci ha detto che dal latte producono diversi tipi di formaggi e yogurt 2-3 volte alla settimana.

Dopodiché abbiamo visto un gruppo consistente di circa 50 maiali italiani, che giravano liberamento all’interno di una grande area munita di un recinto rudimentale. Due scrofe stavano allattando dei maialini che succhiavano distrattamente il latte e alternativamente correvano qua e là.

In un vicino recinto vicino c’erano alcuni giovani vitelli, mentre i più piccoli, in fase di svezzamento erano ancora dentro piccole stalle per essere tenuti separati dalle fattrici. Infatti le loro madri erano sotto una tettoia munita di mangiatoie dove si nutrivano del mangime. La famiglia Rustici alleva anche le mucche maremmane per la carne, la maggior parte del branco vive allo stato brado in altri prati tenuti come pascoli e alcune di loro erano anche sotto la stessa tettoia che mangiavano il mangime.

Invece, un grande bue maremmano che si chiama Palino era da solo in un’area recintata, ma allo stato brado. Giovanni si è avvicinato a lui raccogliendo un mazzetto d’erba per proporglielo e Palino sembra avere gradito molto lasciandosi anche accarezzare dal padrone.

Seguendo poi in macchina Giovanni per qualche chilometro siamo arrivati al suo orto biologico di cui è ovviamente molto orgoglioso. Anche se c’erano alcune destinate probabilmente a piante stagionali, la maggior parte delle piante sono a cielo aperto. In questo momento come abbiamo potuto constatare si stanno tagliando già i primi sedani della stagione.

C’erano alcuni uccelli Ibis nell’orto e secondo Giovanni, mangiano vari insetti che vengono considerati come parassiti dagli agricoltori.

Tutte le verdure di questo orto vengono vendute allo spaccio aziendale dove si possono trovare anche tutti gli altri prodotti ricavati dagli allevamenti delle mucche e dei maiali, quindi, il latte e i derivati come ricotta, formaggi, yogurt, e la carne fresca, gli insaccati, l’olio d’oliva e il vino rosso e molti tipi di pasta ottenuta dai cereali dell’azienda Rustici.

05/11/2016
Vista Alegre farm and farmhouse dairy

Map reference

Photo gallery

Having arrived early in the morning, Cesar and Helen, the farm and dairy owners, wished us welcome to Vista Alegre farm, and they invited us to go to the barn where their Friesian cows were being milked by machines. As usual, cows are timid when strangers are present such that we had to stay some distance from the entrance to the machines, else they wouldn’t enter.

After all the cows had been milked, they were let out in the barn where they were fed cereals from a trough, then they got freshly cut grass, both of which seemed to be well received.

While the cows were eating, we went to the farmhouse dairy located nearby. In fact, before 2011 milk this farm was sold to large dairies. However, since the price of milk was continually decreasing and farmers in the Basque country were expected to intensify production, this family turned from conventional to organic farming and started selling pasteurised milk, yoghurt and cheese directly to consumers and in small shops in this area. This farm was certified organic from 2013.

Before we could enter the dairy, we first had to wear a white jacket, a hat and rubber boots. Inside, the whole family apart from the Englishwoman Helen, was making yogurt. The milk from the cows was stored in a container, from which it was pumped to the farmhouse dairy. There, it was filtered, then heated to 90ºC and quickly lowered to 43ºC in order to get rid of unwanted bacteria. Since all processing was done by machines, their only task was to fill small glasses with yogurt and put on lids and labels.

While Cesar and two helpers were making yogurt, Helen, who’s originally from the UK, was packaging cheese manually in an adjacent room. After having packaged the cheese, she put on a label, which was in accordance with EU requirements, both regarding what information should be included, but also the size of the font.

Helen told us that they often receive visitors, in particular children from local schools. She even taught them English at the same time as she was teaching them how to package cheeses.

When the yogurt was completed and the cows had finished eating the freshly cut grass, Cesar let them go outside on a pasture next to the farm.

The web site of the Vista Alegre farm has a huge amount of interesting information and the following is an extract of a small part of it.

The steps taken to achieve greater sustainability

From the early 1990s, following a certain degree of intensification, the Vista Alegre farm decided not to carry on with the intensification-industrialisation that could be observed on other dairy farms (fodder based mainly on imported compound feedstuffs, high milk yield per cow, bought in embryos, permanent stabling of livestock, slurry dumping…) and, in fact, began a process of de-intensification. Basically, the amount of compound feed given the cows was reduced, cows were put out to graze whenever the weather was suitable (March/April to November, at least) and the stocking rate was lowered. Lower milk yields are achieved, but, on the other hand, the quality of milk has been purposefully improved.

These changes have had immediate positive repercussions for animal welfare (less health problems in the dairy herd and, as a result, less use of veterinary products), for the environment (less slurry, lower energy costs due to fewer imports of fodder, greater biodiversity in fields…) and for the nutritional quality and health standard of milk (higher protein and unsaturated fat content…).

The milk is not homogenised, it’s fat content thus being visible and the possible health risks associated with homogenisation and still open to debate in scientific circles are avoided. As cows graze in open fields the nutritional quality of milk has improved, for example concerning the presence and appropriate relationship between elements such as Omega 3 and Omega 6, calcium and phosphorus.

Our aim is to sell as many of our products as possible straight to consumers, reducing the number of intermediaries. We also wish to provide consumers with as much information as possible about our farm and our products, emphasising the agro-ecological character of the farm project and the contribution it can make to food sovereignty. We therefore give priority to work with producer-consumer groups in the Nekasare network, but also sell our produce in small shops and restaurants, once again establishing clear priorities, in this case, selling as close as possible to Karrantza, our ideal being to sell in the area between Karrantza and Bilbao ( Encartaciones, Zona Minera, Margen Izquierda and Bilbao).

Milk from the Vista Alegre farm

Three of the issues that heavily influence the nutrient composition and health quality of milk from the Vista Alegre dairy herd are:

• the type of fodder given to cows and the way it is supplied

• the importance given to cleanliness and hygiene on the farm and in milking

• the way milk is processed in the farm dairy

As far as the type of fodder given to the dairy herd is concerned, two parameters have a positive impact on milk quality: firstly, the high percentage of forage in fodder and the low percentage of concentrates; and, secondly, the fact that cows graze at least seven months a year, weather permitting. Our cows are not permanently stabled and are thus able to move around more freely, a fact that has positive implications for the dairy herd’s health

As far as hygiene is concerned, in both livestock management and milking, particular attention is paid to cleanliness in fields, cow barns and the milking parlour on the farm.

With regards to the type of processing applied to milk, this is pasteurised at 63-65ºC for 30 minutes. Milk is not homogenised to avoid applying greater pressure which can alter milk and to uphold the precautionary principle, given the scientific data concerning the possible adverse impacts of homogenisation for consumer health (see the document “Getting to know milk”). Fresh and soft cheese is made from pasteurised milk, whilst yoghurt is the result of a different process during which milk is heated to 90ºC. Our fine cheeses and mature cheeses are made with raw milk, something we are able to do given that our milk has “A” category status from a health and hygiene point of view. Milk from the Vista Alegre farm is not enriched in any way and the presence of each nutrient, such as calcium or non saturated fatty acids (the omegas) is a result of the way in which the cows are fed and our dairy products made.

04/06/2016
La Fattoria e la Latteria di Colle Ostrense
Questa fattoria a conduzione familiare cominciò nel 1972 quando la famiglia Pittalis venne dalla Sardegna e comprò 3 fattorie da vecchi coltivatori quando la maggior parte delle persone si stavano spostando dalla campagna alle città. La signora Pittalis ci ha fatto girare la fattoria e fatti entrare in un grande edificio pieno di pecore. Dopo aver scavalcato una delle recinzioni allfinterno dellfedificio, è ritornata tenendo un agnello tra le braccia. Poiché le pecore erano sempre all’interno dei recinti e ovviamente non abituate ai visitatori, si muovevano costantemente intorno a noi durante la nostra visita. Dopo essere stati nel grande edificio, ci è stato permesso di entrare in un altro, dove solo alcune pecore e alcuni galli sembravano condurre una vita molto tranquilla. Infine, ci hanno mostrato le loro capre, le quali vivevano fuori, nel loro proprio recinto, mentre un piccolo cane ci seguiva ovunque. Abbiamo anche dato un’occhiata alla latteria della fattoria e al loro negozio dove abbiamo potuto comprare deliziosi prodotti.

Gli animali

L’azienda ha 500 pecore e la razza è la Sarda. Ha circa 30 capre francesi per il latte. Durante la nostra visita, le pecore stavano dentro una stalla. Comunque, di solito le pecore escono e entrano come vogliono, ma vengono tenuti dentro una stalla quando il tempo è brutto.

Le coltivazioni
L’azienda coltiva i seguenti foraggi per l’alimentazione degli animali:
- orzo
- mais
- erba medica
- grano
L’estensione del terreno coltivato è di 100 ettari con 10 ettari in affitto.

Il caseificio
Si producono caprino e pecorino e produce anche formaggio di mucca – comprano il latte della mucca dalle aziende agricole a vicino.

Ci sono tantissime regole per i caseifici e ogni mese gli ispettori vengono due volte per analizzare i formaggi vengono prodotti conformente a il sistema HACCP.

I bambini delle scuole possono assistere alla lavorazione dei formaggi e alla mungitura.

Si producono
- formaggi
- ricotte
- mozzarelle
- yogurt
- latticini freschi
Altri prodotti
Si producono anche i seguenti prodotti:
- carne fresca
- farina
- un pane sardo che si chiama pane carasau perché è bruciacchiato
Assaggi freddi, formaggi e pane sono forniti per un minimo di 2 persone alla volta. Per quanto riguarda i sapori, posso testimoniare la qualità dei loro prodotti poiché mi è stato servito un delizioso pasto di assaggi freddi, formaggi insieme al pane piatto sardo.
13/11/2009