OLIVE TREE PROJECT (AV) – region -

olive groves & view

Background My granddad, Carmine Corsano, planted with my parents around 50 years ago, before I even was born, around 100 different kind of olive trees (cultivar: Ogliarola, Ravece, Leccino) where my family comes from (Ariano Irpino – ) and then somewhen my parents left Italy for Switzerland for financial reasons and the trees got somehow a bit in the background. Well we were getting always delicious olive oil each year from the family, but the connection was somehow lost with the pruning/harvesting/caring of the olive trees. Until, after discovering a passion for trees in general, I decided to be active and take over the little family olive oil production and go twice a year for pruning & harvesting . It is now 6 years.

My granddad and me

It was a real connection to my roots and my family members living in Italy. To my surprise only the old generation are interested in agricultural activities (my uncles/aunties helping are now all between 60-+80 yo) and the young generation rather prefers to go direction city and not direction land (a kind of regression fort hem). And now is the issue, the older family is not anymore so much in shape for all the work around the olive trees, and I will need some supporting hands from this year 2019 onwards.

Voluntary helpers needed for harvest Mid-October 2019 Here a few information regarding the olive harvest, the location, the trees, the activities around, accomodation possibility, food, the mobility, some values and who we are ;)

What is it about: We need your support on a voluntary basis for about 2-5 days (not all in a row potentially) for harvesting olives over a period of 2 weeks.

When: from around 11. October 2019 till 27. October 2019. We harvest only if there is good weather (no rain, no humidity, dry land/trees), so we rely on weather forecast and at this time of the year it is really unpredictable from fresh rain to warm sunshine.

Where: A small village in the in the region of Campania in southern Italy (Ariano Irpino) at around 650 m of altitude. It is in the little hills of the mountain chain Appennini (the region is quite dry). The architecture is rather simple due to the fact that much has been destroyed by an important earthquake in the 80’s. Still there is a lot of peace and quiet land, villages to be discovered, old ruins, good food (mozzarella di buffala, wine, delicatessen) and the proximity to diverse interesting location (see below for more info)

What kind of culture: People are very helpful, generous and heartful in general. Mainly coming from a farming background, and are rather having a simple & inexpensive lifestyle.

Organisation: you should be ready for a flexible Italian culture (a bit chaotic in organizing at first) but then it works and people are pretty reliable, at the end. Once started, and found our way, we are very concentrated and intensively pursue the goal to harvest. Know this is physical, so a minimum general good health/fitness is necessary (no athletic figure needed). Know that my parents with 80 yo did the work too ;) so it is feasible.

Language: Italian and dialect of region are spoken. Very few speak English or German. So be prepared for some non verbal communication ;) I will do my best to support translation. My family speaks only Italian, actually even a dialect from the region, so no English or German for them (except few words). I speak English/German/French /Italian so will try to translate best.

The olive trees location: It is up a hill, (650 m) so it is not flat land, which requires to go up & down a hill several times. It has a great view over the region. It can be windy up there. How does a harvest day looks like: We start around 8-9 am, do a break after a couple of hours, then we have a dinner already prepared directly in the field if the weather is good. The day can go up to 5 pm. There is a Net Team and a Team Battering the Olive Branches with a kind of electric comb. First the net need to to be installed on the floor, then the Comb Team can start to batter the branches so that the olives can fall on the net (as it is hilly, we need to ensure the olive do not roll over into the grass). The net team needs to collect together the olives and poor them into a bag/box. And then transport the net to the next trees... and so on. Activities around Grottaminarda: - Napoli & Salerno: around 1-1.5h by car - Costiera amalfitana: around 1 – 1.5h by car - Capri island: around 2 hours - Benevento city: roman ruins: around 30-45 min by car - Cilento national parks with Paestum ruins: around 2 h - Volcano Vesuvio: ca 1 hour - Many little villages in the hills around (but bare in mind the region has suffered bad earthquakes in the 70-80’s and the architecture is not the most beautiful)

How to dress/what to bring: The olive harvest can make your clothes dirty/oily, and this wonʼt go away, therefore take clothes that are comfortable and not of great value. A T-shirt, a long leaf jacket, some good basket/hike shoes, sunglasses (olive tree leaves can cut very finely, and it is good to protect your eyes), a hat (as the trees can be dusty) & plastic gloves. Plastic gloves are important as otherwise the transporting of the net/ the touching of the olives/leaves can hurt the skin of your hands. If you have good gardening gloves, it is good you take them with you.

Insurance: You need to have your own proper personal insurance, should any accident occur to you during your stay. That is very important. I would kindly ask you to confirm me this in writing.

Travel: How to reach Grottaminarda (Avellino): - By Air: from Napoli Airport - By International Bus: from some cities in Germany/Switzerland with „Viaggio Di Maio“ (https://gruppodimaio.it/wp- content/uploads/2018/09/ORARI_INTERNAZIONALI.pdf) FlixBus arrives there too, but not sure of the connections. - By National Bus from Napoli Airport to Grottaminarda with AIR – Bus regionale – Autoservizi Irpini (about 1,5-2h trip) www.air-spa.it to find timetables - By Train: I advise to travel to Napoli, as the connection inland (to Ariano Irpino, the closest train station, is not convenient) and then by bus (AIR) or rent a car. - By Car: rent a cars are quite cheap in Napoli, so around 20 euros per day for week stay. I had a good experience with the platform Sicily by Car. Note!: in and around the olive grove & accommodation, there is no real public transportation (or lets say there is 1 bus a day to the next village). So it is good to have a rented car to go around. The village has no supermarket, it is a simple street and there is not much entertainment there (Orneta – Avellino).

Costs: You are supporting the harvest of olives out of leisure & personal interest, this is not considered as a working contract nor it is going to be remunerated. Accomodation is very simple (in my house or in a near Agroturismo in the village). Daily costs could be around 20 Euro/person/day including food/simple accommodation/electricity/water/heating.

Food: During the days of harvest, food will be provided. We usually have a break in the early morning with coffee/cookies. And then a lunch together in the olive groves (outside). The other days, there is a kitchen available or we can cook together (if we have a similar diet – we are vegetarian with my partner) or we have similar plans and it makes sense to share costs for food, but it is quite inexpensive. Supermarkets are in Grottaminarda or vegetable from neighbors/family are available.

Accomodation: The accomodation can take place in my 2-floor little house. It is very simple. There are 2 bedrooms (with 2 bed each) and one bathroom and one kitchen area. There are 2 Agriturismo – La Fortezza & La Focolara - in the village for other sleeping opportunities. The region has not much water, so please consume accordingly. Hot water also is quite expensive to heat for your information. As well the house is heated with a fireplace, has heating, but it is not like in our city flats where it is running and heating the whole time. Kitchen room/bath will be heated. The bedrooms, only short before we go to sleep.

Weather: Weather can vary very much during this time of the year. From rain to cold to super sunshine. There is also quite some wind up the hill. And because of these winds, the weather is very unpredictable in all the forecasts ;)

About you/values: It is important you are committed to support the harvest, to let us know what is right for you and what you need, that you are clearly communicating whatever the language, that you are flexible with the Italian way of living life & the simple lifestyle in the house, that you respect people of different age/culture/education, and have fun. Also important is that you ensure your consumption of water & heating is to the minimum (costs are high there and there is not always water available – some days they just decided to cut it off;)

About me:

45 yo, grew up & in Switzerland from Italian parents. Now living for a time here, to experience nature and the roots of my family. That is their olive trees actually and I committed to take care of them since 6 years now. I love trees, and these one produce such a nice oil, with a rather tendency towards a grassy / green/bitter taste

Contact details: Florenza Perrina +41 78 708 35 22 (whatsapp only) or for calls +39 347 730 39 02 [email protected] Via Orneta 93, 83031 Ariano Irpino (AV) Italy

examaple of an young olive tree village old tree olives olive groves & family after a day of harvest

Break during harvesting work (net on the floor) . View of landscape.

Electrical comb to allow the olives to fall down on the net

village street

the house of my family

the garden