Farming with passion
the blog
I believe that my story of #agricolaperpassione began many years ago in the editorial office of a Roman publishing house, when I started writing as an editor of guidebooks and cookbooks. For over 10 years, this job has been a wonderful springboard for immersing myself in special places and visiting people who work with food, learning to recognize those who do so with love and respect for the earth and for others, and to look at it with different eyes. Farmers, cheesemakers, beekeepers, olive growers, and winemakers have become my “heroes,” custodians of precious skills.
to tell and share. Just like chefs, ice cream makers, and pastry chefs who seek out these products and give them a new form when presenting them to the public. Then came this piece of land and my big chance to get my hands dirty, learning to be a farmer, tending the vegetable garden, raising bees and producing honey, adopting chickens, donkeys, and rabbits. The desire to tell stories is still there, and so the keyboard vibrates to the rhythm of rural adventures and misadventures, but also to the stories of those “heroes” who, through their work, are a source of comparison and inspiration, today and always.
Silvia Cittadini
Special places
The Appia Antica in Rome is a route steeped in history: ancient tombs, Roman paving stones, and villas surrounded by greenery accompany travelers on a journey into the past, amid silence and unique landscapes.
Vegetable garden and wild herbs
There are the plants in the garden—which I am learning to plant and sow—but also the wild plants that grow in the fields, parks, and ditches of Rome (which is an agricultural city!), in a constantly changing herbarium.
Beekeeping
I recount the life of bees, discussing their work in the hive throughout the seasons and how they are a true superorganism. I am talking about honey, which is different every year—because seasons and blooms never repeat themselves in the same way—providing guidance for critical consumption and tasting notes.
Agricultural adventures
Any excuse is good for going on an adventure. A walk among the ruins of the ancient Appian Way, a bike ride, a picnic on the grass, a session of cuddling the animals on our farm. When I say “adventure,” I immediately think of children setting out to conquer every corner of the farm, and then I realize that when we are in contact with nature, we all become a little bit like children again.
Recipes
Much of what I gather in the countryside ends up in the pan, from seasonal vegetables from my garden to wild herbs, not to mention fruit, honey from my hives, and eggs, a precious gift from the chickens that roam around the house with the dogs and cats.