CASA CAPONETTI is a 125 acre farm in Tuscania, in the heart of the Etruscan land in central Italy, where many different activities take place. These activities can be grouped under four main categories: agriculture, tourism, education and non-profit.
Our farming has been certified as organic since 1998, and we produce Extra Virgin Olive Oil, vegetables, horses, cows, and as many items as we can for our own consumption, like honey, pigs and soaps from oil byproducts. All oil and most of the vegetables are canned and sold directly to the people from our stores that we have, one on the farm,...
CASA CAPONETTI is a 125 acre farm in Tuscania, in the heart of the Etruscan land in central Italy, where many different activities take place. These activities can be grouped under four main categories: agriculture, tourism, education and non-profit.
Our farming has been certified as organic since 1998, and we produce Extra Virgin Olive Oil, vegetables, horses, cows, and as many items as we can for our own consumption, like honey, pigs and soaps from oil byproducts. All oil and most of the vegetables are canned and sold directly to the people from our stores that we have, one on the farm, and the other in the village of Tuscania. Some of the fresh vegetables are sold through a CSA-like operation in Rome, with weekly home delivery to over 300 families. All of our gardens are sustainable not just in the fact of being organically fertilized with the manure from our livestock, but also from the water system we use for irrigation, operated through a solar-system that raises the water, and by simple gravity for distributing it. This is something that was derived from my studies on the Etruscan hydraulic engineering, something that we have still functioning on the farm in the form of an artificially carved underground tunnel for water production, and that I had the opportunity to fully understand through direct knowledge of similar devices in desert oases that I visited in different countries around the world. A comparative study made me understand concepts such as small and continuous withdrawal from water table as opposed to sudden and big, passive use of resources as a means to prevent overexploitation, and gravity driven flows to minimize energy inputs in water management, and the research led me to hold seminars in different universities and institutions around Europe and North America (among them the Inweh, the department on water of the University of the United Nations, this past January).
On the farm we have a small bed and breakfast with an 18-seat restaurant, and we host events, seminars and other kinds of gatherings. We are so proud of all we're doing, that we can't stop talking about it - it's not just a good marketing tool, but a way to fully share what we believe in. This kind of alimentary and environmental education of the consumer isn't limited to the farm and within the shops, but it takes the form of off-site seminars that I hold every year around Italy and the USA. Seminars on Olive Oil making and the values of organic farming in fighting against desertification are usually held at vunues such as Stone Barns Center in NY, the ICASI in Cleveland and the CIA in Hyde Park NY, plus other places in Oregon and California. We're now working on developing two internship programs (one on farming, already available, and one on cooking, possibly available from 2010) to submit to American schools and colleges, to give four students a year the possibility to come and stay on the farm.
Other than farming, we have on our grounds a large number of Etruscan ruins and archaeological remains that span all through the ages (among them, a couple of Etruscan water tunnels, which is where I started my study). Non-profit projects future plans include restoring the medieval church and convert it in a museum on groundwater sacrality, among other things, but I'm very proud of the fact that since last year we have an agreement with the Natural Preserve of Tuscania, and now we're the only farm that has been turned into a visit center for the park, we have the first part of trails available at no cost for whoever wants to come and share what we have.
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Our extra virgin olive oil comes 100% from a single variety of local olive (called "Canino") that has been identified over the past few centuries as the one that fit best our environment. So our oil is pure, it is not a blend, and our groves are quite happy and healthy even if organically farmed.
The olives are stone-ground, to smoothen the natural pepperiness of the Canino olives resulting from the unusually high phenol content of this variety. Phenols are anti-oxydants whose content and composition are a result of genetics and soil, and they're responsible for the majority of the...
Our extra virgin olive oil comes 100% from a single variety of local olive (called "Canino") that has been identified over the past few centuries as the one that fit best our environment. So our oil is pure, it is not a blend, and our groves are quite happy and healthy even if organically farmed.
The olives are stone-ground, to smoothen the natural pepperiness of the Canino olives resulting from the unusually high phenol content of this variety. Phenols are anti-oxydants whose content and composition are a result of genetics and soil, and they're responsible for the majority of the bitter taste of the oil and the spiciness you feel at the back of your mouth. They are healthy, but if too present, they can overwhelm the taste of the oil resulting in a product too bitter to be eatable. By using stones instead of a metallic crusher, we make the most of building the fruity flavor aorund them, to have the most healthy properties while preserving the best flavor you can have.
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