I wonder if you could help us. We would love to LIVE on a farm for a week in October. By living we mean preferably lend a hand or at least get thought they way things work, what they produce etc. We would love to experience the daily lives of farmers as hectic as it may be. Site seeing is not a must, we just want the farm life.... Not a luxurious renovated farm house with pool.
Where can we get some details pls would really appreciate some help as all I am coming up is villas with pools and all that.
Can you suggest similar sites that give descriptions of the farms in English?
I've been recently searching for just the right place for our Tuscany visit May 2009, and I'm having a hard time finding one that meets all our needs:
Near Montepulciano/Pienza
Space enough for 5 families in different apartments...14 or more people total
A place that will rent to us for just 3 days
Rustic charm
A working farm like madar is looking for...a place that will let us see/participate in pasta making, cooking, and farm workings and other "family" activities.
I've found a place that meets the first 4 above, but the on-line reviews I've read say the owner isn't present, which makes me think we'd miss out on the benefits of fitting into a family (yeah, for just 3 days...wish we could stay longer).
Agriturismo Cretaiole would be perfect for us (and may be perfect for Madar) but they only rent 7 days at a time, and it must be Saturday-to-Saturday.
________________ When life gives you lemons, make limoncello.
www.Agriturismo.com and www.agriturismo.it are both sites that put you in direct contact with the owner. Click on the British Flag symbol for English pages. These sites are not booking agencies.
I particularly like Agriturismo.com because of its search features under "Advanced search" [Edit] Actually they both have advanced search capability.
I've had good luck with Agriturismo.com. I have only looked at the other site....but I suspect I would have just as good an experience with it as well
No, sorry Patrick, I don't know an English website like this one.
However, if you go to the region you are interested in and click on the agriturismo which looks as if it's in the right area, it will take you to a page that looks like this:
Agriturismo Cretaiole Località: Pienza Associazione: Indirizzo: Via S. Gregorio, 14 - 53026 - Pienza - siena Telefono: 0578748378 Fax: 0578748378 Sito web: www.cretaiole.it Sistemazione: appartamento , camere Trattamento: Posizione:
Servizi struttura : servizio disabili, accetta animali, parco giochi, parcheggio, prodotti biologici Servizi in camera : TV
If you click on the "sito web" bit, it will take you to the web site of the agriturismo. Most of them have English translations (sometimes directly from Babelfish but you'll get the idea)
It will take you some searching but you may just come up with exactly what you are looking for.
I think it is perhaps a little optimistic to think that you will find a place which offers involvement with the family, with the farming, the cooking etc and that you'll find it for 3 days only. Do you speak Italian? It would be hard work on your part and also on theirs to have such involvement without some Italian.
I am not aware of places in Tuscany which offer this type of involvement. I would be surprised if they exist as if the land is truly being farmed and work must be done, there isn't time to involve the uninitiated or to hand out jobs to those not knowing the farms processes and procedures. In addition to this to meet the needs of clients and take care of them.
Additionally, if it is a vineyard, etc., there are strict legal regulations regarding who can and can not work--even for free. When we were living on a vineyard, we had to be very careful of what we did in the event that an inspector type person would show up.
This does not mean that the type of place you are looking for really doesn't exist--maybe it does but I think it will be hard to find.
I would be surprised if they exist as if the land is truly being farmed and work must be done, there isn't time to involve the uninitiated or to hand out jobs to those not knowing the farms processes and procedures. In addition to this to meet the needs of clients and take care of them.
Yes.
Farming is hard work, and it is really not something (I mean this with all respect) that travelers can come in and do for a week and then leave. It just does not work like that. Maybe you could help with some gardening or vegetable cleaning but there is a world between gardening and farming and as Jane so correctly puts it, vineyard work. By the time you have started to get used to the constantly sore back, sun burn on your neck, blisters on your hands and feet and complete physical exhaustion, your one week will be up.
Originally posted by madar: I wonder if you could help us. We would love to LIVE on a farm for a week in October. By living we mean preferably lend a hand or at least get thought they way things work, what they produce etc. We would love to experience the daily lives of farmers as hectic as it may be. Site seeing is not a must, we just want the farm life.... Not a luxurious renovated farm house with pool.
Where can we get some details pls would really appreciate some help as all I am coming up is villas with pools and all that.
Thanks
What kind of farm do you have in mind? Cattle, dairy, sheep, poultry, horticulture, grain(harvest well over, winter wheat preparation beginning) vines (too late in Oct.), olives (too early), etc. There isn't as much mixed farming in Italy (or the EU) as there was 30 years ago. To work with animals takes a bit know-how. I know near Milan there is a farm that also makes cheese and they take people on board for a week to 'help out' but for the life of me, I can't remember it. Also bear in mind, that to really engage with the farm you have to engage with the farm hours which are not holiday friendly. In my honest opinion, as a ex son-of-the-soil, there is nothing romantic about farming - in any country.
Posts: 49 | Location: Tuscany | Registered: 08 April 2008
It is also possible to taste Brunello and Nobile wines at small wineries in Montalcino, visit olive oil presses, tour Pienza’s ancient Hermitage (located on our property), and depending on the season, take part in grape harvesting, olive picking, and truffle digs in our truffle field.
I suspect this is NOT tourists in the field working as real farm workers doing the hard work. I suspect the tourist pays the farm owner an extra fee and they are escorted to the field and allowed to pick a few grapes or olives just to get the feel for how it's done. More education than farm labor. I suspect that this is the type of travel experience Madar can find, rather than the actual hard, dangerous work of an experienced farm worker.
________________ When life gives you lemons, make limoncello.
Podere Vignali is a beautiful working farm and I am sure the owner would appreciate some help.
The only problem that I see is the "legal" aspect of the whole thing. Labour laws are very strict in this field. For instance, only first degree relatives can help for free in teh olive harvest, etc. otherwise you need a regular contract. Plus there is the problem of insurance, etc.
You might not easily find somebody willing to let you work in their fields.
I also agree, that for insurance reasons too, not as well as language barriers, that a farm would be able to have GUESTS be involved in daily activites, it is work and often done alone by the owners.
and October is after the wine harvest and before the olive oil harvest, so may not have much field work going on.
August September is wine harvest usually, and november starts the olive harvest.
There is a program called WOOF which is for people that want to work on a farm. but don't know if there is a time minimum.
Here is the Italian connection These are not agriturismo's but rather organic working farms. you don't pay to stay there and they don't pay you to work.
i will echo some of the remarks already made - due to legal/insurance regulations, it really is not possible to just show up and work on a farm in tuscany. i have a late fall tour where my travelers are treated to a "day on the olive farm" - they get to join in with a bit of olive picking, and then observe/help in the pressing procedure and bottling of the oil. but its all pre-arranged, legal, and insured according to the italian government.
Originally posted by elizabetta: i have a late fall tour where my travelers are treated to a "day on the olive farm" - they get to join in with a bit of olive picking, and then observe/help in the pressing procedure and bottling of the oil. but its all pre-arranged, legal, and insured according to the italian government.
Yes, I'm sure this is the same sort of farm experience taking place at the place I mentioned above (Agriturismo Cretaiole). And really, I think this is all the tourists are looking for. Just a feel for what's done on the farm, not actual full days of hard labor.
________________ When life gives you lemons, make limoncello.
May be our Giulia www.vallenuova.it knows some more about this. She has an organic farm and she has an agriturismo. Surely there you would get an opportunity to observe farm life but it is in the Marche, not in Tuscany.
Ok ok now I get it it seems that we will not get to go back in time ..... have to do it in my dreams. Thanks all for your input and suggestions BUT if you do meet with anything else similar to my requests just think of me
Take a look at this: Spannocchia. While you might not be actually working the farm, you might be able to get a real sense of the working environment if you stayed there.
it seems that we will not get to go back in time ..... have to do it in my dreams. Thanks all for your input and suggestions BUT if you do meet with anything else similar to my requests just think of me 
