Alessandra Taiano started working in agriculture in 2004, her training was carried out with three years of seminars and practical tests at AgriBioPiemonte. In 2008, he began to apply the practice of biodynamics on his partner’s farm. In addition to biodynamic cultivation, she works as a gardener in a private castle, where she has the opportunity to experiment with the same natural method in ornamental gardening, with surprising results.
In July 2015 included a pequeña granja llamada 4 Verdi, el número cuatro tiene un fuerte significado: hay de hecho 4 elementos (fuego, tierra, aire y agua), los eteres (que forman y moldean las fuerzas de la vida) y las seasons. The color green is in connection with nature, always full of life at every moment.
Alessandra’s farm is located in the forest of the Monteorsello territory, a balanced territory far from intensive cultivation. There are forests and hedges, wildlife, a small lake: in this place the idea is to develop a real agricultural organism, consistent with the holistic vision of biodynamics. The fields are only one and a half hectares, but there is water without the chlorine of the aqueduct, air unpolluted by city traffic and an atmosphere also free of electromagnetic fields.
In the first year, Alessandra devoted herself to caring for the soil, revitalizing it by restoring useful microorganisms. The humus for its manufacture was obtained from a biodynamic heap of 300 quintals with controlled fermentation, which was then buried.
The first crops were vegetables: potatoes, kidney beans, beans, peas, monk’s beard, onions, garlic, chard and especially pumpkins, a fruit very dear to Alessandra who had several old varieties, beautiful to see how they are consumed.
In the second year, it became necessary to sow wheat to obtain flour for family consumption. The wheat sown, harvested by hand and stone-ground had a very interesting yield, so much so that it was decided to extend the harvest for the following two years.
In the future, Alessandra plans to include hives to practice biodynamic beekeeping, exploiting the territory of the farm with its lake as a source of water and providing the bees with aromatic plants and flowers. Alessandra already has two beekeeping certificates, now it’s time to get down to business.
In biodynamic beekeeping, bees do not feed on sugar, but leave abundant reserves of honey for the winter, at the cost of lower yields. They do not kill or change queens, swarming is encouraged, without using the queen excluder to block the brood. Pre-printed wax sheets are not used in frames, because with the production of wax the bees are healed and strengthened. The idea is therefore to produce a honey that respects the organism of the hive.
In addition to serving the bees, aromatic plants will be cultivated for the essential oil, and the biodynamic production of saffron is also envisaged in the same area. biodynamic strawberries
they will be produced in humus crates.
The barn included in the farm will house two cows and two calves, which will have pasture nearby, while in the fenced forest there will be a place for the farm animals for eggs and meat. For the hens, the idea is that of an egg project in the forest.
A small greenhouse will allow the production of vegetable seedlings, as well as supporting the biodynamic cultivation of vegetables, which favors particular varieties.
This whole project is being developed, at the moment Alessandra is offering her stone flour and potatoes for sale, if all goes well one step at a time this project will take shape, so we can only wish them the best.