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Sunday 31 July 2011

Raspberries & Festas


Yesterday we want on another raspberry finding mission.  This time we went to the other side of the mountains, where a friend was going to show us exactly where to loo.  We brought our latest little helper along, Athelas from Taiwan.  We are getting very international lately...

After passing through some beautiful beechwoods at about 1,100 metres altitude...


... we soon spotted our first raspberries.


We soon dived into the raspeberry bushes picking busily:

Athelas had never seen or tasted raspberries before!


We gathered over 3kg and made lots of jam.  Reason enough to hug a tree in thanks to nature:
Athelas was also lucky as she arrived at the height of the festa season.  She arrived on Friday and we took her directly from the station to our neighbour village of Caprigliola where there was a Festa della Contadina a Festival of the Farmer's Wife.  Part of the festivities included a fashion show, where young girls where showing off the wedding dresses of their grandmothers.


And yesterday after the raspberry picking we went to our town of Santo Stefano di Magra, which was turned into a scene of Monty Python for the annual Medieval Festa...



including whiches (BURN, BURN!!!):


...body collectiuons (BRING OUT YOUR DEAD!):



Fun was had by all ages:


Happy August everyone!

7 comments:

jann said...

What fun festivals you've got! Ah, and raspberry jam--nothing I love more except maybe orange marmalade. It sounds like you're keeping Athelas pretty busy, and I love the fact that people from all over the world are showing up to help you. Mighty cool.

Anonymous said...

Italians really know how to party!

I can't believe that we already have blackberries and apples here in the UK - and we are only just into August!!!

Mr. H. said...

Happy August Heiko!

What a treat for your new recruit to try a raspberry for the very first time. That festeval looks like fun.

Heiko said...

Jann, I love raspberry jam too. And it's so easy to do. You only need to add sugar. It has naturally high pectins, so sets perfectly.

Cath, we're not even into August yet in Italy! But yes, down here in the valley we've been picking blackberries too and we had to salvage what fell off the trees in apples and pears after the hail last week.

Mr.H, can you imagine growing up without ever having tasted raspberries? Mind you, she's been telling me about some of their exotic fruits and she's already been munching my underripe kaki / perimmons (I don't even like them fully ripe...)

Fern Driscoll said...

Raspberries! I'm green (or red?) with envy - the best fruit there is. And I love raspberry jam. Great festas - love the costumes. What fun to introduce someone to Italy's food and customs...

Rowena said...

Over 3 kilos! What a nice score. I'm envying your local festivals though. We haven't been able to get out to any in our area...yet.

WeekendFarmer said...

Wow..that is an amazing loot! Good for you. I must tell you that hail storm looked scary. You can still the pumpkins I am sure.

Stay safe!