Vegetable Gardens and Orchards

Since 1987, the Orti di Mare Estate has featured, alongside its olive groves, vegetable gardens and orchards cultivated using organic methods: artichokes, strawberries, broad beans, black cabbage, tomatoes, cucurbits, eggplants, bell peppers…and then blackberries, grapes, pomegranates, figs, citrus fruits, medlars, and mulberries.
In 2024, we acquired this 2.5-hectare plot of land, known as Pian degli Sprizzi, to save it from encroaching urban development, which borders the historic part of the estate. Here we have planted a wood, an additional olive grove, and areas dedicated to vegetable gardens, orchards, and mulberry groves. In this new vegetable garden as well, we rotate various crops to maintain soil health and ensure productive yields. In the new orchard, we have also planted species not previously present on the farm, such as persimmons, kiwis, and Japanese pears; we have invited warm-climate species like bananas, avocados, and feijoas to find their place here: we will see if they thrive, given the climate crisis. We place great importance on the practice of green manuring: winter herbaceous crops that are incorporated into the soil before the growing season to correct pest imbalances, increase organic matter and improve soil structure, and provide winter blooms for the bees to forage on. All of this requires dedication and commitment, but it yields sweet and essential fruits, starting with Beauty. That is why we consider ourselves fortunate.