Vincenzo – Orchards and Family Traditions

My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living. Anais Nin

Entrance to Azienda Agricola Il Barbagianni

A visit to Vincenzo’s orchards is a testimonial to the intertwining history of this land and his family.  Vincenzo’s great- great- grandfather purchased this land and his family has owned and cultivated it for five generations. It was purchased in the mid 1800’s and is located not far from the town of Lentini, on the eastern part of Sicily, in the municipality of Catania. The Azienda Agricola Il Barbajanni is now owned by Vincenzo Vacante.  His eleven hectares of orchards are mainly oranges of many varieties, Tarocco, Sanguinello, Ovale, Valencia and Moro.  Moro is a typical orange variety of the town of Lentini.

Ovale Orange

The pictures below show the zagara flower, the name for orange blossom in Italian, and its steps from bud, blossom, to fruit.  

We walked around the property and Vincenzo explained the irrigation system and other activities taking place on his property.  Three wells provide water to the “gebbia”, the Sicilian term for water holding tank.  From this tank, the water flows to the three irrigation systems running through the property.  During this season, Vincenzo is irrigating every day and it takes 12 to 13 days to complete one entire round of all the trees on the property.       

Gebbia

Water flowing to the irrigation system

With regards to some  family traditions tied to this land, below is the chestnut tree planted by Vincenzo’s father when Vincenzo’s son was born.

It had been planted when Vincenzo’s father was born and it died at the time of Father’s death. 

Some honey growers come to this property during the blooming season and they stay about 20 days to produce honey; there is also a permanent beehive station kept here by a German who is carrying out some research.

As a child,  Vincenzo was quite displeased to see that the dogs on the property were kept tied and only one at a time loose, at night, to act as a guard to the property.  Consequently, he stated that as soon as he had some authority on the property, he made sure that all his dogs would run free.  He recently rescued some puppies that were abandoned on his property and we visited them before I left. 

The rut of the litter

There are many palm trees on the property. Unfortunately, many of them are dying, as they have been attacked by the Red Palm Weevil (Punteruolo Rosso in Italian).  It is so sad to see this happening here and in other areas of the island.

Finally, as I was leaving, I was hit by the fragrance of this wonderful jasmine, one of my favourite aromas.  This fragrance is tied to my childhood memories!