Olive trees growing at Casa Carotondo in Le Marche, Italy during a mild February 2014.

Casa Carotondo is perched on top of a hill some of which (the south-west facing bit) belongs to us. It is difficult to know how to use the land productively; apart from planting olive trees and vines. We had not been here long when we found out you can buy olive trees – two years old – for only four Euros each, it seemed an obvious thing to do. We would produce our own olive oil! Of course everyone associates olives and olive trees with Italy. You see olive trees growing in most areas of the country, so naively we thought it would be a straightforward thing to do. Continue reading →