We are up early and take the metro to the Stazione Centrale. This is 5 minutes from our stop in Lepanto, to the central station. There is a choice of breakfast places and we choose Acafe which has fabulous looking pastries and for 3E.80 we have caffe latte, freshly squeezed orange juice and a fantastic crispy apple pastry. This is the best so far.

Our train is easy to find and on time. Two hours later we are laughing with Maria in Grosseto. We pile into the car and she takes us to Castello della Pescaia, an old village on top of a hill, overlooking the sea. The lanes wind down to the town below, the houses are beautifully restored with exquisite gardens. Vignettes everywhere, an archway here, a tiny lane there. This town is mostly holiday homes for the wealthy from Milano and Roma. The sea reputedly has the cleanest water in all of Italy. We shop in a Salumeri and then have coffee in a tiny café with benches and tables outside. As we drive to Maria’s, I see olive trees everywhere, and they are being pruned. I am thrilled. This is what I have wanted to see. We arrive at Maria’s cottage and it is gorgeous, compact and set in an olive grove and large garden. She has figs, apricots, pears, and cherries. Her hedge is made of bay trees. aria has both young and older trees. Downstairs is the kitchen and lounge and bathroom and upstairs the bedroom Shahla and I will share. The furniture is marble topped, the windows are deep and have shutters for the cool Tuscan winters.

We wander over the road, and there is a grove with around 200 one hundred year old trees. The trunks are huge and have five classical main branches coming from 1.5 metres us the trunk. There is nothing in the centre of these trees, it is completely clear. The tops have been cut off and I later learn this is for hand picking. The remainder of the tree hangs downwards, giving a sweeping look. These look both majestic and practical. The neighbour Tomaso talks with us and shows us his trees. He has just taken over an abandoned grove and has begun to prune and to plant.

The next day we get up early and decide to work before breakfast. We plant strawberries, tomatoes, lettuces, cucumbers, and zucchini. These sit alongside spinach, asparagus, baby globe artichokes, onions and garlic. In pots around the house are basil, parsley, and sage. Then Franco arrives to cut the grass and prune the olives.

I watch with hawk eyes. Every upright shoot is cut off. Franco says this will sap the energy from the tree if they are not taken. Only shoots which lean over or down are left. Everything going towards the centre of the tree is taken off. And then the tops are cut, so the tree can be picked with electronic fingers. He relates that they have tried shaking but some trees died, while others were OK, so they have gone back to their older methods. Maria will hand pick hers and has invited me back for November!

I ask Franco through Shahla what does he put into the soil, and its compost and potassium. Both he and Maria are confident in the Tuscan soil, and know how much water will fall, and what the temperatures will be like. Franco says they plant the young trees in late autumn (October) as the roots grow but not the tree, and then when spring comes, the tree takes off and all the energy can go into the growth of the tree. Franco is 70 and has been pruning and growing olives for 50 years. I listen to everything he says, and watch his every move. 

Maria is a wonderful and generous host. She drives us to Etruscan sites from 600 A.D. We drive to the local villages of Buriano and Monte Pescali. The scenery is stunning, and the agricultural success of the area is evident. Everywhere people are pruning, mowing, tilling the soil and planting. The soil is rusty brown, the olives silver and green, the crops range in colours from verdant green to bright yellow. The region is a hive of activity. The towns consist of slim lanes and beautifully restored buildings from the 11 century onwards. Maria makes lunch of gnocchi with sage fried briefly in butter adn topped with parmesan> She teaches us the art of making a batter and frying baby artichokes, which taste divine. For breakfast we sit outside in the spring sun under the wisteria and eat her freshly made fig and cherry jams, with large slices of Colomba, a special easter almond cake shaped like a dove, served with coffee. And in between apples, cheese and pears. Right: Shahla and Maria at breakfast.