Volunteering on an Organic Farm in Tuscany

Learn Italian and Eat, Eat, Eat

Article and photos by Ben W. Tettlebaum

“Fear in society keeps us from expressing ourselves. Here, you are free. Express yourself!”

So begins a conversation with Daniele, one of the proprietors of the organic farm La Cerreta (www.cerreta.it) in rural Tuscany. Volunteering with co-owners Daniele and Vilma provides an empowering, hands-on experience of Tuscan farm-life, Italian language immersion, and the opportunity to learn about organic agriculture, green building, and a strong conservation ethic.  It’s also a simple, inexpensive, and unbelievably rewarding vacation. At La Cerreta, they seek to live, as they say, “in harmony with nature.” Daniele and Vilma cultivate a place where people can “get to know themselves better,” work in cooperation with one another, and focus on sustainability rather than consumerism.

The Farm

La Cerreta sits in the Pian delle Vigne (“of the vines”) wine country, 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Mediterranean, nestled in the Tuscan hills. Daniele and Vilma grow everything organically, certified by the Italian Association for Organic Agriculture. Better still, all fruits, vegetables, and animals are local to the Maremma region. The farm’s 31 hectares (about 77 acres) of fertile ground grow a bounty of food: olive orchard, purple and white grapes, pomegranate and apple trees, maroni chestnut groves, and rows of tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, cabbage, squash, eggplant, melons, and strawberries. Cows provide milk and tender organic beef; the native cinta senese pigs root in the mud; cavalli maremmani horses roam the fields; and Livornese chickens lay fresh eggs woven into pasta dishes. As if that weren’t enough, the farm even hosts honey bees!

While farm work is hard, farm life seems simpler, stripped to filling the basic necessities of living. Food, then, is the major focus of every day. Nearly everything grown gets eaten on the farm by Daniele, Vilma, their two sons (who help run the farm), the farm helpers, or by guests at La Cerreta.

Vilma, a sturdy woman with an angelic smile, makes marmalade for sale at the on-site store and nearby markets. Strawberry, melon, grape, and chestnut jams are just a few of the delectable varieties.  Other products include fresh made soft and hard cheeses, virgin honey, hazelnut liquor, and prosciutto. Low-sulfite red and white wines, crafted at the farm from prized Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet, and Vermentino grapes, fill out the store.

Volunteering

La Cerreta seeks volunteers year-round to live and work on the farm, room and board provided. As Vilma says, “The philosophy of our guesthouse is to become a part of the traditional farmer’s way of life.” She requests that volunteers commit to at least four weeks, allowing ample time to understand the flow of the farm. However, folks can also stay longer if preferred.

Volunteers can learn all aspects of sustainable agriculture, wine production, jam making, rustic Italian cooking, and many other arts and disciplines cultivated by Vilma, Daniele, and their sons. The early spring to summer season provides an opportunity for the planting and harvesting of fruits and vegetables. Go in September for the grape harvest and days will be long, filled with socializing in the vineyards with folks who’ve been working at La Cerreta for years. In October, life slows down. Prized mushrooms hide in the shade, awaiting discovery. Each day more chestnuts ripen and fall to the ground for harvesting.

Housing

Volunteers stay in stone cottages or a work building with timber beam ceilings, apportioned with restored furniture.  Most structures were built or restored by Daniele and Vilma. The main farmhouse was a horse stable, now beautifully transformed with fieldstone floors, brick-tile arched ceilings, and a large hearth. One of many pleasures of working on the farm is soaking up information from Daniele and Vilma, always happy to share insight into how to build more eco-friendly structures.

Food

The greatest benefit of volunteering at La Cerreta is the heavenly meals cooked up by Vilma (who owned a restaurant) and women who work on the farm. Eating in Italy is an experience: meals often lingering for hours and hours, carafes of the farm’s red wine filled, emptied, and filled again; Daniele holding forth about modern society, agriculture, or whatever topic happens to strike his fancy that day. Two courses (often followed by a third), homemade pasta, fresh baked bread, and cheese are typical fare for lunch and dinner. In the dishes Vilma uses seasonal produce, meat slaughtered and processed on the farm, and food gathered from the surrounding woods, such as mushrooms, herbs, wild plants (nettles, juniper, chicory, borage, myrtle) and wild fruit (chestnuts, blackberries, rose hips, elderberries).

Events and Activites

La Cerreta hosts guests (mainly from Europe but occasionally from further afield), pottery workshops, language and cooking courses, and other events throughout the year. Daniele runs a horse program called Equiharmony, where he works respectfully with the horse, using no riding crops, bits, or spurs, and instead using kindness and firmness.

Numerous trails and roads snake in all directions from the farm, situated in the forested hills. The medieval town of Sassetta, built into the cliff-side, is an easy 5-kilometer (3-mile) walk away. This area in Tuscany is home to dozens of archeologically rich sites. Detailed illustrated trail maps and guides are available for free in town.

Volunteering at La Cerreta is an unforgettable journey. Away from tourist jammed Sienna and Florence, the old Italian countryside comes alive. You’ll discover Tuscany by farm, all the while eating scrumptious Italian cooking and gaining an intimate connection to the people and the land.

Ben W. Tettlebaum works as an outdoor educator, yoga instructor, and freelance writer. He runs adventures through his company Into the Green (www.intothegreen.com).