No one had cared about them for a long time.
And yet, the green giants, ancient and generous, hadn't stopped bearing fruit. The good earth, the favorable exposure to the sun, the proximity of the sea and the water of the sky had kept them healthy, despite everything.
And they alone had continued to serve the poignant beauty of pristine and forgotten glimpses of the much-celebrated island. Until someone came back to remember them too, the large centuries-old olive trees in the coastal lands of Anacapri. Those, who in the past gave abundant crops and large quantities of oil to the families committed to cultivating them, challenging the imperviousness of the places.
That distant era is still testified by the memory of the elders. They tell of the ten oil mills where the olives, harvested in many lands of the island still dedicated to agriculture, were transformed into thousands of liters of oil. Also used to light lamps, a real wealth for the locals. Before everything changed, the mills were closed and the olive groves gave way to something else, except for the more marginal ones, overlooking the sea. Where, on the other hand, time had stopped and the olives had continued to grow and fall, uselessly, to the ground in autumn, among the wild herbs free to grow and multiply.
A community project
Only a few years ago, someone had once again become aware of those lands in Anacapri. And of those olive trees in good health, which deserved not to be abandoned. «Gianfranco D'Amato was the first to believe it, four-five years ago. And then he involved us owners of land with olive trees in a project that concerns the olive groves and the surrounding area. And now we are about forty, grappling with a project of organic oil production that has fascinated us. For it we are learning and we are updating all together, under the guidance of valid professionals».For Vincenzo Torelli (in the photo), owner of the Columbus bar and restaurant at the foot of Mount Solaro, is a new adventure that has conquered him. An adventure that he tells with enthusiasm and pride.
In Anacapri, the wine producers had to start from scratch. But, perhaps, having had to face this commitment without specific skills was the stimulus to do more and more and better. Under the direction of the agronomist, who set up the recovery of the olive groves, all together they started the new era of production of organic extra virgin olive oil: the Green Gold of Capri, they called it. «We are proceeding step by step, year after year - explains Vincenzo, who has put the ancient family olive grove back into production - We are progressing together, reinvesting all the profits in the development of the project and sharing ideas, information, experiments and equipment, as well as the skills we acquire individually. From the discovery of American yeasts to fly-fighting practices, to the purchase of the delicate shaker for harvesting, which we exchange as needed. And then we had to find an oil mill, because there aren't any more on Capri. We found the one suitable for our project in Massa Lubrense: we bring the olives in the evening, immediately after the harvest, and the milling takes place during the day, as we wanted. But we are aiming to have our own oil mill again».
Quality objective
The collective project/dream pursues the objective of quality from the outset. «In the past, the quantity counted - Vincenzo is keen to underline - We, on the other hand, have a very limited production, because we have made a choice of great quality and we follow a strict disciplinary. Thanks to this, in just a few years we have already had eight recognized oils, four of which are Slow Food presidiums and one is mentioned in the Gambero Rosso guide». And the peculiarities of the different productions are also valued, «because the oil represents the territory and in each farmland it acquires particular characteristics depending on the exposure, which makes the fruits ripen before or after, for example».
In addition to the collective experience of production, the entire project of the green Gold of Capri has taken on a strong social connotation from the outset. The annual olive harvest has become a community ritual, shared by entire families and different generations. The project gave rise to various initiatives to enhance the genuineness and wholesomeness of the product: the snack with bread and oil for school children, to educate them on healthy eating, and the gift of oil to mothers for weaning their newborns.
The use of oil for other particular products is also spreading, such as sweet and savory "cioccolio" ice cream and beauty creams. Without forgetting the version of the famous "caprese" cake with homemade oil. But the development of the "Green Gold" project is the prerequisite for the recovery of ancient olive groves and uncultivated land. Therefore, it has also become a determining factor for the protection of the landscape and for the environmental protection of the island territory. The olive trees have paved the way for a wider and more articulated process of ecological reconversion. Like the return of carob trees, favored by birds that keep insect populations in olive groves under control, and the planting of water tanks for migratory birds in the land.
In the end, a way to rethink the relationship with the territory from a sustainability perspective, which is also a guarantee for the future of young people. Some guys have already started taking care of other abandoned olive groves. And the olive trees of the Pino dei Monaci area, with their four centuries of life, greet the now unstoppable turn of the green gold.
