A gift that falls from the sky’: why farmers are using Etna’s ash as fertiliser
Falling volcanic ash has for years been viewed as a nuisance. But a Sicilian project has discovered its agricultural potential and wants to spread the word
Why d’ye think the peasants keep farming Vesuvius, Stromboli, Etna, the Flegrean Fields? You know, even in the knowledge that they might pop and kill ’em all, or wipe out the farms?
Because that volcanic soil is increadibly, overwhelmingly, fertile. It’s lovely, lovely, stuff. So now a project has “discovered”? Ah well, to the rest of the Italians the Sicilians are more than a little suspect. Even, possibly, the dim country cousins – akin to Arabs.
A few years ago the Univ of Innsbruck was given half a million euros to investigate why mountain valleys flood after heavy rain.
Apparently the soil on the sides of mountains is quite thin.
What?! The increased fertility of volcanic ashfields has been something known about for centuries!
“a Sicilian project has discovered its agricultural potential and wants to spread the word”
What, so every farmer can get a volcano next door to fertilise his land for free?
Yeah. The problem with fracking, of course, is they’re not not drilling nearly deep enough. Blame the Greens.
“… to the rest of the Italians the Sicilians are more than a little suspect. Even, possibly, the dim country cousins – akin to Arabs.”
That’s quite interesting. Al Capone first tried to make a go of mafia-ing in NYC. The problem, though, was that the Five Families who ran organised crime there were Sicilian. Capone was Neapolitan, and the Sicilians regarded Neapolitans as sub-human, little more than apes. So Capone had to push off to Chicago.
Ask anyone from Bologna, Milan or Turin and they’ll say Sicily is Africa.
… and most of southern Italy!
Well, I didn’t know that part of his history. But it’s well known that in Sicily it’s the Mafia, in Naples the Cosa Nostra, in Calabria – n’Drangheta, and in Puglia – Sacra Corona Unita. ‘Mafia’ is a broad brush term for Brits and Yanks.
Java has lots of volcanos. There’s an old saying that if you poke your walking stick into the earth there it’ll sprout leaves the next day.
Etna is described as having “splendid terroir” by Great Wine in Bath. I might have to try a bottle.
I’ve drunk an Etna wine; it was very expensive and very bad. The sort of thing people with more money than sense would buy as a novelty.
But that was 20 years ago; they might have improved since then.
It’s quite a recent thing. I only heard about it a few years ago. Something about tourism driving up investment and quality.
Tesco do a Sicilian red at £4.75. A bit harsh but suits my views.
I’m guessing Etna may be a bit different from Sicily generally. Apart from the soil, it’s grown on slopes which is probably a little cooler. When you get to that latitude generally, you get bigger, “harsher” wines.
Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio?
That’s not on their list but they have about 9 wines. I go to their quarterly tasting, so I’ll see what’s there when I go.