New life at Ca’ Valenzano

We’re very pleased to announce the birth of our little son Giorgio!  We’ve had bunnies born here, and chicks, then ducklings (practically all grown up now!) and now a little boy – Valenzano certainly seems good for new life! Apologies for the lack of blog posts in recent months but we have been run off our feet with building and …

Fancy an Italian working holiday?

Life in rural Italy is an idyll, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard work sometimes!  This month we are very lucky to be joined by a lovely friend who has agreed to come and help us with whatever day to day work needs doing and also to help us with the continued restoration works – in return for scrumptious …

The foraging starts….

Well, if Spring was springing before, it has most definitely sprung now! We’ve just entertained our first ‘official’ guests and are very excited to host many more in the months and years to come.  We were lucky enough to show off our evening meals not once but twice, showcasing our own produce as well as freshly picked greens from the …

Spring is springing!

That’s not to say it’s sprung yet, we could yet have some cold weather on the way, but we out here in Tuscany have been very lucky with some lovely warm sunny days filled with springtime birdsong. You can see the change in our seedlings too: we gave them a helping hand in a heated propagator at first, but now …

The fatted pig

I won’t go into all the gory details but we were lucky enough this year to be able to buy a live pig and take it right through from that state to lovely tasty sausages state! A local pig farmer sold us the massive nearly 200kg beast and we set to work with our friends making not only English style …

A new Twelfth Night

Christmas used to be all about Twelfth Night in Italy, or as they call it here ‘La Befana’.  Nowadays it’s more about Christmas Day itself and St Stephen’s Day on the day after, but La Befana is still celebrated countrywide. It just so happens that we live not far away from the home of Befana – a small town called …

Unusual fruits

So the other day I tried cooking with an ingredient I’ve never used before, not even handled, but one which grows everywhere here.  It’s the persimmon/Sharon fruit, or chachi as it is known in Italy and many people grow the trees which produce their bright orange fruit in November and December when all the leaves are gone and people’s gardens …

We are open!

We are delighted to announce that we are now officially open!   If you would like a holiday in the peaceful Tuscan hills near Arezzo, then look no further.  We’re a B&B offering evening meals too with ingredients from our garden, or you can stay as self catering guests too.   With a terrace overlooking fantastic views which is perfect …