Crops
The estate includes 640 hectares (1,600 acres) of land used to grow wheat and barley. Of this land, 250 hectares (600 acres) are used to grow durum wheat and common wheat, and efforts are under way to reclaim traditional Tuscan grains. Other land is used to grow grain legumes, sunflowers, and alfalfa. The crops are entirely organic.
The farmland also includes a 5-hectare (12-acre) olive grove, the olives from which are used to make a high-quality, extra-virgin olive oil. The olives are mainly Tuscan cultivars, including Leccino, Moraiolo and Pendolino.
Livestock
The farm is home to 1,500 sheep, which are mainly left free to graze throughout the estate and produce milk (250,000 litres per year) and lambs. Over 100 Cinta Senese pigs are left free to roam the surrounding woods and are mainly fed produce from the farm. Horses and donkeys complete the population of the farm.
A bit of history
The earliest known descriptions of the rolling hills surrounding the estate date all the way back to the 13th century. As it was then, so it remains today an area of great potential agriculturally and economically. Although olive groves and vineyards are a permanent fixture of the landscape, other more seasonal crops, such as wheat, the Indian pea and fava beans, have also traditionally contributed to the local economy.
