“In a handful of compost my love for the land”

Ten years ago it was a handkerchief of land inherited from the grandparents. Now it is a permaculture laboratory that gives fruit and satisfaction to those who take care of it. “The Wood of Ogigia has changed its appearance in the last two years – he says Francesca Della Giovampaola – there was a lot of news. We spend more and more time dealing with him and telling his stories. There has not only been an explosion of nature that has surprised us with super harvests (last summer we were overwhelmed by fruit), but also the community of people who follow us on the different channels has increased a lot. And then Mondadori asked us to write a book on the history of the Bosco and we came up with it “Caring for the Earth” (in the library from today).

Francesca brought her forest to YouTube a few years ago, together with Philip Bellantoni “my husband and partner in this adventure” – a full-time commitment, she explains – but if we receive so much attention, I think it also depends on the moment of great uncertainty we are experiencing. First the pandemic, then the war, but also the drought and the alarm for the consequences of global warming force us to experiment with new models of life. Knowing how to produce your own food or organizing systems to save energy are topics that are gaining more and more interest”.

A permanent recycling laboratory

“New experiments of cultivation methods have arrived in the Wood of Ogigia. Such as syntropic agriculture, which brings together the reforestation with the cultivation of vegetables, to tackle even the most difficult terrains, those one step away from desertification. A method devised by the Swiss researcher Ernst Götsch and put into practice for the first time in Brazil based on respect for the ecological succession of species. Another experimentation is that of Hugelkultur, hill cultivation, a technique born in Eastern Europe which involves creating rather high piles of wood, various organic matter and earth which become a mine of nutrients for the plants that are grown on them. We are also preparing the space to welcome groups of visitors in the future, but this will still take some time.”

The forgotten soil and how to deal with it

In almost three years the community @boscodiogigia it has gone from 93,000 to 143,000 subscribers and the knowledge shared online has been largely collected in the book, with the intention of transmitting this passion as a path that everyone can follow. “This is my personal story of how the Ogigia Wood was born and the discoveries I made thanks to it. I speak above all of soil, how it is formed, how fragile and how precious it is. I try to make people reflect on how we are accustomed to treating it, how little we care about its condition, when all life on the earth’s crust, including humans, depends on it.”

“I tell about the practical experiences I have had for the production of food, in the hope of instilling in many other people the desire to take care of the earth. Doing so certainly requires commitment, but the advantages are enormous”, says Francesca who explains how on the web it’s done there mulchwhat is the food forestthe pruning correct of olive trees and vines or how to use the grelinette, an ancient tool for working the land. In short, how to regenerate our soils and produce healthy food.

The community that grew up around the Bosco di Ogigia is part of it thanks also to free guides for theeasy vegetable garden (with 240 thousand participants), seasonal tutorials to learn the rhythms of the earth and permaculture courses. There are more than 135,000 Facebook subscribers and almost 60,000 followers on Instagram. But more than for the numbers generated, social networks count as windows overlooking the cultivated forest which has become a profession in times that have not been easy at all. The climate crisis does not help, but pushes us to look for other ways to achieve sustainability. Which also means the recovery of ancient techniques and the application of new strategies made easier by technology.

The tutorial

All about DIY composting

by Gaetano Zoccali

January 28, 2023

An entire chapter of the book, for example, is dedicated to the production of compost, or soil obtained from the decomposition process of organic matter, largely made up of kitchen scraps. Every day we throw mountains of precious resources into the bins uneaten food. “It is true that organic waste is also recovered in public composting plants, but it is also possible to have this process carried out on your own, without the need to have large spaces. Once the compost has been obtained, it can be used to cultivate a vegetable garden, on pots or to enrich the earth in the garden kitchen scraps and a number of others vegetable wastelike them Dry leavesL’cut grass or the sawdust it allows us to contribute with a practical activity within everyone’s reach to the solution of a series of very serious problems. This is a classic case where so many drops put together can become a river carrying real change.”

Because compost helps the environment

Compost is a material capable of stimulating the fertility of the earth and a fertile soil rich in vegetation in good health has unthinkable positive effects. Fertile land produces better quality food which helps keep us who eat it healthy. In such a soil a large quantity of carbon is conserved in a stable form and therefore helps to reduce the presence of CO₂ in the atmosphere and behaves like a sponge towards water. It holds it, facilitates its infiltration in depth to recharge the underground reservoirs of fresh water. Trees grow better in that soil and it is not possible to think of planting millions of trees without also taking care of the soil that will have to support their life. A soil covered with vegetation is not subject to erosion and allows the water cycle to function properly.”

“THE rehabilitation processes of the environmental problems of our planet – Francesca is convinced of this precisely by virtue of her personal experience with the forest which is a resource – cannot be solved only with interventions on the other hand implemented by the institutions to the tune of billions of investments. We need to fall in love with the land that sustains us and that we return to respecting it and we need a regeneration process supported by a common purpose. You can also start with a handful of self-produced compost returned to the earth.”