Off to start a new life in rural Italy..

[coinsky]

Hello,

I have just bought 2.5 acres of land 3000ft up a mountain in Italy and will soon be going to move there with my German Shepherd.

I am having a little cabin built and hope to grow most of my own food and keep chickens..

I have no clue what I am doing really ( ) so all and any advice would be great!

My eventual plan is to live without electricity/mod cons but I am realistic in that I need to learn how to live this way..so for now.. I am just planning on trying to be as basic as possible.

I don't intend on having a TV or washing machine, but do intend to have a freezer to freeze food for winter (but would like ideas on how I could maybe get rid of that)

I have a wood burning stove and would like to plant trees from which I could get my firewood eventually..

I am vegan but I eat eggs that come from friends rescue hens..so I would like to keep some chickens for eggs. And also was *thinking* of maybe breeding chickens for my dogs food. He eats a raw diet so if I am going to buy him chicken then I would rather it had been reared by me..
I would love any advice about this as I am a total novice!

Umm..thats probably about it for now..not sure what else I need to say in my intro so hope I haven't left anything out. Look forward to chatting with you all.

Fiona

[TheGoodEarth]

Hi Fiona

Sounds like a bit of an adventure

Why don't you want to be connected to electricity? Life will be extremely tough without leccy. Personally I would have leccy but invest in PV panels which with your limited demand should keep you going for most of the year. If you are going to have a fridge/freezer then you will need leccy unless you plan on using a generator.

Also do you speak the lingo? This will be important for building relations with the locals. And how do you plan to make a living or are you taking sufficient funds with you?

[MuddyWitch]

Welcome to ISH

Sounds like you (& your shepard) are about to go on a big adventure! Please keep us all informed of the progress.

Good Luck,
MW

[coinsky]

Hello

Thanks for the welcome.

Why don't you want to be connected to electricity? Life will be extremely tough without leccy. Personally I would have leccy but invest in PV panels which with your limited demand should keep you going for most of the year. If you are going to have a fridge/freezer then you will need leccy unless you plan on using a generator.

Also do you speak the lingo? This will be important for building relations with the locals. And how do you plan to make a living or are you taking sufficient funds with you?

I do more or less speak the language, need to brush up on my reading and writing but can have conversations no problem (mostly )

I have some savings but I will have to make some money too...not tooo sure about that yet, will probably end up being a mixture of lots of doing anything and everything.

The electricity is something i will probably end up keeping, but I just like the idea of getting back to a more natural way of living. I lived in a tent by a creek for 3 months last year and it was just lovely to be away from so many things we consider necessary, but not practical long term I know..

I can't afford PV cells at the moment, but my dad is hoping to rig me up a DIY solar water system so at least I can make use of the sunshine for that.

[grahamhobbs]

Well done. As for advice, you don't say what resources the place has or what skills you take with you.

Growing your own food takes skill, organisation and some hard work. If you get the land organised over winter it will be May at the earliest that you will get any crops.

I'd check out the local women in the meantime! Otherwise the best of luck

[Green Aura]

Hi Fiona and welcome.

Sounds very exciting....and just a tiny bit scary. Best of luck, post lots of pics and keep us informed.

[coinsky]

Thank you!

I don't know too much about the resources available, I believe that it is a very clay soil and as such can go like concrete when it dries out. But, I have also been told that a lot of things seem to flourish there despite the soil. I plan to plant lots of fruit trees too and maybe some walnut trees.
At the back of my land is a field and then it goes into a national park forest (where I am hoping to be able to encourage the dog to bring back a log or 2 from our daily walks )

This is where my cabin is going..




This is the field that leads to the national park



And here is a picture of me and my partner in crime



I have been reading through some of the chicken threads..very interesting.

Fiona

[TheGoodEarth]

Oooh looks lurvly….can I come?

[contadino]

Dove in italia hai comprato? Che regione?

[contadina]

Dove in italia hai comprato? Che regione?

I'm guessing Le Marche or Abruzzo...?

It looks stunning. lucky you. We're a fair bit further south so not quite as lush looking, but it is surprising what you can grow in clay devoid of any nutrients. We've had to add a lot of organic mater to our soil as the norm is to spray with weedkiller and then add chemical fertilisers in olive groves. As your patch is not covered in olive trees hopefully it will not have been continually blatted by chemicals.

So when will the cabin-building begin and when do you think you'll move in?

[red]

welcome

looks lovely - good luck with your adventure!

[coinsky]

Dove in italia hai comprato? Che regione?

Abruzzo...near a village called Montebello Di Bertona (in the Pescara province).


So lovely to see other people from Italy here! Are you both full time in Italy? Would love to hear all about what you are doing..

t looks stunning. lucky you. We're a fair bit further south so not quite as lush looking, but it is surprising what you can grow in clay devoid of any nutrients. We've had to add a lot of organic mater to our soil as the norm is to spray with weedkiller and then add chemical fertilisers in olive groves. As your patch is not covered in olive trees hopefully it will not have been continually blatted by chemicals.

So when will the cabin-building begin and when do you think you'll move in?

It has been sown with that funny grass stuff that is used as cattle feed...don't know if it has had chemicals used on it. But I imagine that the land is a bit weary having been monocropped for so long.

Planning permission is *suppposed* to come back next week, and the builder is *hoping* to get the cabin finished by Christmas. All of this is very subject to Italian red tape...so it could be any time!

[Millymollymandy]

Lovely view from there! Good luck with your adventure and welcome to the forum!

[Martina]

Hi Fiona,

You future home looks gorgeous! Go luck, keep us posted with lots of pictures when you can... And Welcome!


Martina

[HennyPenny]

Oh you lucky lucky thing! The views are beautiful. My friend moved to a small village in Northern italy a couple of years ago. I have been there a couple of times on holiday and fell in love with the whole lifestyle out there. ... slow pace of life, great food, great wine and sunshine! Look forward to hearing about your adventures.