Organic grapefruits from Bio Agrumi Monasteri, Italy | CrowdFarming: farm fresh fruits and vegetables to your doorstep

Angelo Gibilisco

Our history dates back to 1957, when my father Rosario Gibilisco, a simple blue-collar worker, but with a great love for the land, purchased a plot of about 5000 square meters in which he often invested and sacrificed his salary and the limited free time available. He and my mother, Stella, loved working the land and spent any time they had available planting, watering and growing fruits and vegetables that they would pick and cook for the family every day. One of my earliest memories is eating oranges while walking among the trees with my father - To this day, every morning I eat about 20 or 25 oranges and mandarins for breakfast. When Valeria and I got married we went to live on the farm in Monasteri where we had all our children and have been here ever since. As a family, we spend a lot of time together, even each one of us gets on with their tasks on a daily basis, we come together around the table every evening for dinner and we get to share things or just chat about the day. We don’t go out at night much, also because we rise very early in the morning and we tend to go to bed early as well. We live a simple life but one that is filled with pride and passion for our work and I think this gets reflected in the quality of our products. __Angelo and his son Renato Gibilisco__ Although Renato and I are involved full time in the running of the farm, we also have our seasonal team of eight pickers that work with us during harvesting, as well as Sara and Valeria, my daughter and wife who work more on the administration and accounting side. Renato and I tend to plan tasks on a daily basis. Every morning we go around the land for a daily inspection, we check that everything is in order, we look for possible intervention to the trees and plants, we decide if the soil needs weeding, treatments, irrigation, etc. When it is time for harvesting we set a weekly plan and we organise the work with the rest of the team until all of the fruits are picked, boxed and shipped. Renato strongly believes in biodynamic agriculture and is studying its processes. He is now preparing the land for cultivation in BIODYNAMIC. When he graduated from high school he went travelling around Europe and stayed in Germany for five years. When he decided to go back to university and returned to Sicily, one afternoon he came with me for an inspection in one of the plots and he stopped and said: “Dad, I am not going to university, I am going to work with you on the land and we are going to turn our cultivation into biodynamic!”. We are happy to be part of CrowdFarming as we want to share our farm life with CrowdFarmers around the world and we want to give them the opportunity to adopt our trees and have a closer first-hand experience with farming, agriculture and nature.

Bio Agrumi Monasteri

Our farm is in Monasteri (Floridia SR). There are four of us in Monasteri full-time, me Angelo, Valeria, my wife, Renato and Sara, my two children who live and work in the farm with us. We also have seasonal workers who come and help us during harvests. Monasteri is a special area and perfect for growing citrus because the altitude is not too high, perfect for nurturing citrus-based cultivation. In fact, the optimal altitude for citrus should not be over 250 meters above sea level. Our house in Monasteri is an old millstone built in 1880 - Before it became a citrus farm the farm was a vignard. The land conversion was done in 1955, when the previous owner changed its cultivation to citrus and then in 1980, my father purchased the land to cultivate citrus, the same ones as today. We are located across a number of plots around the River Ciane area (a natural reserve) and Contrada Monasteri which is a very fertile area in the South East of Sicily. Our altitude is approximately 100 meters above sea level – This is the optimal height to grow the best possible quality citrus. We promote biodiversity in the farm as we integrate our cultivation using beehives in our cultivated plots, ladybugs and different types of trees and plants. Our farm is based on sustainable cultivation and respect for nature. We use the ‘cover crops’ (sovescio) method, which is an agronomic practice that allows us to maintain or even increase the soil fertility by planting special crops such as legumes, cruciferous plants and grass in the soil. This system has allowed us to improve the organic substance to the soil, which helps slowing down the erosive process and reducing drought because the humus in the soil retains the water. The area around the Farm is very rich with local fauna. There are ducks, flamingoes, fish and reptiles around the River Ciane, while hawks, rabbits, owls and foxes are more visible inland towards Monasteri. We fight the presence of parasites that can harm the soil by introducing ladybugs and other insects that help the soil to become rich and healthier. We use organic manure to feed the soil. We also promote the natural growth of nettle, which is regarded as the natural disinfectant for the soil and borage which flowers attract bees and ladybugs. The water that we collect to irrigate our trees comes from local natural aquifers that we extract at approx 70 meters and up to 200m below sea level. Although, as we constantly promote the biodiversity of the environment by introducing specific plants and through "Cover crops", the soil requires less irrigation as it is able to retain more water in the ground. By using the drop irrigation we have become more efficient and are able to save more water and energy. The use of "Cover crops" is a great opportunity for us to keep the soil in an ideal condition for nature to do its work in the best way. In fact, the soil remains protected, along with the microorganisms, living underground.

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