Book review of “Braiding Sweetgrass”: A love letter to nature you didn’t know you needed

If you take a stroll with Friedrich across his farm near Gibraleón today, the first thing you’ll notice is the noise: a literal wall of birdsong. But behind this idyllic scene lies a radical choice made years ago—one that flew right in the face of convention. Today, having held Demeter certification since 1994, he’s living proof that his “madness” was the only logical response to the crisis facing our soil.Forty years ago, Friedrich fell in love with Finca Jelanisol-Montebello during a trip to Spain. At the time, he was working as a middleman for conventional fruit and veg. Two things happened back then that made him stop and think: A friend gave him a book on permaculture by Bill Mollison, which sparked an idea. While visiting a farm in Italy, he found himself desperately digging for earthworms. When the farmer told him there weren’t any “because you don’t need them,” Friedrich began to question everything. A Holistic Vision: Everything is ConnectedFor Friedrich, farming isn’t an isolated job; it’s part of a much bigger picture. He holds a deeply philosophical, holistic view of the world where everything—from soil microbes to the end consumer—is linked. He doesn’t see his farm as just a production site, but as a living organism where people and nature live in harmony. In his eyes, a peaceful society can only exist if we produce in tune with nature. If we get it right, there’s enough for everyone—we just can’t afford to destroy the foundations.One of the biggest things driving Friedrich is a deep-seated worry about the state of the modern diet. He explains that much of the food we eat today is “empty.” By this, he means conventional produce that, thanks to pesticides and long storage times, has lost any real nutritional value. He lives by the rule: Healthy Soil = Healthy People. Only living, regenerated soil can produce fruit that actually nourishes the body.One of the first things Friedrich did was build a large pond—not for irrigation, but purely for the birds, frogs, ducks, and fish. It also acts as drainage during heavy rain. They produce their own organic fertiliser using microorganisms, supplying the trees with a steady stream of minerals through a drip irrigation system.

We visited Antonio from Sicilian Passion in Sicily. In a region traditionally known for its citrus fruits, Antonio decided to take a different path several years ago: he grows passion fruit (and even papayas!).A crucial part of our collaboration is precisely determining the harvest time. Our teams conduct sugar measurements directly in the field. A refractometer is used to determine the Brix value, ensuring that the fruits have reached the required physiological maturity and full aromatic profile. Harvesting only begins once these thresholds are met. In the video below, you can see our colleague Angelo taking these measurements. It’s a lot of fun, because you’re literally looking into the future.Ripening Characteristics and EtymologyAn important quality characteristic of passion fruit is the texture of its skin. Unlike many fruits, here’s the rule: the more pronounced the wrinkling of the fruit, the higher the sugar content. Due to slight evaporation during the ripening process, the fruit sugar concentrates inside, while the acidity subtly decreases. There are two harvests per year – one in the winter months and one in the summer months. Especially in summer, the fruits are “wrinklier” because the liquid evaporates faster due to the heat.Did you know that the name “passion fruit” is derived from Christian iconography? Spanish missionaries in the 16th century interpreted the complex flower structure as symbols of the Passion of Christ. The filaments of the flower were associated with the crown of thorns, the three stigmas with the nails of the cross, and the five stamens with the wounds. In the gallery, you’ll find a picture where this is very clearly visible.

Why every blood orange isn’t actually blood-redWe visited Sicily and met Danilo from AranceBio in a field where the blood orange harvest was at its peak. You can not only see the ripe oranges hanging on the trees, but you can also smell them. The sky is blue, the trees and the meadow are green, and the oranges hang like small lanterns in the trees. It’s sunny but very fresh – even in Sicily, it’s winter. This is exactly the right time for the oranges to ripen. You need a mix of warm days and chilly nights for anthocyanin to develop; the pigment that turns the pulp red. So, if the nights stay too warm, the pigment can’t form, and your blood orange might end up looking more orange than red – though just as tasty. Danilo grows two different varieties; Moro: which is a bit more acidic and has a deep red flesh (if it’s cold enough!) and Tarocco, which is a bit sweeter and very mild. It’s a bit like being a kid opening a Kinder Egg. You can’t tell from the outside whether the fruit is going to be red or just orange. Given increasing dry periods, Danilo relies on permanent ground cover. This natural carpet protects the soil and serves as a water reservoir, storing valuable water during dry spells – thus keeping nature resilient. We obviously had to ask what we should eat while in Sicily, and Danilo recommended two dishes: the traditional Pasta con le Sarde (what else?!) and those deep-fried rice balls known as Arancini.