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TEN DAYS IN TUSCANY

Our visit to private gardens and a regional cooking school
with Helen Chesnut.

Ahh, Tuscany! After driving for several hours through the gorgeous Italian countryside, we arrived at our villa in the Chianti region where we were greeted by this scene. Clusters of purple and blue grapes hung heavy in the vineyards surrounding us, soon to be transformed at the winery in the Medieval village 1/2 mile up the hill, barely visible through the morning mist at the top left of the photograph.
The villa's courtyard is graced by a carefully pruned 400-year-old mulberry tree.

Our gracious hosts, Rita and Enrico, always provide the most wonderful welcome, complete with vases of flowers, fresh vegetables and herbs, bottles of wine, plates of homemade biscotti, a roaring fire in the fireplace...

Broad terraces hug the top of the hillside on the southwest side of our villa where we often indulged in an afternoon siesta in the still-warm October sunshine.

Pots of flowers and herbs flourish in every corner, typical of Tuscan garden design. Grapes picked from nearby vines lay on the table, ready for munching whenever the desire for their sweet sustenance struck. La dolce vita!

Lemon trees, grown in pots for winter protection, dot the terraces while lavender, rosemary and sage grow in profusion almost anywhere. As common as weeds in this nurturing environment, they are non-the-less properly appreciated by local residents for their esthetic and culinary value.
The area's indigenous sage, pictured below, is used in a simple, but mouth-watering regional dish, ravioli with sage and butter. This type of cuisine is often referred to as cucina povera, or poverty cooking, but the effect on the palate is rich indeed!

That's a little peak at our "home" in Tuscany (we wish!). Now that you're all settled in, let gardening columnist Helen Chesnut lead you through some of the private gardens we visited in the area.

Or, if you like, role up your sleeves and jump right in the cooking classes we attended. If a "class" sounds too ambitious for your frame of mind right now then just amble around the tiny villages and back lanes to see horticultural and architectural examples of the celebrated Italian esthetic.

Ciao!

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