Stories from the Road – Sicily, Italy
Angus, our Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) host, pulls up to the station in Calatafimi at our planned meeting time. A white-haired Brit, he’s all business as he throws our bags into the back of his Peugeot. We race the five miles over potholes and gravel to the home he shares with his Sicilian wife, Catarina.
We are volunteer laborers, and we’ll be harvesting Catarina’s family’s hundred-year-old olive trees in exchange for room and board in their centuries-old limestone villa. Fuchsia bougainvillea dot the washed exterior; row after imperfect row of mature olive trees line the rolling green hills. The south-facing terracotta patio is perfumed by the scent of lemons and oregano and overlooks Catarina’s heirloom garden, bursting with artichokes, arugula, cauliflower, chard, basil, tomatoes, peppers, and kale. Grapevines, prickly pear, and fig trees fence the garden, a vestige of the area’s Greek, Phoenician, Arab, and Spanish culinary roots.
One-third the age of a typical WWOOFer, Johnny is given chores fit for a celebrity. First, he brushes and pets the three dogs. Then he climbs a couple of trees to test the readiness of the olives, turning his fingers into rakes to sweep the fruit off robust leafy branches. Finally, he goes to the garden to harvest ingredients for pasta alla Trapanese.
I watch as Catarina grabs a handful of almonds from a large glass jar, throws them into a blender, along with fresh tomatoes, peppers, garlic, basil, a dash of salt, and a generous pour of last year’s olive oil, and pulses the pesto to perfection. Then Angus, Catarina, our family of three, four other giddy WWOOFers, Rafaeli the groundskeeper, and three local friends sit down at the long wooden table. We pour glasses of Nero d’Avola, and we all enjoy a slow meal on the eve of the harvest.
Our hands become softer as the olive harvest goes on.
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