In 1980 we began our activities with two main sectors: raising rabbits and producing grapes. Since I promised to go back to the Autobianchi gates(the factory I used to work in northern Italy) for selling safe products from Sicily, there was the problem of finding more products. In 1980 the old peasants I used to meet had never heard about "chemical products", they had never used and didn't look for them. Afterwards some dealers began saying: if you'll employ this (maybe a crazy poison) you'll have a better product!!! So was born chemical agriculture… Nevertheless the original conditions were quite different from northern Italy. Still now the climate makes that in the vineyard we have enough with one treatment with cupper sulfate (as soon as flowering begins in early May), and a second one with just sulphur at the beginning of June; summers with storms (rare) oblige to a further treatment with sulphur, in this case mixed with lime, not for organic passion, but just not to burn out the grapes because of the excessive heat (evidently many stupid farmers get convinced from the dealer that it's better to use poison like "zineb", but this just because of the increased income). About other cultivations we have the same different conditions: for instance we have beautiful lettuces in winter time, but we can't have them in summer time except if we grow them in the shadow!!! So we have winter cauliflowers and artichokes and fennels, because of the rainy season, and you should see the amount of ladybirds passing from one cultivation to the other. Let's see the products we actually distribute: The original producers of Talpa, with a hard cohabitation between rabbit workers and field workers, breed rabbits for a local market, manure for organic cultivations, must grapes, olives for oil and for eating, cereals, vegetables, some fruit and prickly pears, part of honey. The farms are in Alcamo, Partinico, Calatafimi and S.Giuseppe Jato. Besides the founders, other farms joined with their products: one in Agrigento used to give us oranges (now they're abandoned) and still gives us the almonds and some pistachios. A farm in Buseto Palizzolo produces cheese, with sheep pasturing and cows both pasturing and in the barn; they study on traditions and just opened a cheese-dairy according to UErules. A farm in Partanna, turned into organic since five years (but they had never been chemicals!!!) produces oranges October through April, honey, oil and olives. The wine! After years producing wine according to my older peasant teachers, in big wood barrels, after reaching the first organic expos in Germany, with French organic certificate, we abandoned traditional wine production. We now drink and distribute wine produced in a "cantina sociale" in Calatafimi; good wines, traditional grape varieties, working accordingly to organic rules. Zibibbo and Marsala gets out from a firm with old tradition, huge wood barrels for aging, incredible tastes. We collaborate with Marsala's Frutti del Sole. When we have surplus of some products we give them; we get from theirs other products we don't have on our own ; they're studying more for preserving products, for pasta and others; but we keep preparing home made tomato sauce and olives and tomato cream , and jams.... We went back to traditional pastry! "marturana", "cassate", almond biscuits…. Finally we're trying to push all farms to improve their country housing so to offer more rooms for tourists…..it's working out… Claudio Tamagnini

It's the more typical Sicilian product, although not exactly in Alcamo's area; the associated farm with the best "gardens" is in Partanna; oranges are Navel and Washington-navel, ending with red varieties "sanguinelle". Insects struggle goes on with glue treated plates attracting flies..

Cereali e legumi:
ne produciamo in parte per uso umano e in parte per gli animali; soprattutto per il grano si cerca di ripristinare le antiche varietà, molto più nutrienti anche se meno produttive.

Rabbits:
We started from local breeding habits, rising rabbits in old warehouses; we had to improve health conditions, genetics and illness resistance; we separated the two sectors, nursing and fattening; we keep studying feeding with search on carobs and prickly pears; we built a slaughterhouse consistent with EU standards

Olive oil:
Olive trees are biancolilla in Alcamo and Partinico, nocellara in Partanna; we especially take care of an anticipated harvest to keep a low acidity in the olive oil; we only use lime in late winter to prevent pests. We prepare olives for eating in the same way.

Miele:
le arnie sono nell'aranceto o nel bosco; spesso i problemi di malattie derivano dalla troppa vicinanza degli alveari; non è il nostro caso.

Eggs:
We try to have almost free range chickens, to maintain old variety of hens producing white eggs.

Grapes:
"Catarratto" and "inzolia" for white grapes and "avola black" for red grapes: we produce concentrated must for Modena balsamic vinegar, grape sugar, and good quality wines; since before organic agriculture in this area the only treatment that was done was once with cupper and sulphur and another one with just sulphur.

Prickly pears:
You can find everywhere abandoned plants (we use them for feeding both rabbits and donkeys), but you must take care of them a lot if you want to produce big fruits with spared seeds…