Heritage vegetable garden - The "Marina di Chioggia" pumpkin.

"Marina di Chioggia" pumpkin. Photo Andrea Mangoni.

When autumn comes, with the arrival of the first cold, the fruits that the vegetable garden give us start to change; the evenings getting longer and grows the desire of a nice fireplace. During this period, at least for me, pumpkins are the most representative fruits  of the months of October and November. And among the hundreds of varieties of pumpkins, all extraordinary, different from each other in shapes, colors and sizes, my favorite is - absolutely -  the "Marina di Chioggia" pumpkin. 

The warty skin of the "Marina di Chioggia" pumpkin. Photo Andrea Mangoni.

The "Marina di Chioggia" ("marine pumpkin of the Chioggia city"; Chioggia is a little city near Venice) is an italian heritage cultivare of pumpkin. It is not known exactly how this variety is grown in the area of ​​Chioggia, in the province of Venice. The name "Marina" ("of the sea") was maybe give to this cultivar beacause once the families - that traditionally took care of the vegetable gardens near Venice and Chioggia - were those of the so-called "marinanti", different from those which were responsible directly for fishing and trade. It 'also known as "Holy Pumpkin" or "barucca pumpkin" or "scuffle", the term "barucca" deriving perhaps from "baruch", jewish word for "saint". Goldoni then immortalized in his famous "Baruffe chiozzotte" ("The Chioggia Barneys"). What is certain is that thanks to its excellent organoleptic characteristics and shelf life they becomes a key component of the canteen of coastal populations. His ability to settle for minimal land and increasing climbing allowed to use it to take advantage of otherwise unusable space for other crops. Indeed, apparently the salty environment of the venice lagoon favored the growth of more flavorful tasted specimens. 

The fruits are ribbed, strongly flattened at the poles, with a thin skin that forms tubercles and growths that make it look like some strange prehistoric animal. Sometimes the navel can be very developed and it takes on the shape of a turban; also the stalk is usually big. Its size can be quite considerable, even several kilograms: an acquaintance told me about a really exceptional fruit that reached 12 kg, but, as St. Thomas, I don't believe if I don't see ... The flesh is yellow orange, with a fantastic taste, and lends itself to many preparations. Also the seeds, properly toasted, are a great snack.

"Marina di Chioggia" pumpkin cut in half. Photo Andrea Mangoni.

The "Marina di Chioggia" is certainly a very ancient cultivar. In the old Cherubini's dictionary "Vocabulario Milanese - Italiano" (1841)  we find this pumpkin cited as::

Zucca barucca. Zucca dal collo torto ? o ritorta o di Chiozza. (Barucca pumpkin. Wrong-necked pumpkin? or twisted pumpkin or Chiozza pumpkin).

Even in Tanarsa's "L'economia del cittadino in villa" ("The economy of the cityzen in town"), 1658, Marina pumpkin is cited as "exquisite." Even earlier, in "Il Panonto - Dottrina sigolare di Domenico M. Romo" ("The Panonto - Singular doctrine of Domenico M. Romo"), 1637, are cited various preparations and food pairings that included this vegetable, such as fried marine pumpkin with green sauce, combined with lemons, elder fried flowers, little squids, omelettes, and many other foods. A set of dishes that even if older than four centuries, in fact, do not lose effectiveness or taste.

"Marina di Chioggia" pumpkin.  Photo Andrea  Mangoni.

The "Marina di Chioggia" pumpkin  is sown in March here in Italy, as most of the varieties, and comes to mature in September-October. The seeds should be placed at 1 cm depth in the soil, individually in jars of appropriate size. They could be also directly planted on field in april. Although it is traditionally grown in poor soil, in the past I had the best results growing it directly behind the compost pile, so that the roots and the base of the stem were mostly in the shade and that instead the stem and the leaves was climbing on the chain-link fence, facing south-west. In my vegetable garden, the plants produced 2-3 very large pumpkin, and some smaller fruits. Look at the chickens, they will eat each bud they could. Some years ago an elder farmer of Chioggia gave me the seeds just saying that belonged to this variety, once planted them i was disapponted to find out that they had nothing to do with it. So this year I chose at the vegetable market a beautiful Marina pumpkin, and ready to use in the kitchen I have put aside the seeds for next year. For the record, the "model" of the photo below has been transformed (thanks to the tireless work of my wife) in pumpkin soup, with pasta, olive oil and cheese, slices of pumpkin fried in batter, accompanied by Asiago and Grana Padano cheese, and finally in a beautiful, and delicious, pumpkin pie. We had to sacrifice even to determine whether it was really good as well as said, right? Now we can confirm this: the pumpkin "Marina di Chioggia" pumpkin is fantastic!

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Building a Chicken Coop with recycled materials - By DjSandoors.

Today I would share with you a very interesting video, produced by DjSandoors, on building a chicken coop from recycled material. Sure, it takes a certain amount of skill and a few more tools than we usually find ourselves in the garage, but this video is one of the few that I found (in the flood of movies about building a chicken coop) to have some interesting practical implications , that is one of the few that can be really useful for the hobbyist.

Sandor made ​​his chicken coop in 27 hours, using only recycled materials. his expenses were limited to about U.S. $ 65, which represents approximately € 48.3! Given the finished result, I would say that is very remarkable: its 5 star Orpington have something happy. Only note, a window size would provide more un'assai better lighting, and you know that light is important for chickens.

I leave the video, the other movies of Sandor here is his youtube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/djsandoors

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Video - My hen houses

After a long silence, a new post to have a look at my hen houses! The video it's in italian... but I hope that however the images will speak clearly. Ciao!

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The Boffa or Paduan Bearded Hen, an almost extinct breed that we are trying to save from oblivion

A new adventure. Yes, this can be considered true.
Whoever follows me will already know that my commitment and my passion are directed towards the conservation of biodiversity, both in natural and livestock. This led me, over and over again, to research and document the wealth of chicken breeds that once roamed my country, and in particular those in my region, the Veneto. Just follow this passion I have been a few years ago to pursue the traces of an endangered breed which I found very fascinating and deplored the loss of which, the ancient race Boffa. These animals, the result of the intersection of crested chickens (Polverara Padovana Great Tuft) and the largest local hens of the countryside of Padua, was known by the second half of the nineteenth century. Its most distinctive feature was the thick tufts of feathers that crowned the beak, like a beard and favorites. Slowly disappeared from rural farmyards, ended with the disappearance of all in the second half of last century.

But after long unsuccessful searches on the territory of Padua, to see if there were still survivors of these breed, some year ago I found in a poultry forum a picture that showed some chickens that was very similar to the ancient Boffa. Thanks to my friend Marco Bindocci, it was found that a flock of this breed, although not genetically selected, survived by an elderly farmer in central Italy, which has bred this poultry for 50 years, gift from an aunt who married an emigrant to the Venetian which had brought them from their land.

So, in 2009, december, a tiny group of  has arrived in my chicken coop, and in February the first chicks have begun to emerge. I would like to signal you my project: the website:

GallinaBoffa.com

with news, articles, projects strictly related to the rescue of this beautiful breed. With the website I've started also the pubblication of a blog, as "news dispenser":

GallinaBoffa.blogspot.com

Soon came a book and other news. Meanwhile, the chicks are born and grow, and they will more than anything else to shape the future of this breed. I sincerely hope you want to follow me a little 'in this adventure. See you soon!

Red eyes (Sleeping )

June 2006. Evening. The fields are almost sleeping. I'm walking near some willow trees, and a scared common owl (Asio otus) escape near me. It stop his flight for a moment, standing on a branch not far away, nailed with its huge red eyes wide open. I try to photograph it, but ... Naaaa. He runs away again. Few step further, and I see another pair of red eyes that nailed me. Much smaller, but also less scared ... probably already asleep. Click. Goodnight!

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Ectophasia crassipennis is a small parasitic fly whose larvae feeds on bugs.

Poultry - The Rovigo Ermine Turkey

Among the many breeds of Italian turkeys, The Rovigo Ermine Turkey is one of the few that is well known outside its home region, the Veneto. Either for the beautiful livery and for good production skills and the instinct for breeding, the breed has spread quite well among fans, but is still rather common.
Was Prof. Raffaello Quilici, Institute of Experimental Poultry Rovigo, in 1958, which starts from common bronzed turkeys and inserting Narragansett (one of the finest American turkey breeds) got to a point mutation of the selection by a small livery heads a group of ermine, on which to continue efforts to standardize the production characteristics and size.

The breed is characterized by flesh-colored legs, white skin, an ermine livery that resembles that of the German race Crollwitzer, and a medium size, with females who stood about 5 Kg and males 11 Kg. These birds are very rustic and precocious, fast feathering, also suitable for farming in the mountains. The females are excellent brooders, perfect to complete broods of many poultry, also because of their size is not excessive. Unfortunately, the lack of uniformity of somatic characteristics often leads to think that we can improve the characteristics of the livery by crossing with other breeds. In truth, the mere effort of the farmers should be more selective than enough to maximize the uniformity of the livery of this breed.The animals pictured here belonging to my friend Marco Bindocci, they become from the flock of the University of Perugia, I also had the pleasure of seeing an equally beautiful and very uniform flock, well characterized, near a farmer in Casalserugo (PD), which was obtained by a pure breed male had by Institute of St. Benedict of Padua and a group of bronze female with a right size. It 'goes without saying that in this case, that should be taken as an example, were the stubbornness and the assiduous selection made by these farmers to enable such an outcome. Should serve as inspiration and reference for every farmer, especially in these times when the word "selection" seems to scare the fans more than many others.

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Places: the Old Botanical Garden of Padua

Walking through the Botanical Garden of Padua, one of oldest university botanical garden still existing in Italy, is like taking a little trip through space and time. Exotic species are flanked by a humble native seedlings, flowers bright glimmer of a tangle of thorns, clusters of berries improbable colors are complemented by antique statues. Walking in the core, going from old doors, and being among flower beds and tubs from the perfect geometry is like going back in an old hortus conclusus of a medieval monastery. Groups of aromatic plants, water lilies, fruit trees, all arranged in strict symmetry, take shelter under the auspices of the old gingko tree, which looks like a cascade of golden fans in autumn, or in the imposing palm Goethe; the hidden rotonda, sorrounded by Taxus and bamboo, resembles a small green room, ready to accommodate a married couple, and greenhouses delicate Ficus and impressive Monstera build huge green walls throbbing with life.

I put here some pictures taken in October between its avenues, the garden well worth a visit even in seasons like autumn and winter, which certainly does not shine for its abundance of bloom and lushness. For any information, this is the Botanical Garden website.