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Agriculture
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The olive harvesting
In our area this phase of cultivation presents a peculiarity that makes it different from the harvesting done in other regions: they beat them down with the use of long sticks called “trappe” and “trapperèlu”. These tools are used because our trees can be 10 metres high. The olives fall on nets which have been sread out, under the trees, by harvesters. After the harvesting, the leaves have to be separeted from the olives. In the past, a tool called “sassura” was used but later it was replaced by the “chitarra”. Today oil producers use electric winnowings, which need less human effort. The olives are taken to the oil mill, where they are pressed to obtain oil. The waste, composed of pressed stones and peels, is used for fuel.
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The ruscus
The ruscus, common in the Mediterranean bush, is an ever green plant from 30centimetres to 80 centimetres high. This plant has a lot of “cladophylles”, which are branches which, because they have no leaves, take up this function to become oval, flat and rigid, with prickly ends.
In the spring, between the “cladophylles”, small green flowers open, and fruits, which ripen in the winter, are bright scarlet berries, like cherries. The ruscus can be used as an ornamental plant, especially as a decoration at Christmas.
Thanks to its diuretic properties, the ruscus is used in natural medicine to make “the five roots potion”, with parsley, celery, fennel and asparagus. The seeds, after being toasted, were used to replace coffee. The name is connected to the past, when the plant was put around provisions to protect them from the rats with its thorns.
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The anemone
The anemone comes from the family of Ranunculus acer. The height of this plant varies from 15 centimetres to over 1 metre. The name means “flower of the wind”, thanks to its frail and multicoloured corollas. The anemone grows in shady and cool lands and it multiplies during the spring for the separation of the plants. To cultivate the rhizomatous species, small rhizomes are used. Rhizomes, which have been dug up from the earth, will be planted in the autumn. During the winter, the land might be covered with a mulching of leaves, to allow the rhizomes to bloom from the end of the winter to may. To obtain stronger plants with more flowers or to look for new varieties, the seeds obtained from the flowers, can be sown after 1-2 years.
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The buttercup
The buttercup is a plant of the family of Ranunculus acer, which includes more than 400 species that are original of mild and cool areas of the globe. The buttercup comes from Latin and it means “frog” because this plant prefers marshy and moist places that are the natural habitat of amphibians. These plants can be annual or perennial. These plants can have tuberous roots, an erect upright stem, sometimes they creep or float and the leaves can be whole or deeply in dented. The buttercup needs a sunny position, in soft and rich earth. Annual varieties multiply with the seeding or with the separation plants, while for perennial ones, it is necessary to use rhizomes, popularly called “legs”. Where the climate is warmer they are planted in September - October to have blooms in the next year from February to June. Where there are heavy strong frosts, rhizomes are transported at the end of the winter to obtain blooms from May.
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