It is October in Tramonti, which means: CHESTNUTS. ACARBIO has chestnut trees in the garden but also has a part in the forest. The volunteers and employees of the association got together to harvest. Chestnuts are falling every day, so for almost three weeks, we went to the woods and had a collecting challenge. The one who harvested the most chestnuts wins a trip to Capri. Let’s say that I am not the one who won. It happened that I fell asleep. My maximum was 25 kilos, which is a third of what others did sometimes…

Collecting chestnuts is like working out, but in the forest, you also need to know some dodge techniques, so you don’t have a chestnut shell full of thorns on your head. But despite the tiredness, we stood together, put music on, and tried our best to collect again and again. We also spent a lot of time trying out recipes with chestnuts inside. One of our favorites is chestnut pasta with parsley and chili.

At the end of the harvesting, we decided to organize a chestnut party! We created a poster that was shared on social media and in the cities around us. People would come, collect chestnuts, and take them back home. We decided on a menu: chestnut soup, melting cheese on the fire with bread, chestnut cream pie, and coffee for everybody. We were around 30, talking, eating, and sharing together. A lady brought her suricate! I know that in France, it is forbidden to have a suricate as a pet, and I don’t want to know whether it is available in Italy or not. This animal is the cutest; the second you bring your hand to him, he cuddles you up.

The harvesting season is now over. What’s left is the huge amount of chestnuts waiting for us to eat them.

Written by Laura Clement