In Masseria you never go on vacation, time is marked by the operations that must be carried out, the wheat harvest then the legume harvest, the seasonal fruit to be harvested, the animals to look after, the always abundant vegetable garden to take care of and prepare for the next harvest.
They seem endless operations and yet they embellish the days letting the moments mark and at the same time making them poetic, like the sunsets we observe or the evenings of stars and cicadas that pamper our tired faces.
There is also no respite for our educational activities, and the alchemy between the countryside and people’s desire to escape is increasingly intense. Among the activities that we carried out in this summer 2020, there was the collaboration with an association of people with disabilities, as the farm is undoubtedly a place that facilitates social inclusion, fosters relationships and collaboration with the contribution of all. The context of the didactic farm allows direct and experiential contact with nature and with oneself. The environment is welcoming and familiar, far from rigid and organized structures; it favors socialization, collaboration more than competition. The times lived in the countryside are slower, linked to the seasonality and biological rhythms of each individual. There is work for everyone in the Masseria… everyone can do something, everyone is useful; even those who have difficulty manage to get involved in the activities that are proposed. We can restore value to the senses: smell, touch, see, taste, hear… skills within everyone’s reach and very often underestimated. Sowing, cultivating and then seeing the fruits of one’s work helps to regain confidence in one’s abilities. The experience in the Masseria can take on a therapeutic value when the cultivation of plants contributes to the restoration of individual and social balances, often broken by conditions of discomfort or disadvantage. The main objective of the experience in the Masseria, therefore, is the improvement of the person and not just that of the plant.