Il Biancospino by Franco Zecchinato

Below is the presentation by Franco Zecchinato (president of the cooperative) of his farm “Il Biancospino”.

We are in Salboro, in the extreme south of the Municipality of Padua, where quite a bit of agricultural area has remained, despite everything. A place that has retained part of its identity, linked to the long history of a rural village.
Here, in the town of “Chiesetta dei Ferri”, the Bolzonella family, then Cecchinato/Zecchinato, had rented a small farm of about 3 ha in Via Bosco Papadopoli since then the 'masters' have changed, but not our subsequent generations.
It was therefore a great achievement for me to be able to buy, in the early 90s, about half of the land where I, my father, my grandmother, my children and grandchildren were born.
And even if for a long time we have been feeling the attack of new regulatory plans (which determine the change of intended use of our land...), we resist and we testify that organic agriculture can be done, an adventure that started already at the end of the 70s.
Over time we have invested a lot, reconstructing our small landscape, made up of tree-lined banks and traditional vineyards, to which we have added modern varieties resistant to powdery mildew and mildew parasites, as in our grandfather's time. We have maintained some poultry farming for family uses, with hens, ducks and geese, paying attention to the conservation and reproduction of native breeds.
However, our main job is horticulture and the maintenance of local plants and part of the historical identity of our village — such as the variegated radicchio “Fior di Maserà”, the sea pumpkins, the Paduan broccoli and the “bastard”, the cabbage...
All our productions are awarded to the El Tamiso Cooperative, with whom we maintain a very close relationship, even in the programming of the crops, and without whose presence we would not be here to write.
The total cultivated area, between property and rent, is about 2 ha, and the whole family works there with passion, some more and some less.