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On Italy Amalfi Coast

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there's a food found [br]nowhere else on Earth.

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Caring for it requires fearlessness,

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breathtaking agility,

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and a deep connection to the land.

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This is a young man's trade

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but it's done almost entirely by old men,

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and I come here to meet [br]one of the greatest.

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Gigino just turned 83,

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he's spent his whole life[br]tending a very special kind of lemon.

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Gigino just turned 83,

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he's spent his whole life[br]tending a very special kind of lemon

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here on the hillsides of Amalfi.

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Gigino and his son Salvatore[br]have invited me

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to harvest the fable Amalfi Coast lemon,

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sfusato amalfitano,

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a variety that is celebrated[br]for its sweetness and aroma.

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But first, café!

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Salute!

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With a twist of lemon, of course.

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That's really good!

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I'm ready to go now. Let's go!

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Now you're ready.

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The name, sfusato, comes [br]from the lemon taper end,

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like a spindle or "fuso", in Italian.

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Only sfusato grown along the 20 miles [br]coastal strip between Vietri and Positano

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can legally be sold[br]as Amalfi Coast lemons.

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This is the preferred habitat[br]of the sfusato amalfitano,

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and attempts to commercially grow it[br]outside of Italy have failed.

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Gigino often works in the most[br]precarious place possible:

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atop the mountainside pergolas[br]that support the trees.

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This breathtaking aerial act[br]has earned Gigino and his cohort

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a nickname: the Flying Farmers.

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It's easy to drive along the coast

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and think the cascading lemon terraces[br]are entirely ornamental,

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they are just postcard perfect.

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But that's what this coast does to people,

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it gives us delusion on grandeur,

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that all of this is it's here purely[br]to fulfill our fantasy of paradise.

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But in reality, [br]the lemons play a vital role,

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not only on the livelihood[br]of farmers like Gigino,

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but in the very survival[br]of the Amalfi Coast,

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literally, the survival.

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The roots of these trees are anchoring[br]the soil to this sheer coastline.

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Now, the farmers are aging,

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and there's not exactly a line of people[br]clamoring to take up this work.

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As more farms have been abandoned,[br]the mudslides have increased.

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Gigino's farmland includes[br]an ancient terrace grove

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that overlooks the heart [br]of Amalfi and the sea.

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Up here feels worlds away

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but it's staringly close[br]to the bustling streetlife below

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where you can hear [br]children playing as Gigino works.

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It's terrifying to think of[br]what would happen

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if these terraces crumble.

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It was only recently that[br]Gigino's eldest son Sal

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quit his cushy accounting job[br]

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to become his father's apprentice.

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He knew that if he didn't act now

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then a legacy of over two centuries[br]and five generations would die with him.

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He teaches me day by day and I'm learning.

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It's difficult because

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it's difficult to learn[br]80 years of experience.

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Gigino tends two seasons [br]worth of lemons at the same time.

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The one he'll harvest this year[br]from February to September,

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and the babies that will be[br]next year's crop.

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Gigino's lemons are organic

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not because he tries to conform[br]to any modern day standard,

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but rather the opposite,

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because he's farming the way[br]his family has farmed for generations.

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The spring is such [br]a special time to be here.

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The trees are unclogged from the netting

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that protects the fruit [br]against wind and hail.

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The trees bloom perfuming the air[br]and luring bees to pollinate.

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The Aceto keeps his own hives[br]and havests the honey too.

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The fertilized flowers grow into fruits[br]which start as green as limes.

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A third of Gigino's lemons [br]are used to make limoncello

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in their own small factory.

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The rest goes to ice cream[br]and other limoncello factories,

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and a few to fresh markets.

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These are the real deal shears.

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Ok.

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All right.

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We want leaves on these.

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The branches and the leaves[br]also indicate that is really fresh,

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that is coming straight from the farm.

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I got this one.

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It's not for me...

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He'll do it.

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I can get this one, ughh --[br]it's heavy enough.

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- Salute![br]- Salute!

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I've seen a lot of tough farm work

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but I really can't think of [br]a more challenging terrain than this.

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Heavy loads have to be hauled [br]up and down narrow craggy steps

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from terrace to terrace --[br]to terrace.

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But Gigino also claims a unique advantage.

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He's got one of the most technologically [br]advanced poling systems on the coast.

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I'm serious -- this little cable car!

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Cable car aside,

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watching Gigino's farm [br]is stepping back in time 200 years.

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He crafts each pergola himself[br]from the chestnut trees in his forests,

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then he uses pliable willow branches

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to tie the pergola [br]to the limbs of the lemon trees

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to lift them up to the sun[br]which sweetens the fruit.

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Preparing the willow ties[br]is an ancient practice.

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Watching him do this fills me[br]with a deep sense of privilege,

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it's like, I'm seeing [br]a tradition so fragile

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that if I blink, it may cease to exist.

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It's Sunday

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and three generations of Acetos[br]are gathered under the pergola for lunch.

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There's pasta, sausages and flank steak

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and of course, lemon cake.

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In his heyday, Amalfi was an incredible,[br]powerful maritime republic,

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and a gateway to [br]the continent for Arab traders.

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They are the ones [br]who first brought citrus to this coast

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in the tenth century.

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Ever since, wealthy visitors [br]from near and far,