-
Not Synced
On Italy Amalfi Coast
-
Not Synced
there's a food found
nowhere else on Earth.
-
Not Synced
Caring for it requires fearlessness,
-
Not Synced
breathtaking agility,
-
Not Synced
and a deep connection to the land.
-
Not Synced
This is a young man's trade
-
Not Synced
but it's done almost entirely by old men,
-
Not Synced
and I come here to meet
one of the greatest.
-
Not Synced
Gigino just turned 83,
-
Not Synced
he's spent his whole life
tending a very special kind of lemon.
-
Not Synced
Gigino just turned 83,
-
Not Synced
he's spent his whole life
tending a very special kind of lemon
-
Not Synced
here on the hillsides of Amalfi.
-
Not Synced
Gigino and his son Salvatore
have invited me
-
Not Synced
to harvest the fable Amalfi Coast lemon,
-
Not Synced
sfusato amalfitano,
-
Not Synced
a variety that is celebrated
for its sweetness and aroma.
-
Not Synced
But first, café!
-
Not Synced
Salute!
-
Not Synced
With a twist of lemon, of course.
-
Not Synced
That's really good!
-
Not Synced
I'm ready to go now. Let's go!
-
Not Synced
Now you're ready.
-
Not Synced
The name, sfusato, comes
from the lemon taper end,
-
Not Synced
like a spindle or "fuso", in Italian.
-
Not Synced
Only sfusato grown along the 20 miles
coastal strip between Vietri and Positano
-
Not Synced
can legally be sold
as Amalfi Coast lemons.
-
Not Synced
This is the preferred habitat
of the sfusato amalfitano,
-
Not Synced
and attempts to commercially grow it
outside of Italy have failed.
-
Not Synced
Gigino often works in the most
precarious place possible:
-
Not Synced
atop the mountainside pergolas
that support the trees.
-
Not Synced
This breathtaking aerial act
has earned Gigino and his cohort
-
Not Synced
a nickname: the Flying Farmers.
-
Not Synced
It's easy to drive along the coast
-
Not Synced
and think the cascading lemon terraces
are entirely ornamental,
-
Not Synced
they are just postcard perfect.
-
Not Synced
But that's what this coast does to people,
-
Not Synced
it gives us delusion on grandeur,
-
Not Synced
that all of this is it's here purely
to fulfill our fantasy of paradise.
-
Not Synced
But in reality,
the lemons play a vital role,
-
Not Synced
not only on the livelihood
of farmers like Gigino,
-
Not Synced
but in the very survival
of the Amalfi Coast,
-
Not Synced
literally, the survival.
-
Not Synced
The roots of these trees are anchoring
the soil to this sheer coastline.
-
Not Synced
Now, the farmers are aging,
-
Not Synced
and there's not exactly a line of people
clamoring to take up this work.
-
Not Synced
As more farms have been abandoned,
the mudslides have increased.
-
Not Synced
Gigino's farmland includes
an ancient terrace grove
-
Not Synced
that overlooks the heart
of Amalfi and the sea.
-
Not Synced
Up here feels worlds away
-
Not Synced
but it's staringly close
to the bustling streetlife below
-
Not Synced
where you can hear
children playing as Gigino works.
-
Not Synced
It's terrifying to think of
what would happen
-
Not Synced
if these terraces crumble.
-
Not Synced
It was only recently that
Gigino's eldest son Sal
-
Not Synced
quit his cushy accounting job
-
Not Synced
to become his father's apprentice.
-
Not Synced
He knew that if he didn't act now
-
Not Synced
then a legacy of over two centuries
and five generations would die with him.
-
Not Synced
He teaches me day by day and I'm learning.
-
Not Synced
It's difficult because
-
Not Synced
it's difficult to learn
80 years of experience.
-
Not Synced
Gigino tends two seasons
worth of lemons at the same time.
-
Not Synced
The one he'll harvest this year
from February to September,
-
Not Synced
and the babies that will be
next year's crop.
-
Not Synced
Gigino's lemons are organic
-
Not Synced
not because he tries to conform
to any modern day standard,
-
Not Synced
but rather the opposite,
-
Not Synced
because he's farming the way
his family has farmed for generations.
-
Not Synced
The spring is such
a special time to be here.
-
Not Synced
The trees are unclogged from the netting
-
Not Synced
that protects the fruit
against wind and hail.
-
Not Synced
The trees bloom perfuming the air
and luring bees to pollinate.
-
Not Synced
The Aceto keeps his own hives
and havests the honey too.
-
Not Synced
The fertilized flowers grow into fruits
which start as green as limes.
-
Not Synced
A third of Gigino's lemons
are used to make limoncello
-
Not Synced
in their own small factory.
-
Not Synced
The rest goes to ice cream
and other limoncello factories,
-
Not Synced
and a few to fresh markets.
-
Not Synced
These are the real deal shears.
-
Not Synced
Ok.
-
Not Synced
All right.
-
Not Synced
We want leaves on these.
-
Not Synced
The branches and the leaves
also indicate that is really fresh,
-
Not Synced
that is coming straight from the farm.
-
Not Synced
I got this one.
-
Not Synced
It's not for me...
-
Not Synced
He'll do it.
-
Not Synced
I can get this one, ughh --
it's heavy enough.
-
Not Synced
- Salute!
- Salute!
-
Not Synced
I've seen a lot of tough farm work
-
Not Synced
but I really can't think of
a more challenging terrain than this.
-
Not Synced
Heavy loads have to be hauled
up and down narrow craggy steps
-
Not Synced
from terrace to terrace --
to terrace.
-
Not Synced
But Gigino also claims a unique advantage.
-
Not Synced
He's got one of the most technologically
advanced poling systems on the coast.
-
Not Synced
I'm serious -- this little cable car!
-
Not Synced
Cable car aside,
-
Not Synced
watching Gigino's farm
is stepping back in time 200 years.
-
Not Synced
He crafts each pergola himself
from the chestnut trees in his forests,
-
Not Synced
then he uses pliable willow branches
-
Not Synced
to tie the pergola
to the limbs of the lemon trees
-
Not Synced
to lift them up to the sun
which sweetens the fruit.
-
Not Synced
Preparing the willow ties
is an ancient practice.
-
Not Synced
Watching him do this fills me
with a deep sense of privilege,
-
Not Synced
it's like, I'm seeing
a tradition so fragile
-
Not Synced
that if I blink, it may cease to exist.
-
Not Synced
It's Sunday
-
Not Synced
and three generations of Acetos
are gathered under the pergola for lunch.
-
Not Synced
There's pasta, sausages and flank steak
-
Not Synced
and of course, lemon cake.
-
Not Synced
In his heyday, Amalfi was an incredible,
powerful maritime republic,
-
Not Synced
and a gateway to
the continent for Arab traders.
-
Not Synced
They are the ones
who first brought citrus to this coast
-
Not Synced
in the tenth century.
-
Not Synced
Ever since, wealthy visitors
from near and far,