Orto dalla Luna: “Respect nature and love the land. Here is the secret of true authenticity”

For years now we have been hearing about “ restanza ”, a word introduced by the Calabrian anthropologist Vito Teti to underline the choice of those who, despite the difficulties, decide to remain in their homeland.

A land that needs minds, initiatives, ideas. And perhaps for this very reason, more than “restanza”, it would be a good idea to promote the concept of “ tornanza ”, embodied by those who left to gain experiences, touch differences with their own hands, feed on stimuli, and then return to their land of origin and enrich it with initiatives of undeniable added value.

This is exactly the path taken by Giovanni Sisto , administrator of Orto dalla Luna in Gioia del Colle (BA) . He, who for years has dealt with fruit and vegetable products destined for the large-scale retail trade in Milan, thought that those same products deserved a different story, right from the start:

"Normally, several days pass between the harvest and the sale of a fruit or vegetable. Days in which the product is packaged, travels, and undergoes temperature changes. All factors that contribute to its deterioration, making it impossible to sell a fresh product with a unique flavor on the shelf."

So what to do? And above all: what path to take to reconcile economy and quality?

"To be honest," Giovanni replies, "when you make radical choices, you don't think about money at first. I personally decided to change because I wanted people to be able to enjoy fruit and vegetables with excellent quality."

Hence his choice in 2017 to stop being a buyer and take on the role of a farmer , returning to Puglia . Home.

«The Garden from the Moon was born with a thousand square meters of land cultivated following the lunar calendar, just as it was done centuries ago».

Just a few years later, the company led by Giovanni boasts thirty thousand square meters of land, hundreds of customers and starred restaurants that request its products.

But what was the secret of such success?

"Respect for nature and love for our territory. From the beginning we have nurtured the biodiversity of our products. For example, we have twelve varieties of courgettes, and all this does nothing but nourish the soil in a healthy way, preventing its impoverishment. As for our roots, we protect local ecotypes , preserving their tradition and promoting their tastes".

It is thanks to this philosophy that in the Orto dalla Luna you can see the growth of curly kale , typical of Gioia del Colle, or the Ponderosa tomato , whose seeds were inherited from an elderly farmer in the area.

«These are unique flavours – explains Giovanni – that end up in our poetic boxes every day», another suggestive idea by Orto dalla Luna:

"Every morning I arrive in the garden, see what is ready in the soil and make up 5 kg boxes, which we naturally change according to the season. Each box also contains a poem, which accompanies me from house to house, where I tell people and customers the story of each product."

A story that, thanks to the production of preserves and the collaboration with Apulian Store, can now be told everywhere.

Because Puglia is also this: an exciting story to share, a genuine flavor to taste, a tradition preserved every day.