The Dolci Family, Umbria. Pulses, Cous Cous and Polenta

In Umbria the highest Apennine peak is Monte Vettore at 2400ms and the topography is clay, sand and limestone. The topsoil is thin and poor, the climate harsh; a perfect combination for growing pulses and in the hamlet of Monteleone di Spoleto Antonio and Giuseppina Dolci have been doing just that for 50 years

Their organic farm is split into myriad small parcels of land that, at over 1000ms, are hard to access let alone harvest. Thick, wild hedgerows line the muddy tracks that lead to each field and then onto the open mountainsides where lentils are grown in long strips and, in July, are still harvested by hand

 Each year Antonio and his son Domenico trial varieties of beans not in widespread production and are currently harvesting over 30 different types such as Suocera e Nuora, Purgatorio, Monachelle and the Roveja Pea. We all know their health benefits but pulses are also environmental heroes; they require less water than other crops and have root nodules housing beneficial bacteria that convert nitrogen from the air and soil into a form that’s accessible to the plant as nutrients. Antonio alternate’s pulse crops with cereals (farro for cous cous and maize for polenta) and pasture, a rotation that breaks weed and disease cycles and helps crops access more nutrients.