Arboreal Archaeology Foundation in San Lorenzo di Lerchi
An ancient hermitage immersed in the green countryside of the upper Tiber valley, and a very special nursery focused on the history of our countryside and kinds of trees that, not many years ago, characterized the land of Umbrian farmers: is this the Parco di Archeologia Arborea (Arboreal Archaeology Park) in the countryside between Umbria and Tuscany. Its creator and curator is Isabella Dalla Ragione, agronomist and landscape researcher, who since the death of her father Livio, has carried forward this project, first as an Association and now as the Foundation of Archaeology Arborea based in San Lorenzo di Lerchi, in the municipality of Città di Castello.
Searching through abandoned fields, in the gardens of ancient convents, orchards, forests, and listening to stories of older farmers, Isabella has managed to recover and plant about 400 varieties of fruit trees while maintaining traditions, customs and cultivation systems. And so these fruits with original and forgotten names: briaca pear, curate's pear, donkey's ass apple, lemongrass apple, convent apple, green plum, irritable fig, raisin grape and many other varieties of plants have come back to life, reproducing tastes and perfumes of the past.