Die Weltanschauung
I am here to lead my little world towards a balanced renaissance, with just the right amount of madness.
Enrico Rivetto
MY NEW PARADIGM
Some call it an awakening, and they become the men and women they were meant to be. For me, this sense of awareness made me feel part of a whole; it made me see what I though was single and independent bodies, as a harmonious system made up of complementary elements that interact with each other.
This inner change has allowed me to see the wondrous complexity of Lirano hill. I saw the beauty and realized that, as part of this whole, I had to preserve and care for it, help it grow. Because its beauty is never enough.
Today in Lirano, I nurture the vine and life. I take care of the bond and the interaction between all living and non-living beings. Lirano is a complete, complex, lively, balanced and beautiful agricultural living organism.
What I believe inThose who imagine can create.
Enrico Rivetto
The vitality of the earth
The earth represents the geological layers of our Planet’s knowledge. In Lirano I began serious work for the organic regeneration of the soils. I found some of my most precious allies: copper, sulfur, propolis and essential oils. To maintain the soil’s fertility, we produce our own compost.
Il Compost
In rotation, the entire area of Lirano is fertilized every 7 years using compost we have made with cow manure and waste from the cellar, the vegetable gardens and the fields. It is fermented for 2 years in order to obtain precious Humus, a rich and nutritious substance with which we feed the land of Lirano.
The purity of water
Pure water is a key element in our agricultural living organism. We have a pond in Lirano that collects rain and spring water, which we use for irrigation and biodynamic treatments. Even domestic and cellar wastewater are put to good use: it flows into a phytodepuration basin populated by macrophyte plants and specific bacteria that filter and purify the water, allowing us to reuse it in the fields.
The pond and the basin for phytodepuration
With an area of 400 m2 and a depth of approximately 2 meters, our pond collects over 1,000 m3 of rain and spring water. Located at the foot of the hill, the basin for phytodepuration contributes to reusing water that would alternatively go to waste.
Learning is the way and the journey,
but vision belongs to those who see beyond
Plotino
Hedges and ecological corridors
I can now see what I imagined when I uprooted the vines to plant hedges: ecological corridors teeming with life between the rows of Lirano. About 2 kilometers of flowered hedges and medicinal herbs that are an essential home for bees, insects, birds and small animals of the woods, which can safely cross the vineyards and move from one area to another.
Flora, fauna and antimicrobials
Over 2.000 meters long and about 1.5 meters wide: in Lirano, the ecological corridors have replaced about 3,000 m2 of vineyards. The hedges host dozens of different plants such as hornbeam, rosa rugosa and canina, laurel, buddleia, abelia and lilac. Medicinal herbs release antimicrobial essences that are useful to fight red and yellow spider vine mites.
Trees among the vineyards
In Lirano I planted over 1,000 tall trees among the vineyards: oaks, downy oaks, turkey oaks, yews, Linden trees, birches, horse chestnuts, English oaks, walnuts, ash, willow, beech, fruit trees. But also, zelkova, ironwood, and even ginkgo biloba. Their branches are a home for wildlife and their roots fight erosion and washout, helping the development of biodiversity in this agricultural living organism.
The tree and the vine
Just like the hedges, the trees are a refuge for frugivorous birds escaping predators. They host ladybirds and parasitoid hymenoptera that prey on insects that are harmful to the vine such as grapevine moths and leafhoppers.
In all chaos there is a cosmos,
in all disorder a secret order.
Carl Gustav Jung
Gardens, orchards and wheat fields
Now, vegetable gardens, orchards, fields and pastures can be found where there was once (only) vine. Lirano went “back in time” by becoming a mixed crop “farm”. Today we produce ancient grains, spelt, vegetables, fresh fruit for jams and juices, and medicinal herbs for essences.
Mixed crop farming
Ancient grains, spelt, maize and pastures occupy a total area of over 1.5 hectares on a three-year rotation with legumes (chickpeas and beans). Orchards, gardens and greenhouses cover more than 5,000 m2.
The animals
There is no agricultural organism without animals. Lirano also has its stars: Milo and Shira are the swans of the pond, symbols of loyalty, wisdom and pure love. Filippa, Giulia and Lella are donkeys that are part of our family. Roaming freely among vegetable gardens and vineyards, they help in regulating the growth of wild herbs, their hooves gently move the earth and push the seeds deep into the soil. Their waste is used to make organic compost.
Regulatory donkeys
Freely roaming among vegetable gardens and vineyards, donkeys help in regulating the growth of wild herbs. Their innate friendliness ensures the good mood of the agricultural living organism. Their waste becomes organic compost.
You will find something more in woods than in books.
Trees and stones will teach you
that which you can never learn from masters.
Bernard of Clairvaux
The way of the woods
Lirano is surrounded by 7 hectares of woods, a wildlife sanctuary with some centuries-old trees: Turkey oaks, ash trees, oaks and hornbeams. A heritage that we wanted to enhance by creating a 4km trail that winds between the vineyard and the undergrowth, enabling guests to discover the beauty of the woods, an increasingly rare and precious treasure in Langa.
Yeast from the woods
A recent agronomic study has recorded that grapes grown near the woods have peculiar and various yeasts on their skins when they reach the cellar: these are “yeasts” from the woods, indigenous strains that will influence the fermentation process and wine flavor.
The Bees
Very important helpers in our agricultural living organism are the bees, pollinators emphasizing the inextricable bond between plant and non-plant organisms. They often visit the vineyards to collect pollen from the vines and sip nectar from the herbs, and, buzzing from one flower to another, they also help the exchange of microorganisms between herbs and vines, including yeasts that allow for more complex fermentation in the cellar. Bees play an essential part in maintaining the balance between physical and material elements and the cosmic dimension. They weave light into the fabric of the world.
Life in the hive
In Lirano there are 6 beehives. Each is home to around 40,000 worker bees, 200 drones and 1 queen bee. Their life cycle in the summer lasts for one month, while they live longer in the winter because they have more fat and because they observe a less frenetic rhythm than summer bees. Thanks to them, we produce honey, propolis and wax.
The Cosmos
The moon and the planets have always played a central role in agriculture. The course of the seasons and the influences of the cosmos are an essential part of the natural harmony that I am looking for. I began to observe (and listen to) the daily and annual rhythm of the Earth, the cycles of the moon and the stars, whose correct interpretation can favor the planning of farming work, the growth of plants and the development of their characteristics.
