Cover image: Miguel holding warm compost from the thermal pile
Tularù farm is a farm located 850 meters above sea level, in a mountain area 15 km from Rieti in the north part of the Lazio Region in Italy. The picturesque farm is run by Miguel and his wife Alessandra and is known for its closed cycle approach to farming, avoiding any waste from the farm and producing energy as a result of it.
Tularù specialised in growing ancient cereals, vegetables, fruit and breeding cattle in a “Voisin” rational grazing system aimed to regenerate grasslands. The Italian NGO Deafal helped them to develop this holistic grazing system on the farm.
Tularù works on 35 ha of arable land, pasture, woods and a vegetable plot which produces food for the restaurant. Together with other farms, they created a value chain of ancient Rieti grains involving a local pasta factory and bakeries.
Some of the closed cycle systems on the farms include a thermal composting system of about 30 cubic meters, made from branches and wood chips from their pruning waste and forest cleaning. The compost produces heat (60 degrees Celsius) which in return warms water running through pipes in the heap.
Their vegetable garden is fertilized with their own biofertilizer produced from burning the bones of their cattle in a wood-fired oven. This process, called Pyrolysis produces biochar, which is at a later stage inoculated with bacteria resulting in a rich biofertilizer that guarantees excellent health for farm crops.
Tularù also provides opportunities for children and soon as well teenagers to come and spend time on the farm. They organise activities both for schools and for families and the “Scuola Natura” (Nature school), a summer camp in which children can spend a week immersed in nature, free to play and learn from nature.
Children in Tularù learn to stay in the forest, have fun respecting nature, create small handicrafts with their own hands, to take care of a plant and prepare food to eat in company. With this approach, they hope to engage children in valuing and loving nature.
Learn more about Tularù here: http://www.tularu.it/
This visit was organised within the AYE! project
Agroecological Youth Education for Future (AYE!) is an Erasmus+ project that aims to increase the environmental awareness and ecological literacy of the youth by introducing them to agroecology as a holistic science which provides solutions for sustainable environment and sustainable food systems.
