Antonella Rasterelli

Olive Farm Podere Midolla

Antonella had long worked as an office staff with her father’s relatives on the canning and selling of olives.

“I was always around olives” she said, which helped her make a decision to start her own full-time olive farm on land that her father’s great grandfather purchased 90 years ago. Her farmer friend had been operating the land, but she finally started to get involved in the 1990s. In August 2000, she left her office work to commit to the organic olive farm. That is when Olive Farm ‘Podere Midolla’ was established.

She took courses to achieve specialty knowledge on olive and organic farming. In the spring of 2008, she rebuilt the old building on the farm to create an Agro tourism facility. This facility allows visitors from all around Italy, and even from abroad, to stay at the farm.

Because Olive Farm ‘Podere Midolla’ has great natural habitat and site conditions (high altitude and surrounded by mountains), they do not need any fertilizers or chemicals. Antonella chose not to use any fertilizers, and only used copper when there were too many flies. “I’ve learned to carefully look at nature, so that I can farm under the most natural habitat possible.”

Today, using the Shumei Natural Agricultural Method, she no longer needs copper or fertilizer of any kind. Her olive oil ‘Podere Midolla’ has officially been certified as organically farmed olive oil.