Azienda agricola BioMele di Farina Maria

Our company is located in Metaponto, Policoro (MT), 2 km from the Ionian coast of Lucania. A sandy coast where only 2,000 years ago landed the Greeks to found the "Magna Grecia", one of the earliest evolved forms of sociability, with organized city squares where people can meet and decide together, equipped with many facilities and home to one of the first "university studies ", in which Pythagoras and other philosophers and scholars have developed and demonstrated their theorems.

We produce different types of citrus fruits (mainly Clementine), an "old" varieties of apricots, the "Cafona" and "new" Orange Rubis, an area of ​​about 3.5 ha. We chose, for some time, to produce using techniques and organic methods (grassing, biological control, etc.). Our Control Body is the ICEA (corporate code Q168). Obviously we also have a series of "small batches" (peaches, figs, pears, apples, blackberries, plums, jujubes, lotus, pomegranate, some vegetables, etc.) That hardly cross the gate as this company for own consumption, our local friends or guests of our stay in the country.

At the invitation of some friends, already our users, we began to experience the direct selling. Knowing us and our products convinced us to try this way of "sharing" of organic food. We are also members of ReteBio, a cooperative based in the North (RE), formed by a group of farmers who participate in markets or shops have small business and, at the local level, we are part of a consortium of small organic producers, through which we serve the specialized shops, GAS, an organic canteen and individual citizens who want the bio dresser directly to their home.

I, however, quantities are limited and do not absorb all our production is big but the satisfaction of not to sell our product to those who do not appreciate it and who does not care how we do it!

Great satisfaction also because it shares with the "end-users friends' values ​​- not only economic - that the" conventional distribution "has deliberately destroyed!

The history of our citrus plants began when my father (Antonio Mele, author of "We found ourselves well into the future, History of a life of a peasant" - Ed. Lecce Argo), farmhand before and after "assignee" of ' institution reform, had the "farm" in 1955 and planted one of the first post-land reform area of ​​citrus groves. And we, in spite of the latest innovations, we always wanted to keep some plants the old varieties not to "forget" the special flavors. And always with a view of sustainability, we have already realized a stay in the country (4 or 6 beds), completely independent and comfortably furnished, recovering the old "support the home." Usable for direct collected or holidays. We also plan, the recovery of hospital equipment to realize a farm and the construction of a small warehouse for packaging and the direct sale. So let us, not only for emotional reasons, despite the bureaucracy, bad years and the context in which we operate, to keep the current company, founded like so many in the area, the Land Reform.

Productions: For some varieties the production is "uncertain" in fact, as some of the good farmers, agricultural activity "is under heaven" and thus the long-term planning leave the time they are ...

The 'harvest period begins in late September and ends in April for citrus fruit and apricots we have only in the second decade of June. Always present, depending on the season, the "small batches".

NB We are happy to provide further information on our products, on our territory and, for interested guests, documentation and guided tour in "Pantano" Policoro.