Bruno Di Biase (Agrumi del Gargano)

Gargano citrusPugliaOn the Adriatic coast there are citrus, with one exception: the Gargano. This is not a bizarre experiment, but an important example of historic agriculture, a result of smart agronomic decisions in keeping with the vocation, the climate and soil of this happy environmental niche. Citrus Gargano represent the cultural identity of entire countries. Rhodes is still the land of lemons, Vico and Ischitella remain the countries of the oranges. Citrus fruits ripen here all year: at Christmas there are Durette, April-May oranges Blondes (you can eat fresh until September) .The bitter orange is an orange of medium-small size, it has a red color intense and shiny, thin skin, crisp flesh and modest juice but somewhat sweet (sweet and sour). Blondie Gargano matures between April and May, perseveres sweet and juicy on the tree until September. The Duretta matures at Christmas Gargano, is virtually seedless and has a hard, crisp flesh: the Femminello Gargano is the variety of the oldest Italian lemon and is located in three types. With citrus fruits of the Gargano the Presidium producers prepare delicious jams, candied fruit and limoncello.the PresidioOnce they were exported all over the world: oranges, lemons and Seville oranges, wrapped in colored tissue of citrus company, traveling the seas in the holds of ships in the United States and England. In 1870, over rough and difficult terrain, it extended 804 hectares of orchard producing about 150,000 tons a year of citrus. Then the crisis began, and the agricultural economy of the Gargano peninsula is crollata.I "gardens", so I called to fruits cultivated land in Gargano, still they form a unique agricultural landscape: almost always are made near a manor house and they are protected from the wind and salt with dry low walls or cane barriers, holm oak and alloro.Il Presidio has promoted the creation of the Consortium for the promotion and preservation of citrus Gargano. Now citrus fruits are sold throughout Italy and began the production of an interesting range of processed.Production:The municipalities of Vico del Gargano, Ischitella, Rodi Garganico (Foggia).seasonalitythe collection of femminello lemon occurs throughout the year while the oranges can be harvested from April to September, the duretta orange instead is gathered from December to late April.