Book description
A deliciously different travelogue
In 2005, Cathy and Jason threw in successful careers as TV presenters
and producers to become olive farmers in Italy. With their one year old
daughter and Italian dictionary in tow, they found themselves in the
middle of a European nowhere untouched by modernity. They were on a
steep learning curve in more-or-less everything - finding out how to
prune an olive tree so that a sparrow can pass through its branches,
learning what beauty products are de rigeur in the changing rooms of a
local Italian football team, being trained, by a local Italian choir,
how to sing in English but with an Italian accent - and learning the
rigorous rules of when one is allowed to consume a cappuccino. Armed
with their indefatigable love of food, they headed off many a
potentially tricky situation by cooking their way out of it, a sure
route to the heart of any Italian.
They discover that olive farming is dominated by the big boys and
desperate to turn their new home into a way of making a living they cast
around for ideas of how they can do so. A flash of inspiration led them
to launch an 'Adopt-an-Olive-Tree' scheme. For a fee buyers could adopt
a tree, receive produce from it and even go and visit it to give it a
hug. The scheme became hugely popular with trees selling out way ahead
of expectations. A contract with Selfridges followed and suddenly Cathy
and Jason's dream is realised. Or nearly anyway. It's a hard slog and
they meet every challenge with fortitude and humour but what they hadn't
expected was that the biggest challenge would be the quiet of the
countryside. Soon they find themselves hankering for the sounds and
stench of the city and facing a difficult decision on what they should
do next. Cathy Rogers and Jason Gibb both enjoy life shake-ups.
Between them they have notched up careers as TV producers, marine
biologists, medics, touring musicians, diving instructors, TV
presenters, and even church organists. In 2005, they decided to toss
themselves the new challenge of becoming modern European peasants,
living and working in an olive grove in the Italian countryside.
