Beautiful Nature Walk through An Olive Orchard in Tuscany, Italy!

Join me on a beautiful nature walk through an olive orchard in the province of Tuscany, Italy. During the walk, you have the opportunity to take the guided tour so that you learn more about what you see, and fascinating, unexpected facts about olives and their agriculture.

🔍 *Further readings as mentioned in the guided tour:*
– #1 Learn more about how climate change impacts wine: https://www.erlijn.nl/link/scicomm.php?l=fe4152ab14
– #2 Learn more about food production can be made more environmentally friendly: https://www.erlijn.nl/link/scicomm.php?l=b35d4b4bf0

📗 *Books:*
– More fascinating facts about nature and sustainability in “Guide To a Healthier Planet: Scientific insights and actionable steps to help resolve climate, pollution, and biodiversity issues”:
https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/guide-to-a-healthier-planet
– Simple ideas on how to live more environmentally friendly in “365 Sustainable Decisions Challenge: 365 ideas to live more sustainably”: https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/books

🎓 *Courses:*
– Reducing expenses: Course about how to save money and make your dream come true by living more environmentally friendly: https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/course-reducing-expenses
Sustainable farming: In this course, you will learn the best practice farming for 2050, how to start to implement these strategies now, while ensuring it is profitable: https://imp.i384100.net/daVjW7 (affiliate link)

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🗺 *Interactive world map with all videos:*
https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/xplore-nature#video-map

▶ *Playlists:*
– Italy: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCykXQ–fkA74vsT6JBxvlal8wMSvshlZ
– Europe: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCykXQ–fkA5XWlmQmwjIRbNWawwrqqKe
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🔗 *Social media:*
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– We Don’t Have Time: https://app.wedonthavetime.org/profile/erlijng
– Website: https://www.SustainableDecisions.eu

📣 *Guided tour:*
The guided tour is created using this text to captions converter:
https://www.sustainabledecisions.eu/text-to-captions-converter

⏱ *Timestamps for guided tour:*
0:00 Welcome to Italy!
0:23 Welcome to a beautiful olive orchard in Tuscany, Italy
1:24 Unripe olives
1:45 Olive growth
2:30 Agriculture in this area
2:58 Olive varieties
3:30 Distance between trees
3:50 Tree branches
4:40 Common ivy (Hedera helix)
6:04 White poplar
7:15 False yellowhead or yellow fleabane (Dittrichia viscosa)
8:00 Wild carrot (Daucus carota)
8:35 Common chicory (Cichorium intybus)
9:20 Wild roses
9:42 San Miniato
10:30 Lichens and wild asparagus plants
12:12 Brambles
13:00 High-quality wine
14:35 Vino Santo (Holy Wine)
16:00 Manure
18:00 Little oak
19:20 Cypresses

Welcome to this guided tour! Today, we are walking in Italy, in a beautiful olive orchard between the hill Gello and Collebrunacchi, in Tuscany. It is October which means that the olives are about to be harvested. These olives aren’t ripe yet. According to local farmers, the number of olives

That can be harvested this year will be much smaller than last year. This is partly caused by the natural phenomenon that olive trees only produce a lot of olives every two years. Agriculture in this area is mainly based on olive oil production, viticulture (wine grapes), cereals and artichokes, and hay for grazing animals.

Also, a lot of forest can be found in this hilly area. Depending on the variety, the olives vary in color, fruit size, and taste. Here grow several varieties including Leccino, Frantoio, Moraiolo, and Pendolino. Leaving a few meters distance between the trees allows them to develop a nice crown and

Gives farmers enough space for manual or mechanic harvesting. When these trees have many fruit branches, a constant olive quantity can be ensured and the amounts of water sprouts and unproductive branches can be reduced. Water sprouts appear when the tree tries to grow more branches. They usually start growing from a wound, a crack,

Or other damage. Common ivy (Hedera helix) often covers the base of the tree stems. If an olive orchard is not maintained, stems get covered with ground vegetation such as ivy, brambles. or Clematis. The branches of this white poplar are waving in the wind. Here we see the false yellowhead

Or yellow fleabane (Dittrichia viscosa) from the daisy family. This plant frequently grows next to olive trees. It plays an important role as it hosts the larvae of a parasite attacking the olive fly, which damages the olives. The wild carrot (Daucus carota). The brown part contains seeds. This common chicory (Cichorium intybus)

Is flowering multiple times throughout the year. Its root is used as herbal medicine and as a coffee substitute. Wild roses are now producing rose hips, which can be used for preparing jam and tea. In the distance, you can see San Miniato and its famous tower of Frederick II. Here we see some deadwood

Covered with lichens and wild asparagus plants. Brambles produce berries that can be used to produce juices, liquors, and jam. Tuscany is very well-known for high-quality wines such as the red wines Chianti, Brunello, or Morellino. Famous white wines are Vernaccia and Vermentino. But the taste of these wines is likely to change in

The near future, because climate conditions are crucial for successful wine production and the taste of the wine, but these conditions are changing due to climate change. (#1) (Numbers like #1 refer to further readings referenced in the video description.) For example, this season was very dry and without proper irrigation, many grapes

Dried on the plants. And heavy rainfall in spring caused diseases such as Peronospora to thrive. Another exquisite wine is the sweet dessert wine called Vino Santo (Holy Wine). Usually, people drink it after dinner together with almond cookies called Cantuccini. The farmers typically distribute the manure of cows, horses, or sheep on the fields

Or in the orchards to fertilize the soil with organic material. This is more environmentally friendly than using synthetic fertilizers because they deplete the soil and reduce its ability to store CO2. This reduced ability has in the last roughly 50 years caused soil worldwide to release 425 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

That is similar to what 1,000 airplanes would emit when flying non-stop for 194 million years! (#2) A little oak grows next to the vine. Oaks provide important fodder for wildlife during autumn and winter. The spiky trees are cypresses.