This week we are on fire, a lot has happened in our neck of the woods since the last podcast! From vongole shenanigans with Gaggi & Rossana, road work update, a "new look" for our old grocery store, a trip to the Farmer's Union, new tools for the garden, and answering questions about salt & yeast! Thanks for listening

Podcast from Italy: Ashley & Jason Bartner

#151 - An action packed podcast!

After the snow the air has changed and it feels like Spring! We are busy soaking up the sun while working outside with the usual late winter cleanup of brush and tree trimming. Local gossip: the road meeting happened, we'll see if any action is taken. We answer a few of your questions until Jason is annoyed. And I read another chapter of the untitled, unpublished, unfinished book about our first year in Italy! Thanks for listening!

#150 - A few of your questions answered & a chapter from the book, Truffle Mania

A Tim Dillon inspired podcast about conducting Fake Business of all sorts in Italy! A lunch in Fano with Gaggi & Rossana and an update from our neck of the woods with a breakdown on what we've learned about the Eco Bonus to restore a property.   The Covid Questionnaire to enter Italy: https://infocovid.viaggiaresicuri.it/returningtoitaly.html Check out the Tim Dillon Show Podcast - https://www.timdilloncomedy.com/  

#149 - Fake Business is Booming & Eco Bonus Breakdown

Finally, a new episode! An update on the snow and salami curing, what we've been up to the past 3 months, along with our quick thoughts on 2021 travel and the big talk of town, the Euro Super Bonus! We're thinking of restoring a ruin...!

#148 - Lardo, Lockdown & Restoring a Ruin, winter update from Italy

Road trip! The first week of September we visited the Cinque Terre for the first time, along with Carrara and Lucca. We share our favorites - focaccia, beach and the best way to see the famed five villages (hint it's not hiking!) As usual our travels revolve around food and the real objective to our stop in Carrara was for the local lard! Once back home we have been prepping early for winter plus a fish feast with Gaggi & his hunting buddy as a preemptive thank you for their morning coffees during the hunting season. It's a jam packed podcast!

#147 - All About The Cinque Terre, Carrara, Lucca & Lardo

Our days are spent jarring tomatoes, berry picking and not much else. Our big event this summer was Ferragosto and the old school Polenta Feast! We tell stories from this years festivities plus we read a another chapter from the book and it’s all about the first polenta festival we held at our farmhouse 13 years ago! An update on our immigration and listener Q&A: How to get a driver’s license in Italy as an expat.

#146 - Stories about Polenta & How to get an Italian Driver’s License

We give you an update on how the surgery went for Jason's torn rotator cuff in a humorous recount of his hospital stay. A garden update - what to do with hundreds of kilos of potatoes?! Then we answer your questions about moving to Italy and starting a business along with sharing Ashley's dinner/cooking playlist favorites!

#145 - Update Post Surgery and Listener Q&A about Moving to Italy

An update from sunny central Italy! While the virtual Move to Italy Workshops have been a great success (we are extending them thru the summer!), the virtual cooking classes are a technological fail due to our shoddy satellite internet. The garden is growing and looking amazing, eating beats, radishes, lettuces and carrots already! We take a few trips out and discover our new favorite way to eat out without worry of social distancing. Then a bit of immigration frustration and bitchin' about bureaucracy. And the biggest update - Jason needs surgery after tearing his rotator cuff and we weigh the options of private vs. public health care and the pricing.

#144 - Surgery in Italy: Private vs. Public, Immigration Frustrations & Eating Out

This week’s podcast we sit outside, mid-day on the patio and answer your questions sent in via email/instagram/Facebook - everything from what we miss most from the States to how to make pizza sauce! We share our local recipe for Nocino (walnut liquor/digestivo). Of course, an update on the garden and Dr. Gaggi! And more details on the Virtual Move to Italy Workshop and Cooking Classes. Thanks for listening!

#143 - 1st Outing since Lockdown, Listener Q&A and Recipe for Nocino

Thanks for waiting, there hasn't been much new in our neck of the woods. We give you an update on the restrictions and openings in Italy. Jason shares a few common bread baking problems and tips to he's learned along the way. And Gaggi returns to the Garden...

#142 - The Latest from Italy - Restrictions/Openings, Bread Baking Tips & the Garden

An update from deep in the Italian countryside! Bartering is alive and well in the foot hills of the Apennines, and we are now making our living off our free-range eggs! We answer your question on if we will reboot our online cooking classes, announce the ‘winner’ of our photo submission request and share our new favorite Italian TV show, Cammionisti in Trattoria. Jason scratches the surface of his bread baking obsession. Ashley reads a few chapters from the book - The Art of the Mushroom Hunt, A Patron Saint and The Harvest. Thanks for listening!!

#141 - Country Living has it’s perks - bartering is back!

An update from our neck of the woods in Le Marche, Italy during the nationwide shutdown/lockdown. Living la vita lockdown (a bad pun for Jason!), staying home & healthy, busy as usual with projects around the farmhouse and hoping for the best come April! Be sure to share your photos of where you listen to the podcast with #podcastfromItaly or message us on Facebook or Instagram!

#140 - Living in Italy during the Lockdown

A Coronavirus update from our neck of the woods in Le Marche, Italy. Back to work and Ashley's quickly on the IR (injured reserve)! The weather took a strange turn from mild and sunny to a snowstorm in hours. Plus Ashley reads another 2 chapters from the unpublished, unfinished book!!

#139 - Rebuilding the Coop = A trip to the ER

A warm winter across Italy is bringing Spring vegetables to the market in February. Jason goes down the rabbit hole on local items for sale on FB Marketplace. He shares a few of his big finds! In celebration of carnevale we prepare cresce di Pasqua but end up with 8 kilos of FAIL! Water cooler talk in town is all about curing sausages! We learn we are not alone with some of problems this year curing our salami & sausages. And in the midst of winter projects we explore a nearby ‘ruin’ on our continuing quest to find our ‘forever home’ for one day…

#138 - House Hunting in Italy | Exploring Ruins with a Realistic POV

Preperations for carnevale are in full swing & the parade of endless sweets: castagnole, struffoli, cookies and so much more!  We finally answer your burning question, Where’s the Tractor? Which leads us into a discussion on the garden and learning how to start thousands of seeds for our tomatoes, onions,… everything! On a recent wine tasting (for research purposes only), I happily discover a nearby winery, is one of the last in Italy making vin santo in the antique way - hanging the grapes in the kitchen rafters & letting the fireplace slowly smoke & cure the grapes before they make the wine.   Another chapter from the Book: This Ain't No Bathtub Gin    

#137 - This Ain't No Bathtub Gin

Life in Le Marche, Italy - Two American expats share adventures of running an organic farm & inn, recipes, daily life & more!

hubhopper

Podcast from Italy: Ashley & Jason Bartner

hubhopper