There’s a term for the harvest season where small Italian farms open to the public to sell their products for a couple weeks until sold out. They hang maybe an olive branch or some other type of branch on the road to signify that they are open, and when the branch leaves are all dried up they have sold out. Does anybody know the term used for this? It looked like the best way to meet locals and try a variety of wonderful foods and wines! Thanks!!
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Vignola, Modena, Italy
564 posts
Olive branch?
In Italy usually a farmer who directly sold his production during harvest season put a bench on the street and sold it directly. Is perfectly legal and is a way to purchase something fresh. At least in Emilia-Romagna is very common. I live in the countryside in a cherry district and usually during cherry harvest is plenty of benches along the main roads where you can purchase cherries and later other fruits and vegetables.
When production is sold out (or better is over) simply the farmers unmount the bench or (if it's bigger) left it empty for the next season.