On a peaceful sunny Sardinian hillside with birdsong and views of the Med; a beautiful garden for exploring and re-connecting with nature, life’s simple pleasures and the pure essence of things. Welcome to The Citrus Grove!

We love Sardinia, known here as la Sardegna. It is such a unique place. Italian but not. The Sardinian culture is its own. Over recent centuries, different peoples have come and gone and left their footprint – some good and some not so good. In the Northwest where we are, especially in the town of Alghero, there is a strong Catalan influence. Alghero is even sometimes called ‘little Barcelona’. Unfortunately, a lot of the natural resources here have been plundered and removed from the island – especially in the mining and forestry industries – to build railways on the mainland for example. It remains beautiful in spite of this, a paradise for sure. The economy is primarily driven by tourism now and related seasonal labour. Again, this has its positives and negatives. I’m just happy, feel blessed, to be able to live here.

For me, there are also strong hints of Mexico and Scotland – places and things reminiscent of my childhood. The light and colours, the purple and green hills in particular, remind me of Mexico where I travelled frequently as a child. Growing up with a Scottish mother, I also recognise some similarities with Scotland; things like the meat pies called panadas, the launeddas which is a typical Sardinian woodwind instrument made of three pipes and used in the folk music here, the sheep farming and other things. They have even found some archeological evidence of a connection between the north of Scotland and the Nuragic civilisation from 1900-730 BC in Sardinia – structures like brochs in Scotland and nuraghe in Sardinia. Fascinating stuff.

In today’s challenging world, with increasing pollution and the impact of climate change,  people of all ages are not only looking to live better quality, healthier lives with immune boosting, natural, local and artisanal products but seeking beauty to spark their joy. Sardinia has so much to offer. As one of a handful of places in the world designated a Blue Zone, there are lots of lessons here on how to live well and the rugged beauty of this Mediterranean island is truly awesome.

Through The Citrus Grove, our farm or ‘azienda’ in Italian, we want to preserve, showcase and share the healing, beautiful, and diverse indigenous natural produce offered by this beautiful island.

On our 4.3 hectares here, we are custodians of local, native, wild trees and plants and ambassadors for healthy seasonal living. We produce artisanal oils, oleastri (wild olive) and lentisk (Mastic evergreen shrub common to the Mediterranean), cold pressed in small batches. We also offer a small range of other elaborated products, like soaps which have our own oils as a base, and a small production of wildflower honey, myrtle, citrus, capers, almonds, mushrooms and other farm produce. Everything is crafted, grown and harvested with love and biological eco-friendly farming methods. We currently only sell our products at local markets but may open an online shop at some point!

If you’re interested in hearing more about our Citrus Grove adventures, please do subscribe. We’ll be sharing our passion for seasonal living in one of the Blue Zones and all of the interesting things we’re discovering along our journey here on the blog. We hope you enjoy. And, don’t be shy! We’d love to hear from you…

let the beauty of what you love be what you do

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