The BIGGEST improvement so far. ITALY renovation reality RAW and honest #26

This is the abandoned farmhouse with land that I bought in rural Italy for a bargain price. My plans for the property restoration and lanscaping of the land are taking a positive step forward. Take a look at the land now that the work has begun and let me know what you think. The two barns and the derelect outbuildings can wait while I plan the outside kitchen and areas to enjoy living outside in all seasons. Plus I explore the Apennines and show you what inland Le Marche looks like.

Welcome to my channel about my big plans to renovate an old abandoned, rustic, farmhouse that I bought for a bargain. Not being able to live in Italy full time means that the Italian lifestyle and dream is one that I am slowing moving towards. I show you why I chose to buy a house in Italy and why I chose the Marche region over places such as Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzo and Puglia. A blend of renovation, exploration and reality with as much fun as an unfunny middle age (50 year old) man can muster.

Richard. 🍷

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★ Things I have bought and use regularly.

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CHAPTERS
00:00 The biggest and best change so far.
01:53 The dream v's reality.
05:41 Free Olive Oil
06:56 Measuring for trees.
10:36 Olives. How the neighbours do it.
15:02 Installing the fireplace, again.
15:49 Fixing fireplace mistakes.
17:40 Preperation. Adventure. Apennines.
19:58 EPIC views from here.
20:25 Giro d'Italia route.
21:41 40+ switchbacks.
22:14 Pianello, Le Marche, Italy.
23:16 Is this the best spot for morning coffee?

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I love reading the comments and am finding that there is a lovely group of like minded people starting to enjoy this and get involved. It is always great to hear from where you are watching in the world. Thank you for the subscriptions and all the support. 🙏

Best wishes,
Richard.

PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I may get a small kickback from. 😊

[Reet]

Great blank canvas. My strongest suggestion is to stabilize those terrace walls.

[benediktheudorfer]

"Fun" fact regarding the stove: where I live there was this story all over the news two yeaes ago or so. A father built a stove into a leisure cabin. First users were his daughter and four friends for a sleepover. But he didn't install it properly and carbon monoxide accumulated, putting them sound to sleep forever. You might be a good handyman or lucky or both, but maybe get a carbon monoxide detector, it's always a useful thing to have with a fireplace, and they cost like 20 bucks.

[lagringa]

Drainage AWAY from the house Mate or they've created a funnel straight to it! Stone retaining walls for the terraces before planting and lots of shrubs to hold the soil or the first torrential rain will dissolve it all into a mud hole with your house as the dam which those olive trees won't hold back this winter for sure! Don't count your eggs before they're hatched, think of your hard scape first. Best of luck!

[icepick]

Hi Richard, Grass mate, the farmers will know the best variety, it will grow fast, stabilize the banks and terraces. You can always dig a hole in the grass. If you get some serious rain those banks will be coming in the doors.

[maltcrispy]

my experience with planting olives is this: think about how you will harvest them. Leave at least 5m between trees, don't plant too close to a ditch or the edge of the terrace, plant them in straight lines to make cleaning between them easier with a tractor, think about watering them, maybe put some irrigation in, think about pruning which is a yearly job, make some steps on your terrace or a ramp for a tractor, buy olive trees that are the same type as your neighbour has, that way you know they won't have any problems, offer to help him with the harvest to gain some knowledge, don't plant more than you need (they're quite time/labour intensive harvest, watering/pruning). Good luck!

[johnthorne]

Cheers to you for planning your landscaping before you start digging. Pathways of sun, stormwater drainage (hope for the best - plan for the worst), hardscape, neighbors to screen out, soil needs, machinery to rent to dig holes (don't do it by hand), use of the flat area. Big stuff first, details later. You'll do well, I'm sure!

[JMc.D]

A set of steps up to an upper small terrace for your coffee spot might give the garden some added interest. Nothing fancy maybe a little gravel with a bistro set to get the morning sun and may be shaded in the midday sun by some trees in time.

[ginojaco]

Looks really good! First thing, plants you want are best but even weeds are better than nothing, you can kill them later - get something(s) growing all over the bare earth ASAP! Grass is quick... This will stop erosion, which will happen far more easily and far quickly that you realise, and once it starts it accelerates...

Something we had in Zim was an open air Summer kitchen with a top roof and a lower ceiling, for the air to move between so the underneath stays cool. I've seen this in Greece too, not essential but it works well.

Cracking project, keep it coming. 👍

[fattomane]

Greetings from Italians in Wolverhampton! Enjoy the sunshine! It's grey here!

[nautilusshell]

What a transformation! Great stuff of lavender as I mentioned in a previous post - it loves the sun, the bees will love it too (lavender honey from your hive - delicious), smells wonderful, minimal maintenance (prune once - maximum twice - a year), and it will help stabilise the soil, loves scrubby conditions and propagates easily from cuttings too.

[TraciKyle]

Excited for you. Finally, a dramatic change. Quickly get it shored up. You don’t want risk of mud slides. Best of luck

[KTYK]

You could plant herbs on the front of the terraces to hold them in place. Things like sage, oregano, thyme, rosemary. These will spread, smell great and won’t require that you mow grass on the front of the terraces which will be hard work. Herbs will attract pollinators which you may not want near an outdoor kitchen so keep that in mind.

[petercashell]

Fab Richard, Opens the whole site up beautifully. I'm feeling you should live with it for a while and then decide what goes where. Kitchen garden, vines, fruit trees, patio, pergola, outdoor kitchen as you've mentioned?? The possibilities are almost limitless. Well done. The mini digger man knew what he was at!! 😂😅

[diversificalamente]

Hello Richard gr8 work! 👏👏👏 I lived in Le Marche 4 years, more south. In the hills around Fermo n even further south, in the hills around San Benedetto del Tronto. The summers are really hot! And you will be grateful for every tree around the house n the nice shadow they will grant you! 😊🌞🌳

[oov]

As this goes on, my admiration grows, like your weeds 🙂 House "projects" as a 'solo', I've done - and there's those moments... when you're on your todd... Still, the achievements are great. Plenty of good advice will come from others. I would just say that, if you have an afternoon or two, visit a "posh open Villa/ Italian garden" in your district--- and you will see what really grows well/pretty/architectural etc and what sizes things can get to and where they face. It's like a free vision of what could work ...and what 'angle' of raw bank will hold up under severe rain..and what roots 'secure the banks nicely etc. My family has Olive trees - and you just need room around them to get the ladder up - and shaking/raking to harvest

[donna]

Richard, truly amazing...until you scaled the terrace I couldn't determine the height!!! Great plans ahead, one could feel your excitement and vision
for the area. Some folks have mentioned drainage, hopefully you've addressed it.👍

[michaelrich]

Landscaping looks great but I’d be worried about erosion. Maybe get down a ground cover, like a mix of fenugreek, vetch, flax and cowpeas - something to enrich and hold the soil? Just a suggestion. The terraces will look great in the future!

[rogerhampton]

Big change! Get it planted as soon as possible. The weeds will move in. Parts of mine which I didn't get seeded up in October are already overgrown. I can see it on camera. Quick trip planned before Xmas. Plant rosemary on the banks. They have good roots and the mosquitoes don't like it. Lavender is another good one. Clover seed is great as it doesn't need much looking after. It's going to cost you a fortune with the amount of plants you're going to need! Hope to get to see you sometime. Roger

[diane]

Drainage & retaining so important, will you do some stone walls? We built on a large piece of land & once the digger moved the soil it turned into a waterfall every time we had heavy rain, involved French drains, swales, lots of planting & laying bark to keep the water away from the house. A tank is a good idea to catch rain water for the garden. Love the idea of lots of olive trees & fruit trees, always great when your garden gives back! Great work it’s a stunning place. Beautiful bike ride too.

[EastLondonKiwi]

Hey Bud, re trees. Get them in early. They take time to establish so plant a few every trip to get ahead and start with the slowest growers first. Some fruit tress when first planted will do nothing for 2 or 3 years while their root ball establishes. Consider excess fruit mess and don't put fruit like figs too close to where to plan to dine or where they can touch the house. Some fruits won't produce edible produce from market trees or seeds. For those special trees you want good eating fruit from, go to a farm producer of the fruit variety you want and buy grafted stock eg (Avacardos, Mangos and some oranges). Some fruits are suseptible to diseases, so researxh what varieties do well in your area before investing in tree you want only to find they don't so well where you are.Some trees need pollinators (trees of their family near by or male female etc). If you want to use grapes as cove over a pergola, there is a good 4 ton5 year training process to make that work, so plan for temporary shade options while your planted shade fills out. I hope that helps Take care D