THE FARM

The culture of soil and of its organically grown products

In the beginning it was Rice and, still today, our cultivations are an example of the balanced system which includes the logics of nature blended with the requirements of man and supports them in a relationship of peaceful symbiosis.

This is our fertile soil; this is where our crop comes from

30 years of holiday farm

Cascina Caremma is an agricultural and tourist point of reference. Framed by the landscape of the Ticino Valley, the holiday farm allows guests to enjoy a unique experience in contact with nature. From the rooms in which you will stay to the dishes served, the bond with the soil and the organically grown products will be the basis of a full spectrum sensory experience.

We started with 36 hectares of land and the challenge of converting crops into organic cultivation. From an apparent utopia to a certified reality.

Caremma is live soil, long live the soil!

Walking through the fields of Cascina Caremma you will notice, between one field and another, the presence of hedges and rows of fine native plants which contribute to maintaining the biodiversity of the agricultural ecosystem of the Ticino Park, thus creating a delicate and picturesque scenery that is there to be discovered.

The Wine Comes Back

The continuous search of Cultivars linked to tradition to rediscover the tastes and recipes of the past, becomes synergistic to the improvement of an agricultural landscape which gradually takes on the appearance of a nineteenth century countryside, when agriculture was aimed at achieving local food self-sufficiency, on which the economy of the holiday farm itself is based.

Always with the aim of rediscovering traditional crops, Cascina Caremma revived the cultivation of vines trained on arable land by reintroducing the Freisa, one of the historical grape varieties typical of the area.

The Caremma vineyard is a sort of open-air Museum of the Nineteenth century agriculture of the Po Valley, when the subsistence economy had to produce all that was needed for the livelihood of the populations: from cereals to legumes, from vegetables to the little meat that one could afford, from wine even to oil which obviously was not olive oil but oil from seeds of Cruciferae, in addition to textile fibres, hemp and flax.

Grape harvest 2022

Harvest day 1 September 2022

Agriculture technique and the realization of dreams

Caremma è un laboratorio di idee e di iniziative per la tutela e la valorizzazione del territorio pensato e realizzato con lo stesso entusiasmo e la stessa passione di un pioniere.

Caremma is a laboratory of ideas and initiatives for the protection and enhancement of the territory, devised and realized with the same enthusiasm and with the same passion of a pioneer.
Cascina Caremma was established in 1988 with the purchase of a farm of 36 hectares. Immersed in the Ticino Park, it always followed the dream of food self-sufficiency, realizing a series of agricultural production processes and of transformations going from the most typical cultivation of cereals to the traditional Milanese animal husbandry, to the on-site production of cured meats, some of which cannot be found elsewhere.

The fact that it was located in one of the most uncontaminated areas of the Ticino Park and of the Milan Province did not leave us unmoved and immediately prompted a reflection: how to make a productive activity without compromising the beauty of the place and to implement the lowest possible environmental impact.

It was not easy at the beginning; all the buildings had to be restored and money, almost all of which was used for the purchase, was scarce. We started immediately, among everybody’s distrust, with the conversion of the land to the organic production method.

This was the first challenge we won; then came the holiday farm. In 1992, when the Lombard Regional Regulation still did not exist, we started our first accommodation and refreshment experiences which revealed our great vocation in binding soil to food with the shortest possible thread, that of the Closed and Controlled Chain.

Soon the press and television networks became regular guests of Caremma, including reviews in both national and international magazines and prestigious guidebooks of the tourist and food sector : Accademia della Cucina Italiana (Academy of Italian Cuisine), 1999, Osterie D’Italia (Taverns of Italy), Slow Food, 2001, Karen Brown B & B in Italy Guide, USA 1999, Invito all’Agriturismo in Italia (Invitation to Farmhouse in Italy), Shino Toshiyuki, Japan 2003, Bell’Italia, Marzo 2004, Guida Critica e Golosa (Critical and tasty Guide), Club del Papillon 2003.

In spite of the countless administrative and bureaucratic difficulties, Caremma continues to be a laboratory of ideas and initiatives for the protection and enhancement of the territory devised and realized with the same enthusiasm and with the same passion of a pioneer.

Breeding

Pigs, Cattle and Hens: semi-wild breeding

Pigs

Arriving at Cascina Caremma you can immediately distinguish the fine pigs that are raised there; from the first two initial pigs, there is now a swine herd of over one hundred pigs that root freely in a large outdoor pasture.

They pasture in a field of almost one and a half hectares divided into two parts: Where they pasture this year, next year the field will be sowed with maize, which will take advantage of the work carried out by the pigs by finding a soil that is mostly free from weeds and rich in nourishing substances.
The animals thus benefit from a free lifestyle, keeping healthy and free from antibiotics and medicines in general, offering a clear example of how the relationship between man and the environment can be highly synergistic.

The daily diet consists of a mixture of organic flours, made of protein chickpeas, barley and maize, all produced locally.
After years of searching we finally managed to find the last animals of the Mora Garlaschese breed (Garlasco is a small town in the Lomellina area, on the other side of the Ticino and therefore in the Pavese territory, but it is no more than 10 Km away as the crow flies): an endangered breed that, like all native breeds better adapts to the system of wild state breeding and has a greater resistance to diseases, producing savoury meat, which is ideal to make our local cured meats.

Native breeding allows Cascina Caremma to create its own production of cured meats, a passion that we developed no less than 30 years ago, thanks to our meeting with Mr. Elio Sgarella, a precious collaborator and great friend. All our cured meats were developed with him, processed and looked after as a family jewel, effortlessly following the tradition according to which when pigs are butchered, nothing is wasted.

Cattle

Apart from Pigs, Cascina Caremma distinguishes itself by raising beef cattle of the Piedmont’s Fassona breed, whose beef is one of the finest in the world.
In the course of their lives, the animals have at their disposal an adequate grazing area, achieving a notable well-being and consequently a greater resistance to disease. Not only that: the grazing area also allows a better morpho-functional aspect and therefore an excellent productivity.

The daily diet consists of hay at will and of a mixture of organic flours, made of protein chickpeas, barley and maize, all produced locally at the Farm.
Seasoning plays a fundamental role in the making of the cured meat of Cascina Caremma, as it is a fundamental step to ensure very high-quality products.
This process is carried out in the ancient rooms, that were already used at the end of the Nineteenth Century, called “Casa dei Famigli” (the Servants’ home), where the fir wood coffered ceiling still has the nails originally used to hang the salami.

Every year Cascina Caremma celebrates with a dinner-event, the “Epic of Pork”, the importance of this animal for our territory.
These rooms, are still today of fundamental importance in the seasoning process thanks to the optimal relation between temperature and humidity ensuring a perfect maturation of the cured meats due to the presence of the best strains of specialized moulds, selected in an absolutely natural way in the course of the centuries.

Entering the processing laboratory means undertaking a journey in the past, where you will be enveloped by the typical smells of the peasant tradition, a guarantee of an excellent seasoning process which produces flawless and high-quality cured meats.

PROCESSING LABORATORY

The seasoning that confers quality and taste to our products.

Seasoning plays a fundamental role in the making of the Cascina Caremma cured meats, because it is a fundamental step to guarantee a very high quality product.
This process is carried out in the ancient rooms, that were already used at the end of the Nineteenth Century, called “Casa dei Famigli” (the Servants’ home), where the fir wood coffered ceiling still has the nails originally used to hang the salami.

Every year Cascina Caremma celebrates with the Dinner-Event “the Epic of Pork” The importance of pigs for our territory.

These rooms, are still today of fundamental importance in the seasoning process thanks to the optimal relation between temperature and humidity ensuring a perfect maturation of the cured meats due to the presence of the best strains of moulds selected in an absolutely natural way in the course of the centuries.

The mission of Gabriele Corti, patron of Cascina Caremma, was and still is to enhance the generosity of the soil and its richness so as to make the holiday farm self-sufficient in its production of food and wine. The respect for the territory, farm-to-table products, seasonality and organically grown products can find here their maximum expression, thanks to the use of experimental bio-agricultural techniques, of which Gabriele himself is an expert and promoter.

Cascina Caremma and its Founder were rewarded for the work accomplished with the prestigious award “Bandiera Verde Agricoltura 2015” (Agriculture Green Flag for 2015) reserved for organizations and companies that have distinguished themselves in policies of protection of the landscape, in the rational use of the soil and in the enhancement of the territory to improve its life conditions. An award that epitomizes a work itinerary of growth and a lifestyle that Caremma has always promoted in its activities.