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Before we took our final flight back to Canada, we made a three-week stopover at a farm in Tuscany.

Trove is a working farm run by two Aussie-Italians: Barbara and Ugo. A labour of love more than profit, the couple has been bringing HelpX-ers into their home for years through a work-stay agreement. HelpX is a popular traveling website that pairs budget travelers with farmers, hostel and hotel owners who are willing to swap room and board for work each day.

Our job was to mend and tend to the ‘orto’. When we arrive there was an assortment of random lettuces and herbs in the garden that grow so freely in Tuscany they’re considered edible weeds. Simon and I weeded for days, turned the soil and started planting from scratch. By the time we left the tiered garden bed was filled with tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, cucumber, arugula, lettuces, eggplant, strawberries, herbs and cabbage.

Emails from Barbara and Ugo reassure us that the veggies are doing well under the care of new HelpX’ers, and we even got to try the early-developing zucchini before we left at the end of June.

It was our first ever work-for-board exchange and though we were a little uneasy at first, we soon grew to enjoy the new experience. Barbara and Ugo run an Italian tour company as well as their farm, and we found it hard know if we were doing the right tending throughout the hectic schedule that is their life.

We were also, not shockingly, out of shape. But that changed soon enough!

If there’s anything I could bring home from the experience it’s the laid-back nature of farm work in Italy. All of our work was done before noon each day. While this meant early mornings, we were able to spend the afternoons reading and chatting and eating long lunches.

Compared with the stark contrast of Toronto office-life, I could use a little Trove orto back in my life!

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The stone house at Trove. Yes, in case you’re wondering, I do want to live there!

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Grape vines at Trove. Their wine wasn’t for sale and was bottled and stored in their own cellar.

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