While I was looking for farms that cultivate flax seeds and sunflower seeds in Italy, I found their website, which I showed to Francesco right away. Less than a week after, we were going to visit them and, as usual, get some inspiration for La Fattoria dell’Autosufficienza.

Like all people who live in contact with nature and care about both the environment and people’s wellbeing, since the beginning Alfredo and his family have proved to be kind, welcoming and full of love and passion for what they do every day.

Alfredo, the founder of the company, guided us through the fields and he proudly told us his personal story. In 1986 he started to practice organic agriculture on 55 hectares of land. He was the first one in his region (Umbria) and since the beginning he decided to create an organic farm in order to provide his clients with affordable, fresh and healthy food.
To achieve that, they still use small-size and artisanal machineries in order to enhance the original qualities of threshed seeds. Much of the work is done by hand and they only use their own seeds or seeds they exchange with other organic farmers.

As of today, the farm produces:

  • Sunflower seeds, cold-pressed oil and sunflower paste;
  • Flax seeds and flax cold-pressed oil;
  • Buckwheat and buckwheat flour;
  • Millet;
  • Lentils;
  • Hulled spelt, pearl spelt, wholemeal flour and spelt pasta;
  • Barley and barley coffee;
  • Strong flour;
  • What and soft what flour.

Many of their products are also available on Macrolibrarsi.it 

The agritourism is surrounded by 100 hectares of centennial woods. People can choose different types of accommodations: the historic houses that have been renovated in respect of ancient traditions, or the rooms of the historic farmhouse which dates back to 1700 and it’s located at the centre of the farm.
Here you can also find the restaurant where we had the chance to enjoy a tasty macrobiotic dinner. The best barley coffee of my life was the one they offered me at the end of that meal.
The food offer covers a great variety of special meals: vegan, vegetarian, kousmine, macrobiotic, gluten-free, etc.

Torre Colomabaia also hosts groups who look for a place for seminars, workshops and courses of yoga, bioenergetic analysis, music, dance, naturopathy, and other disciplines that enhance human potential. Close to the apartments, there are two  welcoming, comfortable and bright halls surrounded by vegetation that can hold respectively up to 100 sit people the first one (in spring and summer); and up to 15 people the second one (all over the year).

Here you can engage in the following activities:

  • Hiking through the 100-hectare wood of oaks that used to be a hunting reserve, while today is a restoking area for pheasants, hares, ducks and wood pigeons which are the subjects of birdwatching from the cabins around the pond in the heart of the wood. An expert guide (for groups) will be ready to help you discover the wood through its trails;
  • Trekking and horse-riding at 1 km away from Torre Colombaia, or swimming in the pool that is 5 minutes from the farm;
  • Kundalini and Hata yoga group or one-to-one classes. (Torre Colombaia cooperates with expert and experienced yoga teachers);
  • Sat Nam Rasayan treatments (deep relaxation);
  • Vegan and vegetarian cooking classes using the farm’s organic products;
  • A musical walk in the wood;
  • Visiting the Hemp Museum.

For us this visit was the chance to take many cues:

  • Food self-production;
  • Different food offers;
  • Holistic activities;
  • Love and passion in anything you do.