About the location: Lucca and Tuscany offer an incredible range of garden experiences, both for the enjoyment of the senses and gathering ingredients for use in the Italian kitchen.You will stay and cook at Selva, a 15th century farmhouse located on the Tenuta di Forci wine and olive oil estate, a uniquely preserved property in the Lucca hills. Set in an age-old landscape where time is honored but does not come to a halt, Selva is an inspiring setting for enthusiasts of many interests, including cooking, photography, wine, painting, gardening, the Italian language, art history, music, and much more.

Our certified horticulturalist, Anita Pye, has restored and designed gardens for many villas in the Lucca area. She begins the week with a historical overview of Italian gardens and joins us for many excursions, guiding us through the trends of the centuries and the wealth of gardens and plants.

About the gardens: You will learn about many of the Italian types of gardens traceable through the centuries: Medieval, Renaissance, Mannerist, Baroque, English and the 20th century neo-Renaissance. Let’s not forget the orto (Italian vegetable garden) and the humble farmhouse herb garden, redolent of all those wonderful aromas that mean Italy to us. Since the very beginning of time there has always been the campo; nature’s bounty- fields full of wildflowers. Here are also found wild herbs and greens, which form both the historical staple of the cucina povera, and the current basis of innovative dishes in top restaurants. Which leads us, of course, to the kitchen.

About the cooking lessons: We’ll feed our souls with beautiful and delightful formal gardens and, after a trip to the orto or campo for vegetables and herbs, we’ll settle into the kitchen to prepare dishes based on our day’s gleaning. The cooking classes will be led by a talented local chef who will pass on to us traditional family recipes.

• 7 nights accommodation (two bedrooms have private baths and four bedrooms share a bath, although there is a half bath and vanity in each room, so only the tub or shower is actually shared.)

• All meals with local wine

• All excursions as noted

• Two days of hands-on cooking classes

• Transfers from Pisa airport or Lucca train station (other locations can be arranged for an additional fee)

Day One

• You are welcomed to the farmhouse Selva with prosecco sparkling wine and antipasti in the tettoia overlooking the Arno River Valley.
• After you have settled in and before dinner, Anita briefly reviews the history of Tuscan gardens, beginning with their medieval roots, through the glories of the Renaissance, the diversion of the Baroque period, the introduction of English gardens, and revival efforts of the 20th century (with illustrations), as well as the progression of herbs from medicinal plants in a giardini semplici to the kitchen herb garden. Anita will be joining the group throughout the week for visits to villas and gardens, and will be available for questions and discussion.
• Anita joins you for discussion over a starlit dinner under the vined pergola

Day Two

• After breakfast, you walk through the olive groves and vineyards to the shepherd’s house to obtain ricotta still warm from the morning’s milking. During the walk we search for herbs and wild greens to add to our lunch: finnochio, nipotella, ortiche, santoreggio and many others.
• Back at Selva, you prepare lunch, featuring that exquisite ricotta and the herbs and wild greens we’ve gleaned.
• An afternoon break allows for jetlag recovery: snooze in the sun, walk, read, visit, contemplate the cypresses, sip a little vino, explore the Selva herb and vegetable gardens (the orto).
• An early return to the kitchen for a short explanation of olive oils and their production, and an olive oil tasting, followed by instruction and dinner preparation.
• The day ends with candlelight dinner under the pergola.

Day Three

• A trip to Lucca for market day, a walk along its fabled walls, an introduction to its special sites, and an exploration of a select few specialty food and kitchen shops, as well as shops featuring regional seeds and bulbs.
• A picnic lunch on the grounds of a villa in the Lucchese hills, followed by visits to two gardens, where we can see the progress from Renaissance to 20th century.
• A return to Selva for a short rest before venturing out to a local osteria whose dishes feature regional ingredients. Tuscans are known for their beautiful use of herbs in cooking, and this restaurant does it best.

Day Four

• An excursion to Florence to visit Renaissance gardens, including those of the Medici and their contemporaries, and the masterworks of Cecil Pinsent.
• Lunch in the charming town of Fiesole in the hills above Florence
• A visit to Fiesole’s Roman amphitheatre and Etruscan ruins
• A late afternoon return to Selva, a quick refreshing aperitif, and then you join the pizzaiola (pizzamaker) at the bread oven to make your own pizzas

Day Five

• You may have time for a morning walk, write some postcards or read in the Selva library, before we start our ‘bread day’.
• In the late morning you begin to prepare your dough for baking in Selva’s wood-fired bread oven. Your production will feature olive bread, rosemary focaccia, and other Tuscan specialties. In the old days of community ovens, bread day was the only day the family could have a baked or roasted dinner. To complete the bread day tradition, you prepare arrosti, Italian baked dishes, which are slipped into the oven after the bread is baked. As the oven slowly cools down, your dinner reaches a height of savory tenderness.
• While the bread oven finishes its day’s work, you enjoy a wine tasting class, featuring local and other Italian wines, so you can present una bella figura in a winery or restaurant.
• Enjoy your ‘bread day’ dinner under the pergola.

Day Six

• Today we go to Chianti to taste the results of another type of garden, the vineyard.
• A stop at Greve, the prettiest town in Chianti, an artistic and viniculture center, that presents great opportunities for quality souvenirs.
• A visit to Vicchiomaggio, with its restored formal gardens, excellent Tuscan wines, and the site of the movie “Much Ado About Nothing”.
• Lunch at a beautiful restaurant, featuring regional dishes, and one of the most stunning vistas in Chianti.
• An afternoon visit to an award-winning winery, whose sense of aesthetics is unsurpassed: roses and grapevines mixed together; rows of lavender and rosemary along the drive; masses of hydrangeas on the courtyard.
• A return via Impruneta, the ‘capital’ of terra cotta manufacturing in Tuscany.
• Back to Selva, where dinner is waiting for you, and you can relax under the pergola

Day Seven

• A return to Lucca for time on your own: pick up some seeds to try in your garden at home; perhaps another chance to buy that Italian kitchen item you always wanted or a certain regional food specialty; duck into that little church you missed last time; taste-test a few gelati. A walk along the Lucca walls leads to the Palazzo Pfanner Renaissance gardens and the Botanical Garden.
• Lunch at a local trattoria.
• An afternoon visit to Villa Massei, the home of Americans Gil Cohen and Paul Gervais, author of A Garden in Lucca, where you are also invited to taste their wines. Villa Massei is an excellent example of a contemporary garden that incorporates the best of Italian gardens’ historic eras and adds innovations from its owners.
• Your last night dinner at Selva’s neighborhood restaurant, Lombardo. Anita will join you for the visit to Villa Massei and for the evening.

Day Eight

• After breakfast, we wish you buon viaggio ed arrivederci. Speriamo che ci vediamo presto. We hope to see you again soon.

Call to inquire for 2008.
Departures may be available on request for a minimum of 6.