Cultivation techniques

Maintenance work in the chestnut grove begins just after the harvest, dry branches are cut off and the trees are pruned. A chestnut tree is pruned every 5-10 years. During the winter, any accumulations of leaves and curls are removed, which could cause the grass and moss to die, creating muddy areas where the chestnut would fall.

In spring, branches cut during pruning are removed from the forest and grafts are made. The shoots of the new grafts can reach up to 2 metres in the first year, and to prevent the wind from damaging them it is necessary to tie them to a pole, which in turn is secured to the trunk of the rootstock. The operation is repeated fortnightly until the end of July.

Before the chestnuts are harvested, the undergrowth must be cleaned, cutting the ferns and long grasses that cover it to encourage the brown chestnuts to fall to the ground as they ripen. Today, this work is carried out with mechanical equipment; the residues are taken out of the forest, or first accumulated and then burnt.