We live on a mountain, at the end of the road, out of the way but in the middle of it all. The top of the mountain consists of olive groves, vineyards, a botanical garden with fruit trees, vegetable gardens, a beeyard and a coppice forest. Many coincidences have led us here, but we like to think that we have also been given a great chance to nourish, explore, relate and learn. We are part of a community with many different kinds of people and a myriad of species. At first it feels like being aboard Noah’s Ark populated by insects and animals and destinies. We feel we have a responsibility to embrace and discover the unique situation we have ended up in.
This journey began 10 years ago in spring, in the moment when the Upupa bird arrives from Southern Africa. And it has really been a discovery of how emerging conditions can thrive in uncertainty. It was never a plan to work with the honeybees or to make their honey. It was never intended to learn how to prune olive trees to help them bear more olives. And it certainly was not predetermined to make biodynamic wine. We smile when we think, it was the colours of the vine leaves that tickled our curiosity.
‘We’ are – Anna Maria and Morten. An architect, designer and teacher joining together with a poet and artist. Now we are farmers and wine-makers. Bee-guardians and olive oil makers. Monte Preti has become an incubator for making curiosities come to life. Slowly we learn about regeneration through the hands. We invite different universities, schools, abroad programmes and others to come and join in. Each get a unique tailored experience, because the time of year, the sky, the species present are also involved in the experience, and they decide themselves of how to reveal Monte Preti. For some, the visit has been transformative. For others, it might be the first time to touch soil, or eat fruit from a tree, or have time to think in an open horizon on top of a mountain.
Our most longstanding collaboration has been with the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship for the Italian immersive bootcamp on themes such as Nature-based and Back to the land value-based regenerative entrepreneurship. In 2023, our bootcamp was a finalist in New European Bauhaus Education Champions category ‘Reconnecting to Nature (only 7 from 1,400 applications).
We want to experiment with the past like the Etruscan living trellis (‘Vita Maritata’), and the old traditional Mezzadria sharecropping system on agricultural estates. Not everyone needs to own land, in fact, we are only guardians here on Monte Preti. We are tenants not owners. We also work together on artistic projects and exhibitions (see munkeruphus exhibition), growing life abundance, and following Epicur’s wise wisdom for the ‘simple life’ We don’t see nature as a commodity, but rather as a community. We wish to share what we have learned and what we grow. We are not self-sufficient; we have just enough. We like to explore making different substances like wine, honey and olive-oil, and collect these liquids that come out of those practices. We mostly like to transform, regenerate, refine, re-enchant. We are on a journey of discovery that we would very much like to have others join us on. The goal is not to arrive, but to have joy along the way.
Welcome to MONTE PRETI!