MURMURATION and Murmurings from IL Fiorello

 

January is here, and amazingly so. The olive harvest and milling are complete. This year was a more than bountiful year, and we made some awesome oils, for IL Fiorello, and for all our milling clients. We are now hard at work planning all our events and gatherings for 2018.

We will host many fabulous cooking classes, great private events, wine tastings, and delicious food. Our back patio is completed and is a lovely place to sit and sip wine, taste oil, and celebrate friendships.

 

A happy student at one of our cooking classes after successfully making his first omelet topped with, of course, our olive oil!

 

 

Soup, generously garnished with oil for the perfect finishing touch and flavor.

 

 

 

 

 

Bruschetta, a thick slice of warm toasted bread drizzled with oil, with any topping you desire. Beautiful vegetables and oil, mushrooms and oil, beans and oil, or delicious simple roasted garlic and oil.

 

 

 

My personal favorite, beans, all kinds, warm and fragrant, drizzled with oil add a few seasonal vegetables, and enjoy the taste and the good health.

 

On the Farm, we are working on drainage systems.  Planning the garden, and cleaning the mill. We are still working in the mill completing the decanting of all of our oils, assessing oils for competition, and planning bottle runs.

But really, we are lost in watching the birds. The European Starlings are putting on a show with their graceful movements called murmurations.  As they swim through the air, we can hear the wings of thousands of birds flying in symphony.  Wonderfully distracting when you are supposed to be working on spreadsheets.

Speaking of murmurings, Cornell University Ornithology has a great website for bird information. Here is some information about our starlings. First brought to North America by Shakespeare enthusiasts in the nineteenth century, European Starlings are now among the continent’s most numerous songbirds. They are stocky black birds with short tails, triangular wings, and long, pointed bills. Though they’re sometimes resented for their abundance and aggressiveness, they’re still dazzling birds when you get a good look. Covered in white spots during winter, they turn dark and glossy in summer. For much of the year, they wheel through the sky and mob lawns in big, noisy flocks. The picture is from Scotland, near where my friends live, but so like here in Suisun Valley, only very much warmer.