Farm Produce
Grown Here. Eaten Here.
Olive oil · Saffron · Wild foraging · Kitchen garden · Heritage eggs
Certified Organic · Zero km · Farm-to-Table · On-site Sales · Worldwide ShippingGrow as much as possible.
Buy as little as possible.
The goal at Spedalone is simple, if not always easy: grow as much food as possible from this land, and buy as little as possible from outside. When we do buy, we buy in our town — from small family farms that share our values. Never the cheapest option. Always the right one.
What you see on this page is what we bring to the table at La Pecora Bianca restaurant — and what you can take home. The food circle at Spedalone is as closed as possible. This isn't a marketing concept. It's simply how we live here.
Organic Olive Oil
Three varieties from 13th-century trees. Very high polyphenols. On-site sales and worldwide shipping.
Saffron
Crocus sativus grown by hand on the estate. Each flower picked at dawn, one by one.
Kitchen Garden
Tended year-round. Tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines, artichokes, peppers, legumes and much more.
Wild Foraging
33 hectares of woodland — wild herbs, fruits, mushrooms and edible flowers. Artisan preserves, infusions and syrups.
Heritage Eggs
~10 rare heritage breeds. Eggs in pink, sky blue, sage green, dark chocolate and cream. On-site only.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil from 13th-Century Trees
Our olive trees were planted by the Olivetan monks in 1381, on the dry-stone crescent terraces that still define the landscape of Spedalone — among the last surviving examples of this technique in all of Tuscany. They produce, year after year, our exceptional oil.
Certified organic. Cold-pressed on-site. Very high polyphenol content — oleocanthal, oleacein, antioxidants and monounsaturated fatty acids. Three distinct varieties, each with its own character. Available on-site for tasting and purchase, with worldwide shipping.
Our Three Varieties
From the same land and the same ancient trees — three completely different oils. Each tells a story: of the cultivar, the soil, the season. All three certified organic, all three with very high polyphenol content.
VI · Mix — The Estate Blend
Made from all the estate's olive trees together. Balanced, fruity, persistent — exactly the oil you want to pour on everything. It's what we serve every day at La Pecora Bianca restaurant, and the one that accompanies us throughout the year.
If you want to taste Spedalone in a bottle, start here.
Canino · Olivastra — The Ancient One
Canino and Olivastra are two regional names for the same ancient cultivar — and the same variety growing in these fields when the Olivetan monks built their dry-stone terraces in 1381. Intensely herbaceous, with a bold bitterness and a peppery finish that leaves no doubt. Highest polyphenol content of the three.
For those who like an oil that says something.
Frantoio — The Heart of Tuscany
The variety that forms the backbone of quality Tuscan oil production. Elegant, refined, with notes of fresh artichoke, green tomato and herbs on the nose. A beautiful balance — an oil that enhances without overwhelming. Very high polyphenol content.
The one you put on a bruschetta watching the Val d'Orcia at sunset.
Pressed from Trees Planted in 1381
The Olivetan monks didn't build for a year or two. They built for centuries. The dry-stone crescent terraces that shape the hillside of Spedalone are among the last surviving examples of this technique in all of Tuscany — and their trees still produce, every autumn, the fruit that becomes our oil.
We harvest by hand, cold-press on-site, and bottle without compromise. The result is an oil with extraordinary polyphenol levels — oleocanthal and oleacein in quantities that speak of health, care, and untreated land.
Available for tasting on-site (€10 per person, approx. 20 minutes) and for purchase with worldwide shipping. Write to info@poderespedalone.it to order.
Saffron — Grown by Hand
One flower. Three stamens. Dawn.
Crocus sativus blooms briefly in early autumn — and must be harvested before the flower opens fully. Every morning at dawn, we go out into the field and pick each flower by hand. Then we separate, by hand, the three thin red stamens from each bloom.
It is slow, meditative work, almost hypnotic. A single gram of saffron requires several hundred flowers. There is no way to rush it without losing everything that makes it precious.
Our saffron is used in the La Pecora Bianca kitchen — and made available for direct purchase on-site. If you'd like to take part in the harvest, write to us to find out when we'll be in the field.
Heritage Wheat — Bread and Pasta from Home
We grow heritage wheat varieties on the estate — the grains that were cultivated here before industrial agriculture changed everything. Slower, more complex, more flavourful varieties.
That wheat becomes flour, the flour becomes bread and pasta, the bread comes out of the wood-fired oven that was added to the farmhouse in 1850. Same oven. Same stone. Same slow fire. The circle closes completely: the field is outside the window, the oven is in the courtyard, the bread is on the table.
There isn't much more to say about it.
The Kitchen Garden — Heart of the Kitchen
Our kitchen garden is planted and tended all year round. The goal is simple: grow healthy, genuine food in every season — and buy as little as possible. The seasons dictate the menu. Not the other way around.
The Summer Abundance
Tomatoes of every type and size, courgettes, aubergines, peppers, basil, lettuces. Summer fills the garden with colour and fragrance — and La Pecora Bianca's menu with dishes that taste only of August.
Roots, Artichokes and Pulses
Artichokes, cabbages, radicchio, fennel, beans, chickpeas, lentils. The winter garden is quieter, but no less generous. It's the season for long soups, pulses slow-cooked in a terracotta pot, vegetables that taste of the earth.
Herbs and First Fruits
Rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, parsley, mint — growing along the edges of the garden and in the cracks of the walls. Spring's first fruits arrive before it even seems possible. We pick and use everything.
The Forest Is Our Wild Larder
The 33 hectares of Spedalone include an ancient forest, dry-stone walls, open pastures and corners of woodland that no one has ever worked. From there we forage through the seasons — and every season brings something different.
Wild herbs: rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, wild fennel, elder, wild garlic, chamomile, and dozens more. Possibly the same herbs that, according to legend, cured Charlemagne's army in 813 AD — whose camps were right here.
We also gather wild fruits, berries, mushrooms, edible flowers and spontaneous vegetables. Everything becomes preserves, infusions, syrups, flavoured oils, vinegars, dried herbs and pickles — for the restaurant, for our guests, and because we simply love doing it.
From the Forest to the Bottle
We don't just forage. We transform. Every preparation is different from the last — season to season, year to year — because it depends on what the land gave, how much sun there was, when the rain arrived.
When you eat at our table, you might taste something that arrived from a corner of the woodland that very morning. That's not a marketing promise. It's simply how we live here.
Some of our wild preparations are available as small gifts for guests of the estate. Ask us what's in season.
Eggs in Every Colour
We keep around 10 heritage chicken breeds — and each breed lays eggs of a different colour. Pink, sky blue, sage green, dark chocolate, cream, speckled white. Opening a basket of Spedalone eggs is like opening a painter's palette.
Free. Not Eaten.
The hens of Spedalone roam freely across the estate — and they like to make sure you know it. Ancient breeds, each with its own personality. Some approach you curiously, others completely ignore anyone who crosses their path. They are not eaten: they are part of the landscape, the rhythm of the place, the life of the farm.
Available On-Site
Eggs are available for direct purchase on-site — when we have them, and subject to seasonal availability. If you want to be sure of finding some, write to us before you visit. The eggs also go into the La Pecora Bianca kitchen: every morning, in desserts, fresh pasta and frittata.
We Buy Local. Truly Local.
When we can't produce something ourselves, we always buy in our town — from small family farms that share our values. We never look for the cheapest or most convenient option. We look for the right one.
🤝 The Nearby Farmer
Someone who raises their animals with care, knows each one by name, and understands how things should be done. Not a company. A person. With a story.
🧀 The Village Family
Who makes cheese the way their grandparents did, without rushing and without shortcuts. What that cheese lacks in uniformity it more than gains in character.
💶 Money Stays Here
Every euro we spend on food must stay in our territory. Circulate among the families who work this land. Strengthen the local economy that has sustained the Val d'Orcia for centuries.
🌱 Natural Where Possible
Certified organic when we can, always natural. It's not a label to put on the menu: it's a filter we apply every time we buy something.
Our Organic Certification
Our extra virgin olive oil is certified organic by Suolo e Salute, one of Italy's leading organic certification bodies. The certification covers the entire supply chain — from the trees to the bottle.
Operator: ASS59424SI1979
Certificate No.: ITBIO00438000042472024001
Body: Suolo e Salute — suoloesalute.it
No pesticides. No compromise.
Organic certification isn't a medal: it's a verifiable promise, checked every year by an independent external body. It means our olive trees are not treated with pesticides, chemical herbicides or synthetic fertilisers.
It also means that what ends up in your oil — and in your body — comes only from the soil, the rain, the sun and the air of the Val d'Orcia UNESCO.
Not a Policy. The Way We Live.
Sustainability at Spedalone isn't a section of the website. It's the structure of every day — how we work, what we buy, what we throw away (almost nothing), how we use water, where the energy goes.
Collected and Reused
Rainwater is collected and reused for kitchen garden irrigation and the animals. In an increasingly unpredictable climate, it isn't just an ethical choice — it's also a practical one.
To Animals or Compost
Every food scrap from the restaurant and kitchen has two possible destinations: the estate's animals, or the compost that returns to the soil. Almost nothing ends up as waste.
Rigorous Recycling
Systematic recycling and active waste reduction at every stage. We continuously look for what can be avoided, reused, or replaced with something better.
Energy-Saving Technology
Energy-saving technologies installed and continuously updated. We haven't done everything we want to yet — but we know which direction we're heading.
Our organic kitchen garden, our ancient olive trees, wild foraging, bread from the wood-fired oven, local sourcing — all part of the same circle. We grow what we can, harvest what the land offers, buy locally when needed. The food circle at Spedalone is as closed as possible.
Our Farm in Pictures
"We grow what we can, harvest what the land offers. The rest we leave to the seasons."Podere Spedalone · Pienza · Val d'Orcia · Est. 600 AD
Everything You Want to Know
Do you sell your olive oil? Do you ship worldwide?
What can I buy directly at the farm?
Is your food organic?
How does your local sourcing work?
What do you forage on the estate?
Can I take part in the harvest or garden life?
What makes your olive oil special?
Come to Spedalone.
Take something home.
Oil tasting, direct purchases, seasonal experiences — or order our organic oil from anywhere in the world.
Contact Us Order the Oil The Restaurant