Nature in Florence: six places close to the city but with a countryside flavour

Nature also comes to the city. In Florence there are summer spaces where you can breathe country air, perfect for a bucolic “escape” even for those who are not on holiday.

Easy Living on the Farm, inside Ova – Orto Verde Animali, a few steps from Porta Romana (access from via Poccetti 1, with ample street parking) offers a varied cultural program until September including theatre, stand up comedy (Tuesday and Wednesday evenings) , live music (from Thursday to Saturday), wellness and artistic installations surrounded by greenery throughout the summer. Easy Living on the Farm was born with the aim of demonstrating how nature can be a powerful means to promote culture and social aggregation.

Protagonist throughout the season will be local agriculture and the farm with animals, with activities dedicated to holistic medicine, games for the little ones and environmental sustainability. The area will also be the scene of plein air artistic installations, including “Unconditional”, a work by the artist Giovanbattista Giannangeli, known as Giambaccio, a 3 and a half meter high wooden sculpture that stands on the hill sculpted by a fallen century-old plane tree in the Torrigiani garden, recovered by the artist. The “Bar Agricolo”, with restaurant and pizzeria, offers fresh and local products, Tuscan wines and dishes prepared with ingredients from the farm itself.

Beer barnyard is the agricultural bistro of the Oltrarno Brewery on the Marignolle hill in via Santa Maria a Marignolle. The land, in addition to providing zero kilometer organic agricultural products, allows us to host, in the summer season, events surrounded by greenery in a relaxed environment inside the field while enjoying the beers produced by the brewery and traditional Florentine dishes.

On the hills of Fiesole the Maiano Farm it has a Botanic Garden, where you can walk among the greenery and meet the animals and taste typical dishes in the restaurant. Various activities and experiences are proposed, from an unobstructed view of the park to a picnic with a selection of simple and genuine Tuscan products, from night trekking with a guide along the paths of the farm, to first time riding for children.

In via delle Bagnese 12 the restaurant opens every evening from 7pm to 11pm Agricultural Bistro by Niccolò Lari, who in 2015 decided to leave his job as an employee to undertake that of an apprentice winemaker by opening a company in Malmantile where the vine is grown following the organic method and respecting the environment that surrounds us. In the meadow, you can taste its wines and peasant food.

Still in via della Bagnese but at number 10 it’s there Blommig Garden Violetta Gallotti’s farm. In summer they offer private tastings every weekend (they take you with them to discover what’s fresh in the garden and decide on a menu that embraces everyone’s tastes) and every Thursday in June and July an aperitif on the farm with classic or vegetarian platters with local products and the cheese & jam tasting platter. From this year there is also a selection of Tuscan bubbles and zero kilometer cocktails to taste.

Just outside the city, in Lastra Signa it is located The Urban Farm is bucolic which is not only a place of agriculture and refreshment, but also a dynamic cultural center. For the summer it offers the “Open Farm” series: over 30 events in 3 months including concerts of Florentine popular songs and world music, visits to the apiary and guided walks on the farm, yoga, fermentation workshops, presentations, meetings, books and DJ sets.
The beating heart of the Urban Farm is the vegetarian tavern, where all the fresh and seasonal ingredients are grown directly in the land within a 100 meter radius. Packaging and waste are reduced to a minimum and are reused for multiple cycles and for company compost.

Next to the tavern, the Bar Agricolo offers a welcoming environment where you can relax and socialise, with natural and organic agricultural drinks. The bar offers a selection of fermented drinks, agricultural spritzes, innovative cocktails and natural wines, all prepared with botanicals and fruit from the farm or carefully selected local wineries.

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