The landscape of the countryside
The word culture has originally meant agriculture and from this has been lead the concept of cultural landscape. Cultivating areas
to which parishes and villages have concentrated forms agricultural landscape. As results of traditional ways to herd, the cattle
have formed meadows and paddocks. In the landscape, the population has concentrated to areas, which are favorable for farming,
often hills rising from the fields.
Cultural landscape contains old farmyards, old roads, lake systems and the forests that limit the landscape. Estates have usually
been located to very esthetic sights and often the yards have elegant designs. Solitude of these places highlights their
impressiveness
The current agricultural scenery has been created during decades. The new and the old building are mixed so that the old buildings
are improved. Because the costs of building new facilities are great, the old, improved buildings may replace the expensive new
buildings. Still the old barns and the sheds are rotting in the fields, and this way ruining the landscape. However, EU has
committed funds to repair these old facilities.
Sources of income in the landscape
Because farming isn't very profitable, people living in the countryside have invented new ways of making a living. One of the most
popular ways is changing your farm into an inn. This is very common within the farmers who have small farms. The buildings are
remodeled to respond to the needs of customers, for example cow barns are rebuilt to a sleeping facilities.
The specialization of farming also causes changes in the landscape. Farmers can specify themselves, for example, to cultivate
potatoes. If there are animals, they are often put down and the farmer concentrates only on cultivating potatoes. This causes
destroying the cow barns and sheds. Sometimes they are also rebuilt to the purposes of the new source of income.
Emigration and how does it show in the landscape.
Nowadays, when the big companies, and with them the jobs, gather around to the big, growing cities, people tend to move after
them. Because farming isn't very profitable business right now, people reject it as a profession. Services like grocery stores,
health services and postal services are fading from smaller communes. These are, maybe, the most important reasons why people
leave from countryside. This shows in the landscape as emptying houses and rotting sheds. In many farms, the work done by the
older generation is often left undone by the younger generation that leaves to the bigger cities. This leaves many uncultivated
fields to the landscape.
Part 2
The country side in Castellammare di Stabia
The countryside of Castellammare, you can't even say that it is a country side. Because the plantings are almost in the city. Our farms in Finland are far away from the active traffic, but in Italy the farms can be beside of motorway. So that's why we were littlebit terryfied, while we were thinking how polluted those fruits and vegetables could be. But the biggest reason for this horror was difference between cultures. In Italy they were simply used to for that were the plantings are.
Otherwise we could just admire how breathtaking ingenious they had used the descent of mounteanes. Descents were made look like a stairs and they were full of plantings. Mostly in Castellammare were crown olives, artichokes, fruits and very much grapes.
We could notice how much older the machines were there than in Finland. Machines, if they had any, were samll and in bad condition. But they didn't need those much, becouse the harvest were worked by hands and the most of production were in trees.
Unfortunately we couldn't investigate any other kind of Italian farming, but this experience broaden our opinion of Italian farming. But we believe, that also in Italy like in every were else in Europe, there are giant farms where machines are moderns and farming is modern age.
We hope that everyone have sometimes chance to take a look at this beautiful country. There are lot of exciting things, not only countryside.
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