The Italian Garden Project

05/13/2026

When we think of family heirlooms, we tend to think of jewelry passed down through generations, or fine china or silver that only comes out for special occasions. But for many Italian Americans, heirlooms are something altogether different, something that speaks to who their ancestors were.

These were people of the earth. Contadini, farmers and laborers, who understood, in their bones, what food security meant. Not in theory, but in living practice. They knew how to plant, grow, and harvest, and put enough away to survive the winter. They didn’t need anyone to explain scarcity to them. They lived it.

And so when they made the journey across the ocean, carrying only what they could, what they brought with them reveals everything about their lifestyle and wisdom. They didn’t bring gold or crystal. They brought their seeds, carefully wrapped in cloth or tucked into small envelopes, and the tools that would prepare the soil to receive them.

Tools like the one Nick describes in the video are heirlooms, and preserving them is part of what The Italian Garden Project is all about. It’s heartbreaking to see them thrown away or left to decay in sheds, their historical importance unrecognized, their stories untold. These tools belonged to people who knew exactly how to use them, and that knowledge, like the tools themselves, is in danger of being lost forever.

To see more tools like this, visit Garden Essentials on our website: https://www.theitaliangardenproject.com/tools

Nicola Mercurio was born in Falerna, Calabria, and came to the US in 1958, settling in Bethel Park, PA.

Grazie mille, Nick ❤️

04/24/2026

🌱 What better way to spend Earth Day than helping Nick finish the unearthing of his 25+ fig trees. He and a neighbor had spent the previous day uncovering and uprighting the trees.

No small task. The next phase was to bundle all the plastic tarps and felt blankets that had been used to cover the trees throughout the winter.

During the several hours we worked together, Nick, always in good spirits when he is in the garden, entertained me with stories of his early years in the US working in construction.

Many of these stories touched on incidents of discrimination he faced as a newly arrived immigrant with limited English, yet he recounts them with pride, noting that his hard work and intelligence always earned him the respect of “good people.”

It is a privilege to be in his company, watching, learning, and being inspired by his dexterity, knowledge, and remarkable stamina at 92. And his patience is limitless as I film and ask a million questions.

Thanks, Nick, for another wonderful day.

Nick was born in Falerna, Province of Catanzaro, Calabria. He came to the US in 1958 and settled in Bethel Park, PA.

04/16/2026

So honored to be a part of this wonderful program celebrating our deep cultural connection to the earth. 🌱❤️
I look forward to seeing you on April 30th.
Register via the link below

The Italian practice of burying fig trees is a powerful symbol of resilience, heritage, and sustainability. On Thursday, April 30, join us for a special program that explores how Italian gardens have long reflected eco-conscious living through seasonal eating, resourcefulness, and intergenerational knowledge.
The program will feature Mary Menniti, Founder and Director of the Italian Garden Project.
At the heart of the afternoon is the fig tree: a living heirloom that, much like the immigrants who planted it, adapted and flourished in new soil while preserving a deep connection to the Old World. Guests will learn about the Legacy Fig Tree Project, a nationwide initiative dedicated to preserving historic fig trees, documenting the stories of the gardeners who nurtured them, and building a national archive through oral histories, photography, and living gardens.
Guests will have the opportunity to purchase seeds and related items supporting the Italian Garden Project’s mission to preserve and celebrate this enduring cultural legacy.
Register: https://bit.ly/4dpU7bV

04/04/2026

🧑‍🌾 “Why do I make the garden?” “It is my hobby… It is my genuine food… It gives me joy.”

That is how Nick Ranieri explains why he continues to grow his own food.

For Nick, the garden is not just something he tends. It feeds his family, his children and grandchildren, and keeps him active and engaged every day.

Even in the heat and humidity, he chooses to be outside, working the soil. “If I didn’t have my garden… where would I be? Inside, watching TV?”

🌿 At The Italian Garden Project, we document Italian American gardeners and the knowledge they carry through lived experience. These are not just gardens. They are ways of life, and we are racing to capture them before they are lost forever.

Nick was born in Mola di Bari, Province of Bari, Puglia, Italy, and immigrated to the United States in 1965. He now gardens in Commack, New York.

Every gardener we film carries decades of knowledge, passed down from their parents, grandparents, and from villages across Italy. When they are gone, that knowledge goes with them.

Does someone in your family still grow their own food? Or did you grow up with a garden in the backyard? Tell us about it in the comments. 👇🌱

▶️ Watch the full video on our YouTube channel.

03/30/2026

How could I not ask about the fig tattooed on the arm of my waitress, Lizzie, last weekend at in South Philly?  

It warmed my heart to learn that she recently got the tattoo in memory of her grandfather who passed away in January.  

His love of his fig tree left a lasting impression. A first-generation connection to the land, carried across oceans, taking root again, and passed on.  

What a beautiful way to honor and keep her grandfather’s memory close to her heart.

What is it about this tree that evokes such love and devotion across generations of Italian Americans?

Our project exists to preserve the legacy of the Italian American garden, and the gardeners behind it.

Thank you, Lizzie, for sharing your story.

03/21/2026

🌱 The Italian American gardeners we visit, like our grandparents, never bought seedling trays or grow lights. They saved their seeds, dried them, and started them in whatever they had.

You don’t need special equipment to start a garden. Save seeds from a fully ripe vegetable. Dry them on a paper towel. Fill any container with soil, make a hole for drainage. Sow the seeds, cover them lightly, keep the soil moist. Put them by a sunny window.

In a week or two, you’ll see those first green shoots push through. The same miracle that’s been happening in Italian American homes for generations.

When the seedlings grow their true leaves, move them to individual pots. Eventually, they go into the ground.

This is how the garden begins… the same way it always has.

Have you ever tried it or witnessed the beginning of a garden? We would love to hear your experiences

02/18/2026

Culi muscia.” 🍈🇮🇹
That’s what they called a fig that wasn’t right.
Too soft.
Too dry inside.
Not properly ripe.
In English?
“Soft ass.”

Before supermarket standards and perfect produce displays, there were dialect words like this — practical, blunt, and unforgettable. A way of describing fruit exactly as it behaved in the garden.

🌿 At The Italian Garden Project we share language, gardenways, and lived knowledge carried from Italy to the United States.

With each passing year, stories like these become more precious. Mariano passed away in 2021, and we are deeply grateful for the time he spent sharing his experiences with us. Preserving these voices is central to the mission of The Italian Garden Project.

This moment reminds us how much regional dialect — Calabrese and beyond — lives inside everyday gardening traditions.

We want to hear from you.
Do you have dialect words in your family for fruits, vegetables, or garden mishaps? 🇮🇹

Drop them in the comments or DM us to be featured in a future post.

01/28/2026

“I stick the fig cutting in a potato, put it in the suitcase, and take it home.” 🥔🌿

That is how Giovanni Gagliardi brought a piece of Italy to South Philadelphia.

Before plastic wrap or modern propagation tools, a simple potato served as a “living battery,” keeping the cutting moist and protected during the long journey across the Atlantic. It’s a perfect example of the practical, simple knowledge passed down through generations of Italian families.

🌿 Ask the Italian Garden Project is a new series where we share your questions and pair them with answers from our community’s lived experience.

Today’s answer comes from Giovanni (born in Francavilla al Mare, Abruzzo) in response to website reader Marla Johnson-Ozbun, who asked: “How did early Italian immigrants prepare fig cuttings for long ocean voyages without plastic wrapping?”

The potato was just one of the ingenious methods used to ensure these living heirlooms survived the trip. 🚢✈️

We want to hear from you! Is there a story in your family of how trees or seeds were transported from Italy? 🇮🇹

Have a question about Italian gardening traditions? Drop it in the comments or DM us to be featured in our next post!

01/24/2026

Our TOP 5 podcasts �(that have featured us, or that we simply love listening to)
We have been honored to take part in thoughtful, reflective conversations about seed saving, heritage gardening, and the knowledge passed down through families.

These podcasts feature our founder, Mary Menniti, and reflect the work of The Italian Garden Project.

🎧 Featured podcasts and episodes:

Seeds & Their People from Truelove Seeds
�An interesting conversation with Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds about seed saving, cultural memory, and why the varieties we grow—and the stories attached to them—matter.�https://trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio/ep-24-mary-menniti-and-the-italian-garden-project

Our Plant Stories�: Fig Tree (Ficus carica)
A reflective conversation with host Sally centered on fig trees as living carriers of family history—from shared cuttings and backyard traditions to the many ways Italian and Mediterranean families have protected, propagated, and passed fig trees across generations.
https://www.theitaliangardenproject.com/blog/our-plant-stories-podcast-interview-with-mary-menniti

The Herbal Lens: �Episode 1 – The Herbal Lens + The Italian Garden Project
�A thoughtful return to podcasting with host LoLo Schaffer, exploring ethnobotany, traditional knowledge, migration, and the ways our ancestors’ hands still shape the soil we tend today.�https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1ZXVU3KHP8

The Italian Radio Hour: �The Italian Garden Project and Fig Fest�
A warm and personal conversation with host Viviana
about Italian-American backyard gardening, food traditions, and the origins of Pittsburgh’s Fig Fest.�https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtalqtWk5-0

The Italian Impact Podcast� Episode 101�
A powerful and wide-ranging discussion on intergenerational gardening, immigration, seed sovereignty, and how modern agriculture has reshaped our relationship with food.�https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-sp9r5-1879e02

We are deeply grateful to each host for creating space for these conversations and for helping keep these stories alive.

01/22/2026

At The Italian Garden Project, we are dedicated to preserving rare heirloom seeds like this Italian heirloom pole bean - varieties that survive only because families continue to grow, save, and share them.

Through community research, archival work, and our contact at a local Italian heritage museum, we helped Backwoods Home Magazine writer Wren Everett trace this bean back to Palagano - and to the family who carried it to the United States more than a century ago.

We currently offer several vegetable varieties from our Legacy Seed Collection through Truelove Seeds : search The Italian Garden Project under collections.
We hope to have Grandma Gina (Lami) beans available soon.

Every purchase at Truelove Seeds supports our work at The Italian Garden Project and helps keep these heirlooms alive for the next generation.

Read the full article:
http://www.backwoodshome.com/tracing-a-bean/

Explore our Seed Collection:
https://trueloveseeds.com/collections/the-italian-garden-projects-italian-american-seed-collection