A lot of people who retire complain that they can’t keep track of what day it is. Here in Umbertide that is never a problem. Our two weekly markets bracket our week nicely, and give us anchor points on Wednesday and Saturday. The town is very quiet on Monday and Tuesday, but gets more lively from Wednesday onward. Today, being the big, main market, I decided to go out and do a little hunting and gathering. Exiting my front door I am steps from Bar Mary and the Mercato.


There are almost always these musicians playing. They always bring their dog. Today it was some blues and then traditional tunes. They are good, so I always contribute a euro or two.

Here are a few pictures of the produce where I bought my items. The young man is from Cannara, famous for its onions. He used to just have onions and some dried legumes. Now and then he would have another crop. Suddenly, he has everything.

Here are a few of the spring veggies growing around this area now. I’ll put captions under the photos.



I was so disappointed. When I got to this stand there was a bucket with a few handfuls of asparagus. I wanted some and this was the only place I had seen it. There were three ladies ahead of me. The first one bought around 8 spears. Still plenty left. The next one bought half of what was left. But what was still there was enough for me. So, one more lady. She got carrots, onions, lettuce, and was just about to pay, when she took the rest of the asparagi!! 😱 Sigh. Oh well. It is early in its season. I will go out earlier on Saturday. Anyway, I bought two bunches of radishes, four artichokes and some arugula.
Tis the season for planting gardens.


There are always two or three really big stands. They bring much of what they sell from down south, Sicily, Calabria. Sort of like Florida and California produce in winter what people north cannot yet grow. So we are seeing strawberries here now, but not local. Artichokes are here all winter from the south. Apples and oranges are just about done for the season. These stands sell things really cheap. Here are a couple examples.


I strolled back and took these final two pictures. One of the wall and all the plants that manage to dig roots between the stones. And of the old church tower with the four bells that ring for Mass, but also the hours of the day.


Next on my to-do list is buy the plants for my terrace. While we are still trying to sell our apartment I am still going to plant my flowers on the terrace. who knows how long things (like closing and us finding a new place) would take — and that is IF we sell it! Things move veeerrrryyy slowly here. Italian time…piano, piano.
Buona serata a tutti!
Thanks Vian, it will only get better as the days lengthen and warm! I love the markets of Umbria!
Hey Dave, enjoy Lucca!
What a lovely, mouthwatering tour!
Spring time in Italy. Great. Love market day. Can’t wait. We’ll be in Lucca in two weeks.
Thanks Carlo!
I love the look of your new JetPack enhanced blog! Very nice.
Hey Rach, it’s really quite good and unusual. You may see it in fancy stores there. If they get it in the UK (which they do) you probably can get it in the US. If you read this old post from my first spring here I made pasta sauce with it. Also good as a side veggie or in a frittata.
https://nancygoestoitaly.com/new-food-agretti-aka-roscano/
Agretti sounds interesting …. at first glance, I thought it was a bundle of ramps (it’s ramp season right now in Baltimore). Do you know if you can grow agretti stateside? Sounds like an unusual flavor and I’d be interested to try…
Hi Rose, I love spring in Umbria! Thanks for reading!
Fantastic!! Wish we were there ❤️
Hi Matt, I hoped you’d feel like you were here! It’s a little sparse now but I note each week more things are appearing. Agretti is an early spring veggie. It is not like onions. You can make pasta sauce out it or put it in a frittata. I wrote about it back in 2015 probably my first spring here. https://nancygoestoitaly.com/new-food-agretti-aka-roscano/
Hey Paul! Thanks! We all learn patience!
How nice to have an early morning (US time) post from NGTI! I enjoyed walking through the market – almost feel like I was there. I don’t think I’d ever heard of agretti before. Are they like wild onions?
Piano piano is definitely the best used phrase! You got that right Nancy. Great photos!