Garbatellamike

When I was in Rome every cabinet member of the Provincial government was found to have over a million euros of public money in their personal bank accounts - the Romans are in no position to criticise.

Geordieborn

We are in the Teramo region and do nothing there but dig! Well the veg plots do keep us busy. I did ask if they came from Abruzzo for that very reason i.e. all Italians I've met their region, province, village down to Contrada is the only place to live/eat.

philat98

Get a bit of land with a well that provides water in July and August. Even a small allotment consumes a lot of water in summer and it is very expensive using the mains water. Without a well you can only grow olives or grapes and they suffer without irrigation when you get 40C like last summer.

Pica

We gave up trying to grow our own veg etc. The effort is monumental plus the cost of compost, fertiliser, water, time, storage, preserving etc. And consider the bugs that can decimate all your hard efforts-white fly, blackfly, aphids, caterpillars.Veggies and fruit are best bought in season and they're cheap!

philat98

I cultivate a small patch of land that has a well and a polytunnel and am almost self sufficient for organic veg all year round. There is quite a bit of work involved but I find it enjoyable anyway. I don't think the cost is much different from the UK If you have your own well. Those fields south of Umbria must be filled with hungry critters!

Geordieborn

Growing veg is different to the UK, but so are the results None of the problems mentioned by Pica, even the heavy hail we had in July that cut off just about every leaf on the plants did not stop them, they all grew back! But veg is cheap in the shops and much, much better quality than that in the UK (just not as good as our own)

Nick Millard

Thanks everybody. Another question if I may. I plan to install solar panels and a battery system so I can live off grid. Is this something I will have to get approval for or can I just do it, as the other concern I have is the level of bureaucracy and not being able to do things without having to go through official processes.

Geordieborn

I would suggest you check out solar with this guy.

Nick Millard

Cheers Geordieborn. Already got the kit and knowledge of how to do it, just wanted to check whether the level of bureaucracy I have been warned about with respect to building works extends to installing your own solar system. Some of the other stuff in the article was very useful though. Thanks again. Planning to come over with the next few weeks to look at areas and would appreciate contacts of good estate agents and expat run B&Bs. I will be focusing on areas that are approximately a maximum of a 90 minute drive from Rome

Geordieborn

He is I believe a one man band, from old post elsewhere seems to know everything about the bureaucracy. I think he now is living back in the UK, but still flits over here. I'm sure he would be good for free advice.

Nick Millard

I will drop him a line thanks

philat98

For just replacing a rusty corrugated iron roof on a shed we needed to employ a Geometra with lots of letters to and from the Comune. You might be able to claim money back when you have finished the project.