The revival, plum from Dro
I have been living in Dro since around 1400. Not me myself, to be honest. I was born this year and in a few days I’ll hit the ground. I mean, my species. Along the course of history, I have spread until covering almost every field around the village, up to the other side of the valley towards the Coste di Varino. I have painted the landscape white in spring and violet in summer, with my seductive shape I have entrapped the bigots’ modesty and, last but not least, I have fed many generations of farmers: not too much, only what was necessary to survive.
Since the end of the Eighties, the growers have started to plant apple trees and vineyards, favoring them over me. In that period I made less and was suffering from the Sharka virus. Only few trees were left, last witnesses of a past era, until something happened in more recent times.
A group of creatives and artists working at the Central di Fies art centre, apparently far away from agricolture, got interested in me, and tried to make the world understand how important I am. They have created a brand, ULTRA VIOLET, and a great batch of marketing and communication operations to highlight the value I have if I have been here for 600 years. In this way, they have tried a revival of a centuries-old tradition in a modern perspective. So, these guys are helping me not to disappear, and they also would like to honour a symbolic debt people from Trentino have had with me for more than 50 years.
In 1966 a terrible flood hit the city of Trento, including the underground archives of the city library. Thousands of books, old manuscripts and documents got lost. The ones that were saved, but soaked with water, were taken to the drying kiln in Dro to be dried. In 1966 the plums saved the culture, from 2016 on culture will try to save the plums.
Dro
Along the Garda Trek – Low Loop itinerary you won’t meet only people and places, but also landscapes, habits and products that make Garda Trentino unique. This is precisely the case of the plum from Dro, called susina, a variety which is unique all over the world, lately approved as PDO (Protected Designation Origin) and cultivated in the Sarca Valley, connection point between the second and the third leg of the itinerary. This plum, with a compact pulp and a sweet and sour taste, will be one of the main protagonists of the recipes presented during Garda con Gusto – Carne salada & CO, an event scheduled for next November and entirely dedicated to the local gastronomy.
