Alla mensa di madre Etna

“Alla Mensa di Madre Etna” celebrates the richness of edible plants, depicting the great interaction between natural selection and human interference over time, which has led to today’s ecological diversity. The edible garden extends on the ash-grey ground like a lava tongue of the volcano that descends downstream, creating a tapestry of life, a plethora of colours and aromas. In fact, the “river” of edible species is oriented towards Etna, making them symbolically homage.

The garden is divided into three areas of edible essences: native wild plants, common native plants and cultivated plants. This succession is a dialogue between past and present, wild, and cultivated, pure and hybrid, origin, and co-evolution. In the middle of the garden there is a circular stone table that can be reached from every corner of the garden, without mandatory paths. The irregular paths left free from the vegetation allow you to walk gently in the garden, brushing shrubs and trees, allowing an intimate contact with the surrounding landscape.

“Alla Mensa di Madre Etna” is a celebration of abundance and resilience, a tribute to the Sicilian mainland, a tribute to those who hold the traditional botanical and medicinal knowledge of edible plants, as well as to gardeners and farmers today.