Casa Arleo - Senise (PZ) - Basilicata

Masseria Casa Arleo is a Lucanian farm, born from Giuseppe Arleo's passion for his land. We are in Senise, in the province of Potenza, in southern Basilicata, at the foot of the Pollino National Park. In the 1990s, Giuseppe Arleo decided to take over the activity of Nonno Peppino, starting a cereal and livestock farm. Then, about twenty years ago, he started cultivating the Senise pepper and fell in love with this product. Today, the Peperone di Senise IGP is one of the main products grown by Giuseppe. Great attention is paid to the selection of the seed, which is self-produced on the farm, and to the entire supply chain, from transplanting to harvesting, up to drying in the traditional 'serte' (a kind of necklace). Only Peperone di Senise IGP, grown and dried on the farm, are then fried to become the renowned Peperoni Cruschi. Since 2015, Masseria Casa Arleo has been registered in the regional list as a 'Guardian Farmer'. A project of the ALSIA - Lucanian Agency for Agricultural Development and Innovation - to support farmers who promote biodiversity: guardian farmers cultivate ancient varieties of fruit, vegetables or cereals, as their ancestors often did before them, preserving the environment from intensive cultivation. In 2021 Giuseppe received the award as the best Guardian Farmer of Basilicata