For a long time, my husband and I ran a pastry shop in the heart of Silandro. As the eldest daughter of a fruit farmer, farming was in my genes, but it was not immediately foreseeable that I would follow in my father's footsteps. My father had first practiced cattle farming at Loretzhof VI and then restructured the farm step by step in the direction of fruit growing. Thanks to my husband's gratifying enthusiasm for agriculture and his retraining from pastry chef to farmer, together we succeeded in continuing the fruit-growing tradition of Loretzhof VI.

Tradition obliges. In fact, there are six so-called Loretz farms in Val Venosta, which were donated by the original owner (Dr. Franz Tappeiner) to each of his nephews and numbered consecutively from I to VI using Roman numerals. The Roman word for larch forest, "laricetum", probably gave its name to the birth farm of Franz Tappeiner, who was very well known in the 19th century as a spa doctor, botanist and anthropologist and was awarded the noble title "Edler von Tappein" by Emperor Franz Joseph.

So, it came about almost unexpectedly that we switched from the sweet guild of confectionery to the fruity-sweet activity of apple growing. In the following years, the education of my son Lukas triggered another important step at Loretzhof VI: Reaffirmed by his studies in agriculture, we switched to organic farming. The fruitiness and sweetness of Val Venosta is reflected for us today in the varieties Golden Delicious, Gala, Red Delicious and Envy, while Topaz and Bonita provide the fine and refreshing acidity.

In addition to helping out on the farm, especially during the intensive harvest period, I like to show off the freshly harvested apples in a delicious apple pie, for which only the eggs of the farm's own hens are used. My children can tell you a thing or two about the fact that the cakes disappear faster than the apples on the trees at harvest time. For our own use, other types of fruit such as quinces, Val Venosta apricots, peaches and nectarines also enliven the fruity picture at Loretzhof VI. They, too, are subject to our sensory quality control, while Val Venosta nature diligently plays confectioner year after year by providing sweet little fruits.