THE FARM

Nature’s Gifts

Bio28 has a vegetable garden arranged on 8 terraces, made with chestnut wood palisades, and has a total area of 3,400 m2. The vegetable garden follows seasonality, with programming designed to meet the needs of the estate restaurant, which cooks for those who reside in our spaces, and sales to third parties with baskets of vegetables. The choice of vegetables produced is implemented based on a criterion of economy and consistent with the chemical and physical characteristics of the soil, climate and enhancing local vegetables.

Aromatic plants, such as Mint, Thyme, Savory, Sage, Rosemary, Lavender and the plants Euphorbia Characias and Agapanthus, were placed at the foot of the palisades to attract beneficial insects. The latter can be distinguished into pollinators, such as bees, or parasitoid and predatory insects, such as the ladybug, which feeds on aphids thus protecting the garden plants.

If you want to support KM0 farming that values natural growing techniques, you can take home our freshness and quality. Request a basket with the week's harvest for €8. Reservations are required by writing to info@bio28.it, calling +39 0141 917277, or booking directly in person at reception. To pick up the basket, we expect you every Friday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Strada Caminata 28, Moncalvo (AT).

At Bio28 there are not only vegetables, but also orchards: a few fruit species that need a low number of treatments performed with organic products.
The choice of fruit trees is guided by the need to produce at least one different fruit each month, thus having a scalar fruiting from spring until autumn. Thus we have: cherries, red, pink and white mulberries, plums, small berries, pomegranate, purple and green figs and apples. The harvested fruits are delivered to our chefs who use them in culinary preparations or to make jars of jam to sell to customers.

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Today, the most advanced experiments point to multi-axis -or guyot- farming, that is, the creation of a pedestrian orchard in which most of the operations are done from ground.
This experimental orchard is being carried out by Bio28, whereby, the vigor of the plant, being distributed among numerous vertical productive axes from a permanent "cordon," allows the elimination of harvesting mechanics (fruit carts) and makes the orchard accessible to anyone. Inclusive workshops, such as foraging activities, can be conducted with this technique.

The Sprout Greenhouse is a seedbed greenhouse, equipped with growing boxes that allow us to obtain seedlings from seed, which will then be planted outside in our vegetable gardens. There are aromatic seedlings, which need more protection from biotic and abiotic stresses, and plants dedicated to experimentation aimed at assaying new horticultural varieties or new natural products to combat plant adversities.
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The greenhouse is equipped with a drip irrigation system that allows watering to be managed in the most environmentally sustainable way. There are fans with a Fog system to better manage air recirculation and regulate the degree of air humidity in order to ensure the best growing conditions
The greenhouse, in addition to allowing the cultivation of plants, is equipped with tables, sofas and bar to allow guests to consume our products immersed in our crops.

The Subtropical Greenhouse was born in parallel with the renovation of an old warehouse, which later became the Khan Studio. We eliminated the concrete parking lot in front of the warehouse, and started building the Greenhouse.

In the Greenhouse of Lemons, during the summer period, the restaurant is activated and opens to the public and guests in residence.

Another important intervention is phytodepuration: a natural solution for wastewater treatment that mimics the self-purifying capacity of natural wetlands by exploiting complex biochemical, physical, and physiological purification processes resulting from a combined action between substrate, plants, effluent, and microorganisms present. This system offers an excellent ecological alternative to connection to the public sewer system and all traditional sewage treatment plants. The water filtered through phytodepuration is then used to irrigate Bio28's meadows and soils.

The greenhouses are made by combining the best technologies for automation and remote control of its systems. The roofs of all our greenhouses can be opened automatically.In fact, they are connected to temperature sensors that communicate with the control unit and modulate the partial or total opening in relation to the temperature to be achieved inside the greenhouses and the outside temperatures. The roof-opening system is excellent for managing indoor temperatures because it takes advantage of the chimney effect due to the exit of warm air from the openings at the top and the entry of cooler air from the openings located in the bottom parts of the greenhouses. The continuous recirculation of air especially in the spring and summer months not only allows the greenhouse to be cooled but also allows proper ventilation for our plants.

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The shades used for our Subtropical Greenhouse and Orchid Greenhouse are made of a technical material that can let through the right amount of light for plants to grow. The greenhouses at the same time provide people with optimum comfort. The shades are automatically controlled and open fully or only partially depending on the amount of light we decide to have inside the greenhouse for the growth of our plants. The material that makes up the shade sheets also has the important function of allowing during the winter months to retain heat inside the greenhouse.

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Irrigation systems in greenhouses consist of drip-crop operations fed by underground tanks that collect rainwater. Drip-by-drip systems provide efficient watering by eliminating water waste because the water is delivered directly to the soil. Irrigation is controlled by a special control unit that can also be programmed remotely.

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It was decided to implement in the construction phase of the greenhouse with a fertigation system.A dispenser feeds other types of liquids into the irrigation pipes, proving optimal for administering organic fertilizers efficiently and without waste during irrigation shifts. We also use this very practical system to administer microorganisms and mycorrhizae to our plants that are very important, due to our philosophy of regenerative agriculture, to make our plants grow healthy and strong.

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The greenhouses, like all our gardens, are managed using only products of natural origin. Our manures are organic and organo-mineral fertilizers. The soil conditioners consist of compost. For pest control, we make extensive use of antagonistic insects; for example, the distribution of the ladybug Adalia bipunctata combats aphid infestations, and the mite phytoseiulus persimilis to combat red spider mite. We use microorganisms such as bacillus subtilis and trichoderma harzianum to promote plant growth and improve pathogen resistance.

In gardens and green spaces, water consumption control begins at the design stage with the selection of plant species that require minimal water. For this reason, we make extensive use of plants such as rosemary, ornamental grasses (like Pennisetum alopecuroides, which is present in the planters on the first floor of the main dance hall), Prunus lusitanica, Viburnum tinus, and Osmanthus spp. All fruit trees are grafted onto rootstock known as “Franco,” which has lower water requirements compared to other rootstocks. In 2023, we created a garden entirely made up of herbaceous plants and grasses at the center of our glamping site. This area allows us to enjoy continuous blooming from spring through fall, while requiring minimal water maintenance. As a result, it’s a green, fragrant space, notable for its colors and sustainability.