Entry 5: Background Notes to Giuseppe (Peppe) Trimboli - Miller and Wheat Farmer

Location: Calabria, Italy

Date: Sometime before1880, to sometime later

Around 1880 the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce coordinated the extensive mapping of lakes, rivers and streams, including the location of water-powered mills. It was an ambitious undertaking with extraordinary results: the publication of twenty-three hydrographic maps covering the entire region of Calabria. One of these maps - titled GERACE, shows details of the waterways around Siderno. The map (see below) has been cropped to focus on a small section of river, relevant to where Peppe Trimboli operated a mill for grinding wheat into flour.

It's interesting to note:

1. The river south of Agnana Calabra (flowing all the way into the Ionion Sea) was labelled 'Fimara di Siderno' (Siderno River). This river has been renamed, and today is known as the Novito River.

2. The coastal town Gerace has been renamed to Locri. Change of name occurred in 1934.

3. Every numbered, red dot, pinpointed a site with a functional watermill.

   
   

4. I've inserted a green arrow on the map pointing to two red dots numbered 498 and 499. Do either of these two dots represent the mill Peppe operated? We probably won't ever know for certain, but it's highly possible, given that his mill was located on the bank of the Novito River at Contrada Oliveto - exactly the area where the green arrow is pointing to. Furthermore, today, this location is still known as Contrada Oliveto. Therefore, based on the likelihood that one of the two red dots does actually mark where the mill once stood, the origin of the building Peppe worked in, can be dated to sometime before 1880.

   
   

5. No traces of Peppe’s mill remain today, but another local mill - located near the coastline (marked number 500 on the map) - survives as a ruin, providing a good example of the different materials used for construction. As shown in the photograph, the walls reveal layers of cemented bricks and stones, which even in their crumbling state, still gives a sense of how solid the building used to be.

   
   

Watermill Ruin, Siderno

In regards to the wheat crops that Peppe cultivated, numerous varieties would have been planted throughout the nine decades of his long life. Nonetheless, I consider myself very fortunate to have rediscovered two of the varieties he grew:

• The first is named Maiorca (also spelled Majorca) - a soft wheat grain with a low gluten index.

  
  

• The second is officially named Senatore Cappelli, but is also known as Grano Cappelli. This hard grain, durum wheat was developed in Italy and available for planting from 1915.

Peppe and his grandchildren uniquely referred to the latter variety as ‘Granu a Cappellu’. Initially, the name was either mispronounced or misheard, yet it has remained unchanged across three Trimboli generations – highlighting the enduring power of oral history! Therefore, in tribute to these ancestors, I will uphold family tradition and continue to refer to the grain as ‘Granu a Cappellu’.

Today, in the modern era, both varieties are still cultivated in Calabrian fields, but they are now classified as “ancient grains”.

The notes above, establish the foundation for my next post based on: Peppe Trimboli - 'u mulinaru' (the miller).