In Colledoro, a hillside hamlet in the territory of Castelli situated 600 metres above sea level on a fertile plateau overlooking the Gran Sasso range and Monte Camicia, the cultivation of domestic vegetable gardens is still widespread, shared with neighbouring hamlets such as Villa Colli. Particularly intense during spring and summer, though extending throughout the entire agricultural cycle, this activity mainly involves plots located close to houses or in nearby fields. Those most engaged in this practice are the elderly inhabitants of the village and women, assisted by relatives or sometimes by neighbours, according to a longstanding custom of reciprocity, exchange of knowledge and sharing of tools that has always characterised the upland communities. In some cases, small family-run farms have recently begun cultivating abandoned land once again, restoring agricultural areas left unused for decades and reactivating entire productive cycles such as those of cereals and bread.

In Case Mannoni, an area at the edge of the village overlooking the valley floor, the elderly farmer Angelo De Dominicis devoted himself daily to his domestic vegetable garden and to the few animals he still kept: rabbits and chickens. A farmer by passion and by family inheritance, Angelo once also raised horses, cows, pigs and sheep, producing wine and flour from his vineyards and wheat fields. In recent years, with the help of relatives and a few elderly villagers, he continued cultivating in his summer and winter gardens tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, courgettes, carrots, lettuce, chard, garlic, onions, basil, rosemary, sage, celery, chilli peppers, cauliflowers, cabbages and many other vegetables, together with beans and occasionally chickpeas. A master of grafting, he also cared for the pear and apple trees surrounding the cultivated fields, as well as the olive trees used for oil production.

By gathering rushes (jungë) from wetlands and marshy areas, following the seasonal rhythms necessary to ensure the flexibility and strength required for their use, Angelo obtained each year long, slender stems employed to fasten garden plants to their supports: an ecological method learned from his grandfather, father and mother, which he never abandoned even after the spread of more practical plastic materials. Usually cut between the end of April and early June, the bundles of stems were then carefully sorted according to their length, dried and soaked immediately before use, so that they would become sufficiently flexible to be woven without breaking. For Angelo, the most important quality of this vegetal material and of the technique used to tie it to the plants lay in its supple capacity to adapt to the growth of legumes and vegetables, simultaneously ensuring sufficient space for expansion and the necessary support.