Three different stories linked by silk. It is about Domenico, Miriam and Giovanna and theirs Nido di Seta, the San Floro Cooperative in the province of Catanzaro, which thanks to an ancient tradition, that of silk processing, have found the key to their future.
Yet behind this fabric there is a centuries-old history. Always famous for being a luxury item, used to make clothes, damasks and vestments, silk has its roots in China. A true prodigy of nature, this fiber is produced by silkworms, better known as larvae, which during their metamorphosis build a cocoon to "protect themselves" from external agents.
It is precisely from this fabric that a story of passion and love for one's land comes to life. After touring Italy, the three Calabrian boys decided to take up an old project of the Municipality of San Floro to rediscover a forgotten art, that of mulberry sericulture, which had bequeathed over 3 Kocusò variety mulberry trees, spread over an area of about 5 hectares of land.
In fact, it is a tradition that has risen from the ashes. Since up until the end of the 800s, Catanzaro was the capital of silk. An activity that also spread to the surrounding villages, giving rise to the so-called "Calabrian Silk Road”, a corridor that connected the Tyrrhenian coast with the Ionian one. That same street has come back to life thanks to the will of these young people, who have created an eco-sustainable activity on it and relaunched the local economy.
Once the green light was obtained from the Municipality, the boys followed training courses arriving as far as Thailand to discover unconventional silk-working methods and Mexico to discover new natural dyes. After that, the secrets of this ancient art were also revealed by the elders of the village, true silk masters.
Founded in 2014, the Nido di Seta Cooperation is the main attraction of this small village, which has about 600 inhabitants. At the heart of their business is mulberry silkworm growing, followed in all its phases: from the land to the production of the yarn, in a breathtaking naturalistic context.
At the same time, the Cooperative also deals with the sale of fresh blackberries, blackberry jams and certified organic liqueurs, among these the Moretto, obtained from the fruits of the Morus Nigra, counted in the category of lost fruits, and cosmetics. They also produce jewellery, fabrics and clothing with raw silk and Squillace ceramics and, finally, organize eco-experiential excursions, which include an all-round naturalistic experience: from the Silk Museum, inside an ancient castle, to the transfer to the Cooperative to visit the silkworm breeding up to the tasting of organic products at the refreshment point. And so, between mulberry and silkworm growing, textile production and that of jams and liqueurs, today the cooperative employs another seven people.
It didn't end there. To spread this ancient knowledge, the Cooperative has also created gods thematic courses, from silkworm breeding to silk processing and weaving up to the various natural dyeing methods.
But how are silkworms raised? The technique used by these young entrepreneurs is completely eco-sustainable and traditional. First you need to get hold of the seeds of silkworms, i.e. small eggs and incubate them in closed structures.
During the spring, between April and May, the eggs begin to hatch, by which time the mulberry leaves are fully formed. Before reaching the cocoon state, it will go through 4 moults and 5 different larval stages. Once hatched, the larvae begin to feed exclusively of mulberry leaves and, having reached the ideal weight, the larvae become silkworms. At that point they stop feeding and start building with their silky slime the cocoon. To obtain the silk threads, these cocoons must be placed in a pot of hot water so that the sericin, or the glue secreted by the worm, dissolves.
After four or five days the cocoon is finally ready and after about ten days the moth holes it to get out. During this time, a part of the cocoons is dried to obtain silk and a part conserved for biodiversity. Currently the Cooperative boasts 5 varieties that they can recognize by their colours: there is cocoon yellow, golden yellow, green yellow, old rose and white. Each one is, in practice, a continuous thread of silk ranging from 900 to 2 metres, which will be combined with others according to the thickness of the yarn to be obtained.
Then we move on to textile production. The gold thread is worked on antique looms with four healds and all the garments are colored with natural and indigenous products, such as poppy, mulberry, broom flowers, walnut hull, Calabrian black truffle, elderberry and Tropea onion. For example, madder root has been used since ancient times to dye fabrics such as the kneeler cover for the Pope, which is still found in the Vatican today.
It is a very interesting practice, but equally tiring and demanding. Despite this, the young entrepreneurs have managed to bring back to life the ancient mulberry-seed growing chain, writing a new chapter in the history of Catanzaro. The demonstration that our country still has a lot to offer, especially to the new generations.
