If you want to be a proper forester, you not only need a comprehensive knowledge of animals and plants, but you also have to be pretty good on your feet. No one knows this better than Georg Ratschiller. Now in well-earned retirement, he used to spend thousands and thousands of hours out in the Ahrntal forest as a forester. And even today, there is little to keep him indoors. Because once you have fallen in love with nature, you feel most at home outdoors. And how lucky we are that Georg is also an extremely sociable and talkative contemporary! And so he likes nothing better than to take our guests with him on his forays and hikes through the forest around Sand in Taufers.
Good night, fox and hare!
In the South Tyrolean "metropolises" of Bolzano or Merano, rumour has it that here in the Ahrntal valley, fox and hare say good night to each other. It may be that we don't exactly have the cosmopolitan bear, but we do have hare, fox, badger, roe deer, stag and lots more! In the extensive forests that stretch across our mountain slopes, the Alpine fauna still finds a small, green paradise. And with a little luck and patience, you can catch a glimpse of the shy forest dwellers on a hike with forester Georg. If you are interested in talented singers, you can also draw on Georg's wealth of ornithological knowledge. For friends of the alpine flora, too, "Schorsch" has many a novelty in store. He also has plenty to say about the trees in the Ahrntal forest and knows how things are going in terms of reforestation after the Vaia storm in 2018. The keyword here is walking: A hike like this with forester Georg is certainly beneficial, because Japanese researchers have found out that spending time in the forest has been proven to do body and soul a lot of good. But just try it out for yourself. Georg is looking forward to meeting you.
The taste of the treetops
We almost forgot what Beatrice wanted to tell you in advance. If you like, she can collect spruce shoots with you. You can then use them to make a very special treat. The recipe for Beatrice's spruce honey goes like this:
1 litre of water
500 grams of spruce shoots
2 kg sugar
Boil the spruce sprouts in the water for half an hour. Then strain the sprouts and squeeze them slightly. Put them in a new pot, add the sugar and let the whole thing boil gently for an hour and a half. Then you can pour your Fichenhonig into clean jars, leave to cool and enjoy.
