Mount Baldo is not just the natural backdrop for orchid and edelweiss blooms, it is also the setting for a whole series of human activities that, since time immemorial, have formed part of life on this splendid mountain, which enjoys magnificent exposure to the sun. The most widespread activity, from 1400 - 1700 m above sea level is dairy farming of cows and ewes. There are many, mostly small alpine huts, known as malghe, where milk is made into delicious fresh or medium mature cheeses. Pigs are also often bred here and, fed on whey and other local fruits of the land, they provide delicious meat and a few incomparable types of cold meat and salami. Touring the malghe is an extremely refreshing way to pass a day out on Mount Baldo, where you can savour the few simple but exquisite specialities of a local cuisine that may not have too many ingredients, but which is bursting with the traditional flavours that modern man continues to appreciate more and more.

Lower down, below the belt of pines and beech woods, the olive tree reigns supreme, giving its surroundings their perennial, relaxing and iridescent colour that, when projected onto the waters of the lake, will open your mind to thoughts of a higher nature. Garda's olive groves, tended with hard work and loving care, produce a truly precious oil with a rich, intense aroma and soft, rounded flavour that can give foods all of the fragrance of this truly Mediterranean condiment. Just as on the rest of Mount Baldo, the fields where forage is grown are home to flowers of the rarest beauty, including the solemn red lily, arnicas, peonies and buttercups. Each of these flowers contributes to making the milk from the animals that eat in Mount Baldo's pastures even more fragrant.