Il Raccolto - The Yield
With Charlie Weeks
October 11 - 17, 2026
Most retreats ask you to slow down and do nothing.
This one asks you to slow down, reflect and pick olives.
Seven days at a hilltop villa in Tuscany. The house is yours for the week – 10 guests, plus Anna and Charlie. No-one else.
Mornings in an olive grove, harvesting by hand. The physical work is the point. By the end of the first morning, nature brings you back into focus.
Eat well, sleep well, and talk honestly with a small group of people doing the same thing. On Friday morning, you take the olives you picked to the local press and watch them become oil. You leave with a bottle. A unique experience to harvest your own oil.
La Villa nell’Isola Verde has a pool, a yoga studio, and plenty of quiet spots. There is time to enjoy the house and the surrounding area (or pick more olives).
Sometimes nature means that the hard work does not bear any yield. In years where the crop fails, we find other work for the land and the week.
Space in the week to visit Florence, Pisa and other locations in Tuscany.
Who this is for:
You don’t need to be fit, experienced, or Italian. You need to be willing to work, eat well, and be honest with yourself for a week.
Maximum 10 guests. The retreat is deliberately small.
About the Leader
Charlie Weeks
I spent 25 years managing security and political risk across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Russia, and the Caspian. I left in December 2025 to do something different. I now split my time between Tuscany, Belgium, and the UK. In Tuscany, at La Villa nell'Isola Verde, I run retreats built around the olive harvest and […]
Learn more about Charlie Weeks