Giovanni Scanu starts his days among chickens, goats, banana sage and zucchini, tending the vibrant 11,000 square foot vegetable garden at Cala di Volpe. It’s a storied luxury resort on Sardinia, an island surrounded by pristine waters 120 miles west of mainland Italy.

Often, 73-year-old Scanu plucks a handful of strawberries or a bouquet of basil and plops them into curious guest’s hands, a puckish smile under his trim gray mustache. “Prego,” he says with a flourish — “you’re welcome,” or “here you go,” in Italian — before returning to his beloved produce (images of which he posts, with disarming earnestness, on his Instagram account, @Giovanni.Scanu14).