Olives away

Olive picking has begun in earnest.   The family who own the land next to us were out in force all day yesterday.  




Their haul, 8 sacks of olives ready to go off to the oil press.  Each sack contains from 50-70 kilos of olives.

They left the sacks overnight under the trees and a small truck collected them the next morning.  Here on Poros, an island, this is still possible.   Across on the mainland Peloponese no-one would dare leave bags of olives standing unattended under a tree all night.  They would disappear like magic into someone else's little truck.   Times have changed.




The two sisters, with 'menfolk', arrived soon after seven and set to work straight away setting out a large net under the first tree.  One of the men climbed up a long ladder, cutting and throwing down higher branches which were laden with fruit.  The two girls combed the branches letting the olives fall onto the nets.

They didn't stop for a 'charming rustic picnic' at lunch time, in fact hardly stopped at all during the day.  Husbands and friends arrived to help and they finished the (about) 15 trees by late afternoon.

The olives under each tree were gathered up into one big heap and the women spent a long time on their knees removing sticks and leaves.  

Next day they moved on to another olive grove they own.  The sacks are taken to the press every few days. 

We have a dozen oil presses in the area, each one  working from dawn till 'whenever'.  Friends of ours waited 7 hours to get their olives turned into oil.  The queue of farm pick-ups is endless at this season.    

  These olives are on flat ground and are fairly easy to pick.  Trees on rough, rocky land or on the side of mountains are hard work but the olives get harvested whatever the terrain or the weather.