Wednesday 3 November 2021

Olive Picking

 This is an off year for olives around here.  The established trees only give a good crop every 2 years.  Our neighbours are picking but they'll probably be finished in a week . Only a few of their hundred or so trees have olives. One year they picked on from November to almost February.  They will probably harvest enough olives to give them oil for this year for the house and family but not enough to sell. 



Nets are put down underneath and the harvesting begins.  The olives are raked off the tree and gathered underneath





A present from a friend.  In thanks for a job well done.
5 kilos of an early harvest.  The oil is thick and fruity and as you can see, almost green.  

The kids don't like it. The taste is quite strong




A bag of olives from K's sister who was harvesting her own olives.  K salts these and eats them after just a few days.  They are bitter and salty but he loves them.  As does his sister.  You have to be brought up with these olives to really enjoy them


We will be off in a few days to collect wine from our son in law's vineyard near Corinth.  These two barrels hold around 300 litres of maturing juice.  They will be cleaned inside and out. And the shed they reside in will also be scrubbed. 
 We will transport the wine in 100 litre containers



21 comments:

  1. My rather pathetic Olive Tree had no fruit this year. However, here in the UK we have a near neighbour whose tree is covered. The Olives are very small, and I can't imagine him harvesting them. I used to buy 'unrefined Olive oil' but haven't seen any for years.

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    Replies
    1. I once bought of jar of extremely small Cretan olives, in duty free of all places. They were hardly worth eating. No meat at all. A juicy local olive is worth the bite.

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  2. 'T'is the season. Fruitfulness. And turning the harvest into something we can store and use throuvgh the following months. I love autumn, don't you?

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    Replies
    1. I really do love autumn. It's a relief after that long hot summer and I love watching the landscape get green.

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  3. Will several 100 litre containers of wine be enough to see you through to Christmas?

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  4. Most fruit trees seem to have a good year and a rest year don't they.

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    Replies
    1. They do ..but. It seems if they get that extra care, water during the summer, manure etc that they can give a yearly crop. Watering during the summer is mostly not an option

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  5. Max and I had a couple of olive trees when we lived in the Far North near Kaitaia but left the olives for the pheasants who used to love them. They would jump up, grab one and, if it did not come off the tree easily, let go and get another one. Great to watch.

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    Replies
    1. Pheasants eating olives? That would have been a sight

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  6. Replies
    1. Oh I could do that. You'd have to 'click and collect' though

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  7. How grown olive oil
    And home made wine
    Sounds perfect to me

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  8. I enjoy the glimpses of harvest time in Greece. At this time of year my inner squirrel is very happy to be able to pick and process the bounty of nature, just a shame that my body soon gets tired, galloping old age I guess!
    How long will all that wine last you?

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    Replies
    1. It actually should last till Easter. Quite a lot is given away too, rather than us drinking it all

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  9. I didn't know olives only bore a heavy crop every second year. We used to have a plum tree that did that.

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    Replies
    1. New breeds of olive do give yearly but around here it's every 2nd year

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  10. I doubt I would enjoy the early harvest olive oil, my silly American taste buds aren't suited. :-) But give me any ol' chile (red or green), and I'm in heaven. Fall is my favorite season...we're going up on the tram to hike the Sandia Mountains tomorrow. The weather should be perfect!

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    Replies
    1. Lol different cultures!
      Must be nice to have weather you can tramp in. Enjoy yourselves

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