The party’s over…

… it’s time to call it a day…la la la…

OK, so I tend towards hysteria at the end of a long spell of olive picking, but who can blame me? It’s hard work, it’s tiring, I hurt…everywhere!

But over it is. The local pundits say that you tend to have a good year (i.e. loads of olives) followed by a mediocre year, and this was one of our good years. So this year, the olives were superbly healthy, the trees were full, and the weather was wonderful. A truly great harvest, but 800+ trees later, we’ve had enough!

We took advantage of the great weather to put together some footage of the process, for those of you who may never have even seen an olive tree! But first, to answer some FAQ’s from my readers:

Do you have to sort the ripe olives from the green ones? No, they all go in the press together.

Isn’t the oil made just from the green olives? No. It depends on what type of olive oil you like. For example the Greeks like a sharp, green olive oil, so they pick their olives when they are fairly green. In Spain, the taste is for a bit softer oil, so usually there is a good mix of green and black.

How do you know when they are just the right ripeness to be able to be shaken from the tree? We always pick at the same time of year. The olives ripen at a pretty consistent rate, so you know roughly when they will be ready to pick. Here, from Dec – end of February is the season, and that is also when the press is open!

How long does the whole process take per tree? Depends on the tree, the terrain, and how many olives are on the tree. This year, a good tree might take 20 minutes each to shake, as you have to shake each branch. Also, some varieties of olives fall from the tree more easily than others!

How many trees do you have? About 850.

Do you do the process several times for the various lengths of ripening?  Nope. We pick until we have enough to press.

And now, the video…

Abandoned land

Kenton had a few hours out with a good friend of ours yesterday. It tends to be that if you agree to meet a friend, you lose control of your time from then onward! So what was supposed to be a quick tour of one of the town buildings turned into a 3 hour tour around the area!

Gifts abound on these trips. Kenton came home with bags of clementines, lemons, avocados, radishes. Also a cabbage, a cauli and some parsley. All very welcome, as due to our respective recoveries from surgery, our winter garden was planted very late this year. (We are so used to eating vegetables fresh from the garden that it’s almost impossible for us to buy/eat/enjoy store-bought vegetables)

As the pair drove around, our friend commented on the number of pieces of land owned by ex-pats, which are now abandoned and have now become ruins. He said

See that land? It used to be one of the nicest pieces of land in Yunquera. It had everything – oranges, lemons, avocados, grapes, olives, cherries. It was irrigated and terraced – you could grow anything.

And now? Abandoned for the last 5 years, untended and unloved, a ruin.

Manuel has told us that the biggest sin he could think of was to not work your land. I can understand this, because as he was growing up, if you had land, you could grow food, and not starve. And he knew many people in this village that starved during those years.

So one wonders what is thought of us over-indulged ex-pats who move here and expect the easy life? I think we can guess.

 

 

Terminado !!

It’s finished. It’s finally finished! We have finished the olive harvest at long last.

Yes, at long last – almost a month later, with many sore muscles, turned ankles, sore backs and twisted knees. It’s been a wonderful year to harvest, however, full of rewards. The olives have been plentiful and healthy, and the weather has been almost perfect.

So, two tons plus of olives later, we’re calling it a day. The last sacks of olives have gone to the press, the nets are folded, the machine has been taken apart. In a few short days, we will return from the mill with 25 litre containers of gorgeous Yunquera Gold olive oil.

Ahhhhh……