The Olive Harvest that wasn't. In Italy there is a saying about the harvest, one year good one year bad. Judging by our olives this year and the fact that we had a bumper harvest last year this proved true. A few weeks ago having had a swift estimate of our crop and deciding we would struggle to reach our mills minimum requirement of at least 200 kilos, we sadly decided not to bother. This is not such a dreadful decision as thanks to our abundant harvest last year we still have plenty of oil left for our own purposes.
A side effect of the weather this year seems to be that many of the olives have turned black much earlier this year and as we had a reasonable crop on a few of our younger trees we decided to harvest these for putting in brine and using for cooking purposes.
So our work in the Olive Grove this year was on the advice of our neighbours a really good pruning of the trees.
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| Before! |
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| Same Tree After. |
If you are new to reading this blog since our last harvest and are disappointed not to be able to read all about our experiences, I can only apologise and direct you back to the previous posts on the subject of which over the years there have been quite a few.
I have posted an album of photos of the Olives, Olive Trees and our Pruning work on Google Plus for those that are interested in seeing a few more photos. The photos shared here are also taken from this album.
Olive Harvest 2012
Previous Olive Harvest Posts
Olive Harvest 2009 - Part One
Olive Harvest 2009 - Part Two
Olive Harvest 2010 - Che Disastro!
Our Olive Oil 2010
Olive Harvest 2011 - All Done
Olive Harvest 2011 - Picking
Olive Harvest 2011
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Que pena que esse ano a safra delas não foi boa! Depois, com calma, vou olhar todos os outros posts anteriores!
ReplyDeletebeijos,chica
Done! Voted! Of course! I hope you'll win :-) That picture with all those black olives looks fantastic - I can nearly taste them. Does all this mean that you'll have a really huge harvest next year then? xo
ReplyDeletevoted also, best wishes, that ring looks so beautiful beside the olive in the photo, well all the photos are lovely, I have a friend who's uncle made her a bread box from Olive wood from their trees in Italy, its beautiful wood, do you use the wood for carpentry?
ReplyDeleteI think your crop of olives is in line with the harvest of many trees across Europe. We normally have plums weighing the branches down to the ground - this year not a single plum. Fortunately, as with your oil, we have bottled last years plums and they are still keeping us going.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there is a special technique to pruning the Olive trees? or whether you have just picked up the skill as you have gone along.
Lovely series of images - exciting to see the olive harvest, especially when you love olives (and I DO): D
ReplyDeleteGreat new header!
We did not have a single pear on our usually very prolific pear tree. Quite worrying if that is the same in many other places. It looks as though you have done a lot of physical work in your olive groves with all that pruning. Can't wait to see what kind of a crop you have next year.
ReplyDeleteThanks for keeping us up with all your harvesting pictures.
ReplyDeleteAnn
What a shame about your crop, but at least you've got some bottled for cooking. I do think the trees look ugly after pruning but it's amazing how nature works and I'm sure you'll be posting stunning photos of them again in spring.
ReplyDeleteWonderfull olive shots, great story. I've never seen the olive harvest. My cousin, she lives in Cyprus, told me that it is a lot of work.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog a while ago. I hope to visit yours more often.
What a terrible year it has been weather-wise. I was watching a programme last night about how much of our wheat was lost this year.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to see just how much pruning the trees get,
I'm so glad you have enough oil to last you through this disappointing season. It's SO good that you have such wise neighbors to help you navigate the good and bad times with your olives. :-)
ReplyDeleteI think the 'one good year, one bad year' applies to many things in nature. Over here it's the salmon run - this year it was pretty good but there are years when there are alarmingly few salmon. I'm glad to read that you have enough oil to see you through the season. Do you burn the olive wood in a fireplace or stove?
ReplyDeleteSo sorry you didn't have a great harvest, but thank goodness you have enough olives and olive oil to last you for a while. Again, I enjoyed your pictures and love your stories about every day life.
ReplyDeleteSo neat to see them, I have never been anywhere to see this in person!
ReplyDeleteOh wow those trees really look like they have had a good pruning. Lets hope that it works well for next year, that is of course if you have not sold. I presume this is the house for sale, I am getting a bit confused as I know you have another place in the village. Hope you have a great Christmas and New year, we are off to see if we can find a bit of sun in Casablanca over the Christmas period. Take care Diane
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing this. I well remember last year's harvest and am sorry this one wasn't as successful. But I'm sure the trees will rebound and have a wonderful year. Nature is amazing that way.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you!
In Spain this year's poor harvest. A shame because it's one of my favorite foods.
ReplyDeleteSometimes when things are pruned, the crop is not as big..bet next year will be really good..but it all looks like a nice amount..what fun it is to harvest your own things..one of the great gifts. There is something about doing your own hard work and how much you appreciate things so much more. Whenever I make my jellies/or freeze things..I feel so wealthy..
ReplyDeleteHave a great holiday..wishing you all the Blessings of Christmas..
xoCarolyn
I'm learning so much from you and my other blogging friends. I love olives and olive oil and have seen the trees when on holiday but hearing it straight from the grower is something else. Thanks so much for your lovely post
ReplyDeleteIt happens with so many fruits, the weather was so abnormal ! At least you have enough oil from last year !
ReplyDeleteIf you want to see the ugliest Christmas tree of the world, it's standing in Brussels on the Grand'Place http://gattinawritercramps.blogspot.be/2012/12/brussels-uggliest-christmas-tree.html ! It's a shame !
Hope you have a better harvest next year!
ReplyDeleteOlive is a blessed tree but never knew it has such harvesting trend.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that you still have supplies from last harvest.
Keep pruning for the next harvest!
Hey..check out that ring.
I think I have a similar one too :)
Next year is bound to be bountiful.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post, and each photo is so beautiful. I can look, and look, and look at it... Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLess work for you I thought , until i saw the huge piles of prunings. What will you do with your olive wood? It is so beautiful! The bowl our daughter brought back for my husband is treasured. Best wishes for a Merry Christmas Lindy Lou!
ReplyDeleteHad to make sure I got here to wish you a very Merry Christmas/Happy New Year..Sending you all the best..xoCarolyn
ReplyDeleteIndeed a nice post! I am also from the SEO background and love to enjoy reading fresh posts on this subject. I would like to thank you for writing this post and now I am your regular reader as I have subscribed your blog in my RSS reader.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed this post.... great snaps...
ReplyDeleteWhau, I had not seen this post . Amazing the size of those olives. I love olives, green or black.
ReplyDelete