This year the harvest was bountiful, beautiful with an unseasonal warmth to it, as you will see from the following pictures!
We started on a Thursday and finished by dusk on the Sunday – 27th-30th October. It was a team effort, with the sturdy help from our amazing volunteers, Marco from Portugal and Kirsten from South Africa. Then most days we had local helpers too.
Day 1 began with a little instruction from Barbara about some basic ‘do’s and don’ts’ of harvesting and how to protect the trees.
And then the fun began….on DAY 1 we had a super team, which made a huge difference. Between dogs, people, music and good food we harvested over 400kgs in one burst! Thanks go to Billy and Roger, Jen, Rena and Albert, Rosso and Adriane, Meline, Alfonse and the little boys!
As we went along we also removed the leaves – this was an activity that was a patient work….
Some enjoyed being in the trees……
Some on the ground…..
Some on the ladders…
some using the extended comb on a stick….
and unfortunately for Barbara – from a chair! She cut her arm with a saw while pruning on day 2, but recovered enough to still be a HUGE help!
On the final day, the Sunday, we had the help from Duarte and Anne – it was a realy valuable boost, and we got done by the end of the day.
Then it was the final leaf separation and the loading of the van….
Monday morning Barbara and Emma headed to the ‘Lagar’ – the press with 1200kgs of beautiful olives!
Here are some snaps of the process….
And home we went with 190 litres of green gold!
We will sell to friends and family this year’s oil, so get in touch if you would like us to reserve some for you!!