Waiting for the olives’ harvest
October and November are the months for the olives’ harvest: it is the last effort for our countryside before the winter break. The olives’ harvest is a very expected moment because it means the end of our work and we can immediately enjoy the fruits of it. It is not necessary to wait many years, as happens for the wine. This is the reason why we have to check that everything (nets, instruments, ladders) is all right and we have to take an appointment with the best mill on our territory in advance. Methods or tools have changed compared the way they were in the past, but the sensations have not changed. They are proof of one of most humble and noblest labour that exists.
The olives’ harvest between yesterday…
It is a humble work because you are like a child when you are on the top of the ladder in a precarious equilibrium in the middle of the branches to take the farther olive. It is a humble work because you have to bend the knee on the soil to pick up the fallen olives and then put them inside the wooden basket made by our grandparents. In the same way, it is a noble work, because there are noble feelings between the farmer and its land.
… and today
Today the olives’ harvest is easier than in the past: there are specific machines that shake the branches and the leaves. Surely, however, the joyful spirit has not changed as well the same worry and curiosity to know the results of our efforts.
Poggio al Bosco’s Olives’ harvest told by mamma Donatella
Struggle, curiosity and joy were the same emotions felt 60 years ago by our grandparents Giovanni and Zelina, Primo and Maria when they picked the olives with their families. Mamma Donatella told us how olives were picked here at Poggio al Bosco when she was a child and olive oil was a true family wealth. At that time the olives’ harvest took place in November and December, later than now, it was completely handmade and it was often extended even during Christmas holidays. Instead of modern nets, they used simple circular tarps (they were old parachutes) and wooden ladders, that were made by farmers themselves and jute bags. At the end of the day, our grandparents brought the olives home and put them over mattings made of cane (they were called “the olives’ castles”) arranged in our old stable waiting for the transport to the mill.
Once olive oil was ready, it was kept the whole year vintage in large terracotta vases that we are keeping using but with another purpose, as flower boxes!
Do you want to taste our extra-virgin olive oil?
Every year, in Poggio al Bosco, we produce this precious green liquid and we are very proud about it. Visit our online shop and find the can you prefer 😊
