OLIVES 2020: How NOT to harvest 2,119 pounds of olives: Don't duct-tape a plastic olive rake to the end of a long pole! (some details of our 9th Harvest, and more!)

- November 08, 2021

Could it be that I have never made a post about our olive harvest? With our 10th harvest coming up tomorrow, it’s time to remedy that. I had said earlier that I would be posting “OLIVES 2020: some details of our 9th Harvest” from last year, and here that comes. But I will also include some nostalgic favorite photos from the years when the Galli family so generously gave us the benefit of their experience.

On Sunday, November 8, 2020 we harvested 2,119 pounds of our olives —a record weight for us—that made 75 liters of the most delicious oil. On Saturday, the day before the main harvest, Jim and I had spent a few glorious hours hand-picking 57 pounds on our own from a few smaller trees.

Our solitary picking ahead of time was my idea because this year we had decided to try a new way to get help with the harvest that was going to involve a team of other people. We weren’t sure to what extent we could participate, so I wanted a chance to commune with some of our trees before anyone else came.

The past two years we’ve been left to our own devices to harvest what we could, since Farmer Galli, who will turn 82 about when I get to 74, can no longer work after a serious heart operation. Until then we had done every harvest with him, his slightly younger brother, and sister-in-law, but now they can no longer help us except in emergencies.

Some of “our own devices” I mentioned above included our duct-taping a plastic olive rake head to the end of a long pole, the purpose of which was to reach the higher branches. HA! Half the time the rake would come off and get stuck at the the top of the tree. This required finding another tool, often a broom, to try to whack it down so we could continue our clueless efforts.

This is not the way the pros go about it. They use tree-shaking gizmos powered either by a noisy tractor (as the Gallis did), or by mercifully quieter batteries carried on their back.

To our surprise and delight, because it was a Sunday the adorable young man we hired, Gigi, came with his entire family, friends, and a cute rescue dog named Otto (Italian for the number 8). So with 8 of them plus Otto and two of us, we finished all 55 trees by 5pm, having made friends with these wonderful people.

The deal with Gigi was for him to get 55% of the oil and we got 45%, so the whole thing cost us nothing. The weather could not have been more perfect and it was great fun to be with such a diverse international crowd that included the Chilean mom and Sicilian dad who had met in Venezuela, the lovely Sardinian ex-girlfriend of 7 years but still a family friend who is a great cook, a visiting friend from Stromboli who gives volcano tours and her Sicilian boyfriend, and some actual Italians—one a trombonist; one a studious-looking young black friend. The former girlfriend brought serious food and baked goods for their al fresco lunch which was of course served with real plates and cutlery. They seemed pleasantly surprised that we offered them coffee, apple slices, chocolate, a box of our three varieties of apples, chestnuts, and a bathrooom which nobody chose to use. They gave us the gift of their presence and a bottle of homemade laurel amaro.

Just as it was getting dark, we drove straight to the mill in three cars filled with 48 chests of the best olives. The mill is always a bit chaotic and slow, but several hours later we were back home and able to dip some bread into the fresh, emerald oil that came from the 5-year-old trees we planted 12 years ago.

It felt great to be outside during this fall ritual, with nature smiling on us and sharing her bounty. As a traditional Hebrew blessing goes, how thankful we are to be here and to have reached this hour!

—xxx, Diane Joy Charney