Autumn in Italy! It’s the season for grape harvesting and winemaking, as well as olive gathering and oil pressing. Ah, this is autumn in Italy! And all of this takes place right in our own garden! My husband harvests our olives the traditional way. He picks them by hand, one by one. He probably wouldn’t want to try that with a hundred trees, but with just two it’s not too bad.
3 traditional methods of picking olives exist:
- One method is to pick them by hand and drop them into a basket tied around your waist.
- Another method is called ‘stripping.’ This involves using a special comb to pull the olives from the branches, letting them drop onto special nets that have been spread out on the ground.
- The third method is known as ‘beating.’ This entails beating the branches with poles to make the olives fall onto the harvest nets.
- Find out more about olive harvesting by visiting the Alberti Oil website.
Olive combs or rakes (as seen in the photo below) are usually made of plastic to prevent damage or bruising to the olives. Many of them have long handles so that they can be used from the ground.
Hand-picking the olives one by one works well for our two trees. We get enough olives to use ourselves and some to give away. They won’t be ready until Christmas, however, because olives must be cured eating. Freshly picked olives are much too bitter! Once they’ve been cured and seasoned, though, they make tasty Christmas gifts!
Our olives are the purple and green Leccino variety. They’re quite small and better for producing olive oil than for eating. But they are also delicious to just eat down!
With proper curing, we end up with a tasty, 100% organic olive. We really enjoy them! If you can get hold of some fresh, non-cured olives, here are the instructions for a commonly used curing process.
- Wash the ripe, firm olives and let them dry for a bit.
- Put them in jars and cover with a 50/50 solution of water and salt, preferably sea salt.
- About how much salt? Place a raw egg in the water and keep adding salt until the egg starts to float.
- Leave them to cure for a month or two.
- Seal the jars. No canning process is necessary as the salt preserves them naturally.
- Add seasonings. Try lemon or orange zest, garlic or onion, and oregano.
However, there are many methods of pickling olives. I’d love to try this recipe from Sicily too! Hand-picking olives and home-curing them sounds like a lot of work, I know. But it’s a really special experience, and the end result is well worth it! Perhaps you could come and help us sometime!
📷 Image credits: olive harvest net; ladder by Matteo X; others are mine.
Thank you for the interesting lesson about olive harvesting and preserving, Sheila. I admire your husband’s patience, picking them by hand! I love olives. And nothing smells quite so good as onions and garlic simmering in olive oil. I also enjoy olive oil and red wine vinegar on my salads, especially since there’s no sugar or salt to worry about!
Olive harvesting really is a fun experience. But of course, the end product is what we most look forward to! And oh yes, onions and garlic simmering in olive oil. Now you’ve made me hungry!!
This sounds like an experience that ministers to body and soul alike! Grapes and olives–what a wonderful opportunity to see God’s good harvest!
I never thought about that way, Dayle. But you’re right – nature always ministers to the soul!!
Looks fun and sounds wonderful! I have one daughter who will eat the whole jar, once it is opened. She would love this.
Oh Linda, a fellow olive lover! I’m sure your daughter would love Italy’s olives, and if possible, we’d love to share!!
Oh, lovely! wish I were there, Sheila. Just realized I’ve been in Italy in winter, spring and summer, but never autumn.
Then you must come Cynthia! I think autumn is the most special time here. After all, it’s really only in the Med nations where autumn life centers around grape and olive harvests. Sometimes even the hair dressers close as they are out picking those grapes or olives!