Olive harvesting

The Italians lead a simple yet hard life here. Simple in that the modern conveniences we consider essential, i.e. a drive through for lunch or a prepackaged mixed salad bought from the local store, are not so here. If you want a salad, you make it. You cut the lettuce, or field greens, you chop the tomato, and you grate the cheese. If you want lunch, there is a certain time to head to the restaurant for lunch and then after a certain time, it is closed. Lunch, or pranzo, is from 1200- 1430. Do not try to enter the establishment earlier, they are not ready for you and do not enter after a certain time because then they are looking to go home until they open again at 7pm. Your other option is to make your lunch, whether that means you slice the meat and cheese on your own in home slicer or you make a small pasta dish, you put it all together. The Italians are also set in traditions here. Values and work ethics that are passed down from generation to generation. Family run businesses passed from father to son or father to daughter. The "old way" of life is still alive and well in Italy.

During this time of year, an important event event occurs all throughout Italy and lasts approximately 60ish days. It is the olive harvest time. It's a time when fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, family and friends come out for a cherished tradition of harvesting the olive tree. There are no machines to do the work for you, it is all done by hand, from sunrise to sunset, and often into the night. My family and a few friends had the chance to help out a local family and medium sized business this weekend harvest the olives off their trees. When we arrived, the nets were already laying in place, on the ground, clamped together and around the trunk of the tree. The hand rakes were laid out and the olive bins were ready for collection. She gave us brief instructions and set us on our way. The kids started off first, hitting all the branches near the bottom of their trees, carefully raking off each and every olive and trying hard not to step on them as they fell to the ground. Then the grownups got an opportunity to help out while the kids helped to put the olives in a basket. After a little while, the owner had us undo the clamps and start to roll up the sides of the netting so that the olives settled in the middle of the netting. It was after that, when the challenging part began. The nets were strewn from the last tree in the row to the olive catching bin near the first tree in the row. Once the sides were rolled and the olives in the net, the person at the end of the net had to start pushing all the olives towards the front, whilst gathering the net at the same time. Once we arrived at the front, the olives and leaves were dumped into the bin, ready to be cleaned and processed. We collected one more batch of olives and headed to the processing room.

It was here the owner showed us where the olives landed once they were dumped into the machine. The olives were cleaned and separated from the leaves and then transferred to another machine to be crushed and pulverized.  Once the water and oil were extracted from the olive, it was drained into a vat for storage. The olive oil itself could be stored for up to a year in a large vat, but she prefers to process it as soon as she can.The owner also told us that during a harvesting season, she can make well over 750,000 bottles of extra virgin olive oil, enough to sustain her business for a whole year. That is pretty impressive seeing how she and her family truly work at harvesting only 2 months out of the year. In addition to the family olive grove, she also collects olives from the surrounding farmers to help in the production of the oil.

So you can see, the old way of life still exists here. Yes, they do have some modern machines to aid in the production of some goods, but for the most part, the items in Italy are either handmade or homegrown. I am beginning to see the importance of this way of life and frankly, I think I like it. But, having been born and raised in America, I can also see the valued added side of modern conveniences. While not wanting to give up my dollar bin shopping in Target or enjoy a little chicken from the drive thru at Chick-fil-a, there is a peacefulness in doing things simple. Perhaps I am beginning to enjoy what Italy has to offer, or perhaps I am succumbing to my surroundings, but whichever it is, I have a greater appreciation for all things simple. It's a shame not all of us do.