How do they pick olives in Spain?
Pickers will harvest the olives by hand. Usually batting all they can to the ground, then they hand pick some bunches and use ladders to get to those they cannot reach from the ground. The olives are stored in plastic buckets or burlap sacks when picking.
What time of year do you harvest olives?
Harvesting olive trees begins in late August through November depending upon the region, variety, and desired ripeness. Since olives are picked for both eating and processing into oil, the degree of ripeness matters.
How are olives harvested in Andalucia?
Most olives tend to be processed within hours of picking, generally within 24h. In the olden days, harvesting would be done with large poles, up to 4m long. These would be used to whack the branches (causing a lot of damage to the tree) so the olives would drop into nets spread out under the tree.
Where are the olive groves in Spain?
Andalusia
Spain has olive groves scattered over almost all the country, but the biggest concentration of them is in Andalusia, a region situated in the south of the Iberian Peninsula.
What month do they harvest olives in Spain?
The olive harvest takes place in the winter, between November and March depending on the area, weather and olive variety. There are hundreds of varieties of olives, with the most abundant in the Sierra Subbetica area being Picudo, Hojiblanco and Picual.
Can you harvest olives in rain?
It’s impossible to pick olives in rain, wind, or fog for many reasons: besides the obvious dangers and difficulties of climbing trees and ladders in wind and rain, moisture can cause the olives to spoil in their crates before they are taken to the mill, or frantoio, for pressing.
What do you do with olives after you pick them?
The easiest and quickest way to cure olives at home is with water. In this method, the freshly picked olives are sliced or cracked to expose the interior of the fruit, and then immersed in water, which is changed once a day for five to eight days and then soaked in finishing brine with salt and vinegar.
Do olives grow in Spain?
More than 350 million olives are grown all over Spain, and in some regions the olive landscape is staggering.
What do they harvest in Spain?
Depending on the nature of the crop, it was possible to harvest two successive crops in the same year on about 10 percent of the country’s irrigated land. Citrus fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, olive oil, and wine—Spain’s traditional agricultural products—continued to be important in the 1980s.
Where is olive oil produced in Spain?
Andalusia and Catalonia are the main olive oil producing regions in Spain, but there are many more. For example, the region of Castile-La Mancha has four designations of origin, and the mountains in Toledo province are home to huge olive groves that are open for visits.
How many olive trees are in Spain?
300 million olive trees
Spain is home to about 300 million olive trees.
When is the best time to pick olives in Spain?
“English,” the first shrugs. “Wants to pick olives.” The olive harvest usually takes place between December and March. Granada and Seville have international airports but there are usually more frequent flights to Malaga. You will need to hire a car unless you book onto an olive harvest tour.
Do people grow their own olives in Spain?
Spain produces between 40 and 45% of the world’s olive oil, so I was prepared for a huge commercial operation. What surprised me, though, was the discovery that many families still grow their own olives. A field here and there.
When are olives in season?
Typically, the olive picking season to eat start at the end of September. Before being consumed, remove the bitterness to the olives with water or in caustic soda solution. In the case of the mill olive, in some areas it can last until May. Although the bulk of the olive harvest for oil production is carried out in November, December and January.
What happened to the olive crop in Andalucia?
It had rained that year in Andalucia. Rained and rained and rained and rained, then without respite, it rained some more. Riverbanks had burst, households had sprung leaks and laundry had sprouted damp-related fungus. For the olive harvest, though, rain means disaster and many of the mountain roads remained closed off.