Sue and I got back to Puglia on 30th October with a list of jobs to get done before the winter, not the least of which was to harvest our olives. Last year's harvest was one of the worst on record in this part of Puglia, mainly because the olive fly was especially bad, causing most of the olives to drop in high winds before they could be picked. We had so few olives we didn't even bother to try.
This year is much better for everyone, but due to very hot weather in the summer many of our trees still seem to have lost a lot of their crop and we had a struggle to find enough to make up a 200 kilo load to take to the mill. In the end after three days of scrabbling around our land in the rain and the mud we loaded our old Fiat Punto with about 250 kilos and three days later returned to the frantoio to collect our stainless steel churn or "bidone" containing thirty odd litres of oil.
In a good year and with better pruning and management of our trees we could harvest up to a thousand kilos, but we've come to realise that there's really no point with just the two of us. Even so it's very satisfying taking this great bulk of vegetable matter to the mill and returning with a canister full of fresh green oil, which will keep in our cantina for the best part of two years. And the trees themselves seem to look better after a harvest, their foliage like freshly washed and frizzed hair.
Soon we will lock up our house for the winter and return to the UK before spending three months travelling in India. I will be sad to leave this time, but also grateful that this house and this land has taught me how to measure my time in harvests.
