FARMING OLIVES
HAVING JUST COMPLETED THIS YEAR’S OLIVE TREE
PRUNING DAVID & PERI HAVE WRITTEN A FASCINATING
INSIGHT INTO THE PROCESS OF FARMING OLIVES.
T
his is the aspect of olive oil production which most people identify
with. Olive trees, which have employed humans over thousands of years to look after them and sustain their longevity, in exchange for their fruit, are certainly inspiring. We have been making extra virgin
olive oil in southern Tuscany for over 35 years. Our olive grove and those of our neighbours, on the northern slopes of Monte Amiata, have many venerable trees that were planted a thousand years ago. Not so much their owners, but temporal guardians, we feel privileged to work in ways that haven’t changed radically over the millennium. Every four years in the spring, the trees are pruned down to a core structure and fertiliser, preferably from local livestock, is added to the soil around the trees. On the rare occasions that olive trees die within an established olive grove, or when an old tree ceases to produce a worthwhile harvest and the trunk is cut, new tree shoots grow from the mature rootstock and the tree is perpetuated. We have just finished pruning this
year and burning the olive frasche, or pruned fronds, on fires lit in the still air of early morning or evening. Our pruners are two very skilled and treasured Seggianese folk, who know the Olivastra tree inside out. Together, after agreeing with just a few words what the major cuts will be, they transform a large tree in less than an hour, using a small chain saw, hand saw and secateurs. A well pruned Olivastra tree looks like a fountain, with fruit bearing fronds cascading down, and a minimum of male upward vegetative shoots left, in only the right places. Moraiolo, Frantoiano or Leccino trees require a different pruning approach, as the fruit bearing branches also grow upwards. We only prune 30% of the trees
26 The Delicatessen Magazine each year. These won’t
produce fruit this year, but if the weather does what it is supposed to do and gets
really hot and dry in the summer without freak winds, the remainder of the trees flower and grow olives. We are highly dependent on weather conditions and any resultant fluctuations in the insect population. Right now the olive trees are laden with flowers, so fingers crossed! In June we will cut and shred the
waist high grass growth to mulch the olive groves. Later in the summer we have to cut back the aggressive vegetal growth from the trees that were pruned in the previous year, to persuade energy into growing olives over the fruit maturation season, from September to November. Then it’s harvest time. A small grove like ours can produce anything from a quarter ton to one and a quarter tons of oil a year. Towards the end of October we start
to pick, placing ladders to climb into the trees, mostly using our fingers to strip the fruit down onto the nets below. We then head off to our chosen mill. Our little village once had around twenty mills. It now has only two! Olives will yield between 14% and 28% oil, depending on the variety and the time of picking. The later olives are milled, the higher the yield is, but the lower the polyphenol count / the higher the acidity; so generally speaking, the quality and taste of the oil produced is inferior.
The basic milling principle hasn’t changed since man first started making olive oil. The fruit needs to be crushed and then churned to separate the oil from the water and solids. The machinery, originally powered by man and mule, these days is run on electricity. Granite stone crushers have mostly been replaced by high velocity revolving
steel blades, rollers or hammers. Increasingly sophisticated centrifuge machines have replaced the process of skimming off the oil, as it gravitated to the surface in open troughs. Modern production methods are much more hygienic and efficient, and have opened up a world of difference, in terms of maximising the beneficial quality and taste of oil. Mediterranean countries and the Middle East enjoy the heritage of olive cultivation, but the start up olive plantations in places such as Australia, New Zealand and South America are unfettered by the past or its traditions. One large Australian grower drip feeds his trees prescriptive nutrients and pruning involves a maximum of five cuts each per tree, delivered by two pruners, who drive in parallel down each side of neat rows of olive trees. In contrast, a young Peruvian friend, who planted cultivars of every variety and nationality in his homeland, says that he can’t stop his trees from producing unless he turns the irrigation off and that some of his production is impossible to harvest due to voracious growth. His oil, an extraordinary blend of cultivars, has a lovely complex taste. Anybody who cultivates olives in
the right climate has the potential to produce a good extra virgin olive oil. The prerequisites are to pick the olives at their optimum level of ripeness, to have access to a good mill and to store the finished product at the right temperature and with minimum air contact. Since EU law allows producers to bottle oil without reference to actual production date, retailers should choose oils with harvest traceability and sufficient shelf life. The onus is also on retailers to ensure the product isn’t subject to heat, extreme changes in temperature, or direct exposure to excessive light. l
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