The Olive Harvest

Last week after a I wrote last blog, we had a ride around the valley and down into the wetlands at the bottom around the Amvraty gulf. This is a marvelous area and we spent quite some time watching the pelicans and egrets feeding. the area is teaming with wildlife. Again the pictures don't really do it justice but they never do. While we were at the other side of the valley we took some photographs of Assos from across the valley, in the first I have circled the village and in the second is our house.








The Olive harvest is now in full swing in some areas of Greece this will still be happening well into next year but that will only be for the inferior olives which are used for standard olive oil and industrial processes. This area is apparently world reknowned for it's olives (akin to Kalamata olives) and for it's Feta cheese (Epirus Feta) which is as far removed from the stuff you get in England as it's possible to believe. The general olives are harvested by knocking them off the trees with big sticks and catching them in nets, it doesn't matter that they get bruised as they are pressed into oil within a short period of time. The ones which are currently being harvested in this area are hand picked and the trees are pruned at the same time, pruning is not a subtle affair as the secateurs have an engine and revolving chain and it's often carried out pirouetting from a makeshift ladder or steps, dangerous occupation and not for the faint hearted. For the last two days I have been helping Jorgos with his harvest not hard work but it made me very stiff with all exercise of bending and reaching but to paraphrase someone, in the land a short men the medium sized one is king, or at least I could reach the parts that they couldn't, perhaps I should be called Heineken. There were four of us as well as Jorgos and me there was his son Christos and his Mother who they call yaya (grand mother). Yaya is 77 years old and goes up the side of the slope like a mountain goat although shes only about 5ft tall, she would be taller but she's very bow legged and "couldn't stop a pig in a ginnel". She works like a Trojan though and never stopped from morning until night. Anyway they are all in now and there is enough to supply Jorgos' family and the Kafenion which serves mezeai (mixed snacks with drinks) for the next year, there are also enough inferior and small olives to take to be pressed into oil for the business. Jorgos says that he may have enough oil for three months or so which doesn't sound much but the cafe uses 3 to 4 litres of the stuff every day in cooking and with the snacks. He said in 2005 they had enough oil to last 2 years after a very good harvest but now they have to buy oil to supplement their own. I am going to the pressing either this afternoon or tomorrow and will try and get some photographs of the process and add them to this page before posting it.

Note, not going to press Olives until Friday now so I'll post this and add pressing photos later.