How To Catch Olives

Yes, those are nets. He’s preparing them for the olive harvest. The farmers lay these nets on the ground below the olive trees and, if done in the traditional way with their hands and might, they shake the trees and with their fingers prompt the olives to fall to the ground, catching them in the…

Getting Into the Details

The olive harvest is in full swing right now. Making olive oil is as complex as making wine, and on Day 7 of our June 2018 multi-generational tour, Ancient Italy: A Cultural Journey Through Campania and Sicily, we’ll get into the details at an organic olive farm in Castelvetrano. This Wednesday evening from 7:30 to…

Press It Good 

In Sicily, the olive harvest for making olive oil is in full swing right now. Today, it is a highly technical process with stainless steel equipment exploited in squeaky clean, laboratory-type workshops. Before the modern press, this block of limestone, as one example, was the base of an olive mill. Imagine a series of wheel-shaped…

Cast the nets!

The olive harvest is on! What we learned on our tour is that there are two phases of the olive harvest: the first round is for olives that are to be eaten; the second round, which takes place generally in late October/early November (depends on the climate-location of the trees), is for producing oil.