Podere Onorate Autumn

Volunteers will mainly help picking olives which is a very beautiful and calm work yet long. we believe that the traditional handpicking in olivenets leads to a better quality of the oil, the sourounding and the human life of the people involved. no machines means no stress and no noise. ther´s room to talk, to sing or to rest. the harvest days are long and hard days. we try to start as soon as humidity permits (usually between 8 and 10am) and if It´s raining, as soon as it stops and dries up. we will have good lunches toghether under the trees and continue picking until almost darkness (around 5pm). then we take our little tractor to bring up the olives to the farm. under the roof in the workshop we clean them from the leaves, weigh and store them. the big goal is to make 400kg as soon as possible, best in one ore two days for high oil quality. thats why during harvest days we have really to concentrate on the work. its no stress but we need to push to make the goal. in the time some of the group does the olive cleaning some others cook dinner, lights the fires, does the table, the dishes and prepares for next day. one by one can take a fast shower. than we eat all toghether in the big tent. if there´s someone who likes to play guitar or some other instrument it would be welcome. once we have reached the goal of 400kg next day in the morning we bring the olives to the oil mill. each time one person can come to visit the mill. (ther´s only one place in the little landrover truck). when we come back we can taste the new green oil on fresh toastet bread over a little olive wood fire. maybe we take this day off, maybe we continue to work, we will see this when we are toghether. we will adapt to personal and agricoltural needs and the weather. If it rains, days are off. olive harvest is not a hard work but its countinous same thing day in and day out.