PODERE ONORATE OLIVE HARVEST 2

OLIVE HARVEST is a nice and calm work in the olive yards. We don´t work with machines. We believe that the traditional handpicking in olive nets leads to a better quality of the oil, the surrounding and the human life of the people involved, no machines mean no stress and no noise, there’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 10 am) and if It’s raining, as soon as it stops and dries up. We will have good lunches together under the trees and continue picking until almost darkness (around 5 pm). 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 or two days for high oil quality. That’s why during harvest days we have really to concentrate on the work. It’s 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 the next day. One by one can take a fast shower than we eat all together in the big tent. if there’s someone who likes to play the 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. (there’s only one place in the little Landover truck). When we come back we taste the new green oil on freshly toasted bread over a little olive wood fire. We take this day off and use it to sit around the fire or the table and talk together and answer all questions you have, maybe next day we continue to work, or it’s a completely free day. We will see this when we are together. We will adapt to personal and agricultural needs and the weather. If it rains, days are off. The olive harvest is not hard work but its continuous same thing day in and day out. It’s hard to decide one year in advance about the perfect time to start with the harvest. that’s why we are running two consecutive workcamps. maybe the first workcamp passes some days with preparing trees as cleaning them from bushes waiting for best time to harvest, or maybe we start right away; maybe the second workcamp stops earlier with harvest work and continuous with net fixing and collecting pruning. This depends on the season and cannot be decided yet. We expect from all of you, to be interested and involved in the work. We will be a team and we will have a goal to reach. Everyone brings in what he has, and does what he can. We don’t expect professionals or hard workers but we expect joy, engagement and dedication. It would be good if volunteers are able to stand on a ladder or climb on a small tree, but there is also enough work from the ground, you should be interested in agricul