Harvest time
Olives mature in late autumn through winter, when temperatures drop and trees are nearly at rest. They are derived from the flowers that managed to survive the endless threats nature throws on the path of the biological cycle, which turn into "drupes", i.e. fruits having thin skins, moist flesh and a wooden stone protecting the seed. Harvesting time depends on latitude, prospect of the grove and seasonal weather conditions.

Picking olives
Very few city-bred Italians know how olives are harvested, let alone having ever witnessed it. Yet it is a memorable experience, particularly if the method used is the traditional manual "brucatura". Labourers well muffled against cold and equipped with long ladders, pick the olives by hand collecting them in baskets tied to their waist. Only the olives that give easily are picked . Only small family-run operations such as ours can still afford to pick olives by

hand, as it is time-consuming, expensive, and very hard work. Hands hurt because of the cold and we only have ten fingers each - even using harvesting combs doesn't help much. Olive growers always dreamed of a harvesting machine and many

techniques were developed over the centuries, including the simple expedient of just waiting for the olives to drop off of their own accord - but that is the best way to make poor oil, since olives don't all ripen at the same time so that the first batches lay on the ground for weeks, becoming easy prey to rot and parasites.
Beating or shaking?
Since ancient times olives used to be "bacchiate" - men armed with long clubs beat the branches to detach the fruit, which fell in nets or sheets hanging all around and were then collected. This method is still in use, particularly when the trees are too tall to be reached by ladders. Mechanical shaking is applied to the trunk and sturdier branches, so that only ripe olives fall off while the others remain on the tree. This system is only used in large estates, where reduced yield is balanced by lower labour costs. The harvesting method is paramount to preserve the quality of the olives and thus of the oil.

Olives should be as healthy as possible, unblemished and still fresh when they reach the oil-mill, thas is before fermentation sets in. To prevent it, the olives are spread out not thicker than about 10 cm and stored in wire-mesh beds to ensure aeration. Beds can be superimposed provided a gap at least 15 cm high is left in between. But what is that small rounded fruit exactly? Under the smooth exterior (epicarpio) there is a tasty and oily flesh (mesocarpo) enshrining a wooden stone (endocarpo). The flesh is made of water, oil, celluloid, sugars and proteins. Some oil, in the form of tiny drops, is also contained in the stone.