I didn't intend to wwoof in Italy this trip but I was desperate to pick and press some olives. I am here, it the right season, it would be a great shame to miss it.
So off I went to Sant Egle in Tuscany for 2 weeks to pick some olives and to help them build a permaculture garden.
Olive picking is hard work only because they are fragile things, it is time consuming work and lots of hands are needed to pick them. There's a lot of chatting in between because there's not much else to do as you're picking.
Sant Egle doesn't have their own olive trees because of the location and the climate doesn't quite allow it. So we had to go to another farm to pick it and the arrangement is the farm with the trees get to keep half of what is picked.
The farm cooked us a crazy big lunch and then we went to the local hot spring (termi) after. Some days it just doesn't feel like work.
The farm cooked us a crazy big lunch and then we went to the local hot spring (termi) after. Some days it just doesn't feel like work.
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| A small plastic comb is used to comb the branches and off comes the olives. |
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| Nets are spread out beneath the trees to catch the olives |
