For four days Hollie Legee and I helped a young
family with their olive harvest. They consume around 13 gallons of olive oil a
year and it’s all produced within an hour of their home.
We spent two days working in the orchard in
their front yard. We collectively picked 54 trees and 400kg of olives with our
host’s friends and family. Our hosts treated us to pizza out, a homemade meal
with friends, and a meal at the woman’s parent’s home.
On the third day they brought us to the town
where they go to church. We were able to walk around for an hour, while they
were in church. That night we learned how to pick out olives for eating and how
to make apple juice.
The final day was quite special. Our host brought us to the olive press. We
were there for three hours while the machines did their jobs. I could go into
more detail if you wanted me to, but it’s a bit boring on paper. What you really
need to do is go to an olive press yourself. There is no way to describe the
green, fresh olive smell that hits you when you first walk into the press. Once
our olive oil was ready our hosts gave us a bottle and sent us home with full
bellies and two kisses on our cheeks.
This experience was the most memorable thing
that has happened on my trip so far. If it weren’t for WWOOF this experience
would have never happened and I wouldn’t be traveling home with a bottle of
olive oil that I made.
