Casa Rosales

Casa Rosales

Monday 29 October 2012

Lengthening shadows

Evening walk with Darwin
We've had a few days of proper autumnal weather here in Alcala la Real -  a mixture of drizzle, heavy downpour and misty overcast, low-cloudy days. The place is not at its best when the weather is like this. I have sighed a little over fellow bloggers photos of glorious rich autumn colours; the oranges, reds, russets; the pumpkins and squashes; the dew-heavy spider webs...it's not like that here. I have found it uninspiring and although I have sought to find the beauty through the dampness, I simply haven't seen it.

However, yesterday, the sun shone forth and we were back to business. I went in search of autumn. And I found the Andalucian version right on my doorstep.

Leaves fall straight from the tree whilst still quite green

The olive trees - at least here - are quite heavy with fruit. This tree
is very old judging by the size of its trunk.

To dispel any myth that black and green olives are from different trees.
Green olives go black - here they are, just turning.

And here we have my beautiful Sierra Nevada, once again with snowy peaks!

In some areas, there are very few olives this year. Strong winds in April
blew many flowers away so there are many trees without fruit at all.
In this little grove, the fruit looks good


Not a bad view and one I love particularly at this time of year

Signs that it has been damp recently

Autumn here means the gearing up for the beginning of the olive harvest - la  campaña de la aceituna - time to check the tractor over, keep an eye on the olives and check the weather forecast. Olives destined for the table have been picked already. They are a different type from the olives destined for oil - slightly longer, with a pointed end - and are picked whilst they are green. Many farmers now have machinery to vibrate the trees, making the olives fall into prepared nets (also known as bragas, or knickers, honest) but some smaller-scale olive farmers have to go out with sticks and hit the trees to collect the fruit. It's very hard work but folk can gather enough to produce the oil they use in a year - with maybe a bit left over to sell. There is at least one co-operative in each of the bigger villages -  pueblos o aldeas - near Alcala to which farmers bring their crop to be weighed, cleaned, pressed and turned into oil. Within a few weeks, tractors and trailers will be chugging along the roads to unload their haul.

Last Wednesday, at my Spanish Conversation Class, we had a very interesting session where we discussed the various stages of olive farming. Some of the class live on farms and are actively involved in the process and very knowledgeable. And we were joined by the Spanish friend of one of the class, who was able to give us even more detail. It was an excellent class and I'd like to thank everyone for sharing their stories and information. This is only my second autumn here and I'm still learning lots. One thing I definitely know, though, is that however tempting an olive might look on the tree - DON'T TRY IT! Yeeeukk!



14 comments:

  1. My father got his taste for olives when in Spain so I was ntroduced to them young, though he had to nip into Soho to buy them.
    He told me that they were prepared by soaking in lye...something I'd come across on the farm where my grandmother still made her own coarse soap for washing clothes....which I found a bit disconcerting!

    Super photographs..makes me regret even more that we didn't get to Spain this year.

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    1. Dear Fly, two years ago, after visiting Andalucia with a view to moving here, we stopped and picked (highly illegally) several bagsfull of olives on our way back to Valladolid. We read up about it and soaked them in salt water and changed this water regularly for quite some time. Eventually, the olives took on a 'proper' taste and in the end were delicious.
      Last year, our neighbour initiated us into the local way and your father was quite right, they use caustic soda, or lye and though we were appalled, we went along with it. The olives lost all their flavour very quickly and then had to be soaked in oil, with herbs, to give them any taste at all. They ended up perfectly edible but we agreed we'd never do this again. As you say, it's most disconcerting but I bet it's done all over!
      Many thanks - Axxx

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  2. My October plans had involved the olive harvest. I have a number of well endowed trees in Caunes, and as I left at the end of August, the fruits was just starting to plump up a bit..... and I was going to enjoy the green to black process this month, before picking and soaking and in salt water, changing it daily for 12 days ( that's what my Caunes resident olive expert advised).My olive harvest ....next year, is going to be amazing.....I have decided.
    The photos are great Annie,and the mountain views are spectacular. I hope the sparkly autumn weather continues for you. Jxxx

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    1. Dear Janice, I'm so very sorry you're missing your first harvest in Caunes. I approve of the way your neighbour says the olives should be 'cured' - see above for the local way here. You'll need all your strength for next year's harvest - it's jolly hard work collecting olives!
      Axxx

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  3. Hello Annie:
    Your photographs have captured your Andalucian landscape beautifully. The snow capped mountains against the azure blue sky are simply stunning and look particularly appealing with the village nestling in the valley below.

    We know nothing about the cultivation or preparation of Olives but absolutely love eating them. It is such fun to compare and contrast the Olives from different regions and countries as they vary so much.

    The ancient Olive trees are so wonderfully atmospheric and really speak of a land and a way of life that has changed little over many centuries. How we love this sense of time and place.

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    1. Thank you Jane and Lance - so nice to have your lovely comments again! I do love the view of the Sierra - they are so big!
      It's a shame, I know, but although I love olives of all types, I can no longer enjoy my very favourites. Kalamata olives from Greece. There's no way anyone would be daft enough to start importing them to Jaen - coals and Newcastle just don't come close!!
      You are absolutely right about the sense of history that Olive trees carry with them - even the light they give off feels rather biblical at times.

      Axxx

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  4. Great photos - We had a long walk today and were comparing the size and shapes of all the different olives. Our eating olives haven't been harvested yet but we've a mighty wind blowing so nature has decided for us. Everyone is out today with plastic bags, collectig the windfalls.
    ps our olives are cut 3 times and soaked in water like Janice's. I think some commercial olives are soaked in lye.

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    1. Hi ANnie, glad you like the photos. I'm always quite shocked at just how many olives are left either on the tree or on the ground. And I've never seen anyone out with a plastic bag, though I might take one with me next time I walk Darwin.
      I explained to Fly how our neighbours showed us how to use the caustic soda in preparing the olives last year - but I don't want to do this again. Caustic soda is horrid stuff!
      Axxx

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  5. I'm not a fan of olives although I quite like tapenade - strange, I know!

    There was a shocking programme about commercial olive preparation which a friend says has completely put her off eating olives. I think it was to do with the lye, which is caustic soda or sodium hydroxide. I prefer the thought of frequently changed salty water!

    Your mountain views are absolutely fantastic. Do you ski?

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    1. Dear Gaynor - although our preparation last year used caustic soda, we ended up eating them without too much concern - though we're never doing it again! It's more trouble to do the salt water rinsing but infinitely better for us all. And I love olives!

      The mountains in the distance really lift my heart every time I see them, with or without snow. I don't ski - dodgy knee - but we always go for at least one day's sledging when the snow really starts to stick.
      Axxx

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  6. Glorious photos and a fascinating post, Annie. I love both the ancient beauty of olive trees and and the richness of olives, but until now knew nothing about how the latter are prepared for consumption. I think I would probably have tried one straight form the tree too. :-) I do feel for Janice missing her first harvest - I would love to have even one olive tree of my own and would always soak its fruit in salt water in the proper way.

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    1. Thanks Perpetua. I do hope we'll have a place with a few olive trees one day. I went through phase about a year ago when I was quite sick of only seeing olive trees, but their beauty has won me over again.
      It is such a shame Janice can't harvest her olives this year - but she obviously knows what to do and quite rightly, will go for the salt way way of curing them. Next year - we'll wait to hear how they go then!
      Much love,
      Axxx

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  7. Now I'm not so keen on olives but those trees are just beautiful. And those snowy peaks are quite awesome. Lovely post Annie :D

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    1. Hi Annie - this isn't the place to be if you don't like olives...though the trees, I suppose can be appreciated regardless. The Sierra Nevada gets me every time - I cannot get enough of these mountains! Thank you. Axxx

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