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Harvesting an Olive Tree
Since I have just picked and cured a batch of black olives, I remembered an old poem I wrote about buying the tree, which is five years old now. If you are interested in gardening and bringing up an olive tree...
I am somewhat pleased with myself after preparing the six litres of olives that I picked yesterday, spending a couple of hours up on a ladder under the large olive tree. Some investigation showed that the best method for these kind of olives is the salt and water mix, no vinegar and no slicing, just mix ten litres of water with one kilo of salt.
Ghikas in the grocery store donated an old 15-litre plastic olive jar and it is now cleaned and almost full of the black gold. After two months they should be ready to taste. The ones I made last October are actually very good now, I took them out and cleaned them, added some olive oil and salt - my friend Sam thought they were better than the ones we bought here in the store! How about that?
Maybe I can start selling homemade olives, down in the port. I've always wondered why no one is selling local product, like olives, orange marmalade, lemon marmalade or the candied fruit; people around here on Hydra do all these things but only for themselves or the family and friends. Maybe it's a complicated thing with selling food. You may need licenses and stuff. Or payments.
The olives in my tree got larger and fuller the higher up I climbed on the ladder, I saw the fruit high up in the tree towards the sun, they looked like small plums. My ladder is old though, and it felt a bit shaky. I talked to my friend Michael about him holding the steps while I harvest the top olives but he's on antibiotics still, with a chest infection, and he also said I should get someone not so heavy to climb the ladder instead. Hmmm...
Written 29 October 2007 - Copyright Henry Denander
Home owner in Hydra who also rents his house to holiday makers
More information about Henry's poems and artwork can be found at his websites: Henry Denander and Kamini Press.