From Now On, We’re Measuring Olive Oil in Drops!

Two weeks of harvesting olives in Calabria have completely changed the way I look at a bottle of olive oil.

Freshly harvested olives lying on a harvesting net in Calabria

I thought I knew what hard work was…

The funny thing is, I hadn’t even planned to come down to Calabria this early!

It was a last-minute decision to travel down with Mercurio, and I honestly had no idea what this trip would be like.

Well, it certainly hasn’t turned into a “boring” holiday filled with long walks and plenty of time to relax! 😂

Instead, I’ve found myself harvesting olives for two weeks now.

And let me tell you… it’s HARD WORK!

Much harder than I ever imagined! 😂

And you know what?
I’m enjoying every moment of it! 💗

Spreading harvesting nets beneath olive trees before collecting the olives

First, we spread the nets and start knocking the olives from the trees using long wooden sticks.

Olives being harvested from the trees in Calabria

And we keep going and going
…until we’ve gathered every last olive we can.

Then comes the pruning, collecting, filling sacks, and carrying those heavy sacks uphill to the truck.

We empty them into enormous containers that hold around 250 kilos, take the olives to the mill, clean the nets, and…

START ALL OVER AGAIN! 😂

Day after day after day.

Freshly harvested olives lying on a harvesting net in Calabria

And here’s something I never realized…

Do you know how much olive oil you get from 100 kilos of olives?

APPROXIMATE AVERAGE YIELD

100 kg

Olives

=

15 litres

Olive oil

The amount will, of course, vary depending on the olives, the season, and when they’re harvested.

And before you wonder how much olive oil two people could possibly need, we’re also harvesting for older family members who can no longer manage all that work themselves.

After two weeks, my husband announced that we probably have another TEN DAYS to go!

Olive tree in our family grove in Calabria

From now on, we’re measuring olive oil in DROPS!

Not tablespoons. Not generous splashes.

DROPS! 🤣

A little realization…

The olive oil hasn’t changed.

But the way I see it certainly has.

And I wonder how many other things I use every day without giving a second thought to everything that goes into making them?

P.S. I wonder how long my new olive oil rationing policy will last once I’m back in my kitchen! 😂

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