olive photo

Olives..and lifecycle

lifecycle photo

Lifecycle

• The olive tree from a young age upto 7 years, does not bear fruit but it needs attention because at this stage it is grafted.

• At the age of 7-15 years, it begins to bear fruit.

• At the age of 30-70 years, it is fully developed.

• The final stage, the olive tree can reach from 150 upto 1000 years old.

lifecycle photo

CULTIVATION

SPRINGIN
The spring time, the land is ready to be ploughed, fertilised and irrigated. It is also the season for olive trees to be fertilised and pruned.
SUMMER
Because of the dry and warm climate, the olive tree needs watering and special attention due to certain diseases that can affect olive trees.
AUTUMN
Autumn is the perfect season to properly prepare the soil because in autumn the fruit of the olive tree is ready to absorb all the nutrients from the soil.

HARVESTING AND PRODUCING

lifecycle photo

Theofilos: Gathering of the Olives

The olives from the trees are usually picked in November. It is a very tiresome, demanding and time consuming job where many workers are needed.The branches are "combed" with a rake so that the olives fall from the tree.

Another way is to beat the branches with large wooden sticks. Of course there are more modern methods such as saws and/or special machinery that remove the fruits from the branches.Beneath the trees, long sheets of fabric are placed to collect the fruit.

After that, they are packed into large sacks and taken to the mills where they are pressed to obtain the oil.These days, mills are equipped with modern machinery, making the production process quite easy.

In the old days, the mills had only two millstones, that is, two large circular stones which were placed one on top of the other. The olives were placed between the two stones and with the circular motion of one stone , the olives were pressed into oil.

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