WHEN driving through the beautiful Guadiaro valley the backdrop of the stunning cork oaks of the Alcornacales is truly impressive. However, look a little lower and you will see many small fincas of olive groves.

Whilst not a heavy industrialised area for olive production, the olive grows well in this region, mostly on small fincas, which sadly are not always harvested, the low price of olives and the time consuming harvesting obviously has little appeal to the youngsters nowadays.

Not so many years ago picking olives was a family tradition with even the smallest members of the community lending a hand. This combined with the demise of many small mills, means that many groves go unpicked. You can of course pick your olives and take to them to the co-operative in Ronda, where they will swap them for oil.

I prefer to do it another way. I actually like picking olives. To sit under an olive tree on a bright November day whilst you sort the leaves from the fruit and gossip or just ruminate is a great pleasure.

The trees need a good bash to release the higher fruit and olive nets are essential catch them.

Once picked and bagged, no leaves please, you take your olives to a small mill, redolent with years of olive oil. There they are cold pressed and you then have your your own oil, organic, recently picked no bad or mouldy fruit, definitely extra virgin, truly delicious and without too much effort you have oil for the whole year.

Have a party, invite your friends and don’t let those precious olives fall to the ground.

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So Many Olives; So Little Time
Friday, 20 November 2009
WHEN driving through the beautiful Guadiaro valley the backdrop of the stunning cork oaks of the Alcornacales is truly impressive. However, look...

© 2012 - Secret Andalucia - Guadiaro Valley, near Ronda

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