If you are interested in having a holiday with a difference how about going olive picking. There are still places where olives are harvested by hand and you are welcome to join in and help - no experience required. Olive picking holidays are available in a number of regions of Italy, with Umbria, Le Marche and Abruzzo providing the greatest choice. You can spend anything from half a day to several weeks olive picking. Also you can choose between a luxury break or opt as we did to work as a volunteer. This article describes how we went on an olive picking holiday in Italy volunteering with the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers.
Last November we travelled to Umbria in Italy to start a weeks 'holiday' olive picking. Having paid our money, arranged our flights and boarded the train all that now remained was for us to meet up with our fellow olive pickers at Spoleto station. There were eight of us on this holiday, most staying for a single week and most of us novice olive pickers. Accommodation was in a beautiful old stone house which had originally been the home of the family working the olive grove. The evening air was scented with mint and thyme and although it was almost dark when we arrived it was possible to just make out the shape of the olive trees which surrounded us. Red wine and an open fire soon had us feeling drowsy; it was time for a good nights sleep as tomorrow we would start work.
Olive Harvest
The olive trees we were harvesting from were old ones which through lack of regular pruning had grown tall with age. First we had a brief demonstration: spread the nets carefully underneath the tree, not as easy as it sounds on sloping ground! Next arm yourself with a wide toothed plastic comb and rake the olives off the tree, hopefully into the net and pulling off as few leaves as possible. There were wooden ladders to clamber up towards the higher branches and soon the picking team were climbing into the trees with childlike enthusiasm. All the while the mist was clearing in the valley and soon our jumpers came off as the sun shone down. We worked in a morning and afternoon stint but at a leisurely pace and punctuated by a lovely lunch back at the house. These Italian olives are grown for their oil, firm and black and very bitter - a disappointment for those amongst us who had thought that you could eat them like apples straight from the tree!
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
On our last day full of fresh air, great food and good wine, it was finally time to accompany our olives to the local frantoio or olive press. Here the olives were rinsed, pressed and the green-gold oil collected for us to share. Each of us had earned three litres of this cold pressed, organic extra virgin olive oil. Back home this was poured into bottles and proudly labelled. Every meal since has been enhanced by a drizzle of this delicious Italian olive oil: on salads, breads, with pasta, with new potatoes, and alongside the great taste comes the pleasure of remembering the trees it came from and knowing that we were responsible for the olive picking ourselves.
Olive Picking Holiday Tips
The weather in late October and November can be very warm during the day. When deciding what clothes to take you are best to pack a number of light layers which will keep you warm in the cooler evenings but which you can shed once you warm up olive picking.
Although it is fairly clean work it is best to wear old clothes which you don't mind getting the odd olive stain on. Some olive varieties are more 'squishy' than others!
For transport we found that the trains in Italy were excellent and very inexpensive. After olive picking in Umbria we travelled onto Florence and spent a few days exploring this beautiful city, with the real bonus that it is much quieter at this time of year.
Remember that one of the key rewards from this type of holiday is that you get to take home some of the extra virgin olive oil, however, this comes in a large three litre can and is quite heavy so make sure you leave space in your suitcase for it. You could post it back but this works out very expensive.
Last November we travelled to Umbria in Italy to start a weeks 'holiday' olive picking. Having paid our money, arranged our flights and boarded the train all that now remained was for us to meet up with our fellow olive pickers at Spoleto station. There were eight of us on this holiday, most staying for a single week and most of us novice olive pickers. Accommodation was in a beautiful old stone house which had originally been the home of the family working the olive grove. The evening air was scented with mint and thyme and although it was almost dark when we arrived it was possible to just make out the shape of the olive trees which surrounded us. Red wine and an open fire soon had us feeling drowsy; it was time for a good nights sleep as tomorrow we would start work.
Olive Harvest
The olive trees we were harvesting from were old ones which through lack of regular pruning had grown tall with age. First we had a brief demonstration: spread the nets carefully underneath the tree, not as easy as it sounds on sloping ground! Next arm yourself with a wide toothed plastic comb and rake the olives off the tree, hopefully into the net and pulling off as few leaves as possible. There were wooden ladders to clamber up towards the higher branches and soon the picking team were climbing into the trees with childlike enthusiasm. All the while the mist was clearing in the valley and soon our jumpers came off as the sun shone down. We worked in a morning and afternoon stint but at a leisurely pace and punctuated by a lovely lunch back at the house. These Italian olives are grown for their oil, firm and black and very bitter - a disappointment for those amongst us who had thought that you could eat them like apples straight from the tree!
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
On our last day full of fresh air, great food and good wine, it was finally time to accompany our olives to the local frantoio or olive press. Here the olives were rinsed, pressed and the green-gold oil collected for us to share. Each of us had earned three litres of this cold pressed, organic extra virgin olive oil. Back home this was poured into bottles and proudly labelled. Every meal since has been enhanced by a drizzle of this delicious Italian olive oil: on salads, breads, with pasta, with new potatoes, and alongside the great taste comes the pleasure of remembering the trees it came from and knowing that we were responsible for the olive picking ourselves.
Olive Picking Holiday Tips
The weather in late October and November can be very warm during the day. When deciding what clothes to take you are best to pack a number of light layers which will keep you warm in the cooler evenings but which you can shed once you warm up olive picking.
Although it is fairly clean work it is best to wear old clothes which you don't mind getting the odd olive stain on. Some olive varieties are more 'squishy' than others!
For transport we found that the trains in Italy were excellent and very inexpensive. After olive picking in Umbria we travelled onto Florence and spent a few days exploring this beautiful city, with the real bonus that it is much quieter at this time of year.
Remember that one of the key rewards from this type of holiday is that you get to take home some of the extra virgin olive oil, however, this comes in a large three litre can and is quite heavy so make sure you leave space in your suitcase for it. You could post it back but this works out very expensive.
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