nearly over them

I was enjoying picking olives. I am still mostly enjoying picking them. But now that there is a deadline to meet and the weather is changing and they are ready to press (booked them in at the press) I am soooo over picking them! Tomorrow, with a little help from cheerful worker, I hope that the trees will all be stripped. That means that I can get the crop pressed on Saturday, which is as late as I would want it done.

Somewhere between now and then I need to sift out most of the twigs and leaves, and have a presentable crop to take in.

Then I will need my wits about me. I am going to a different press this year, now that I know the owner and his wife. But it is big, and there were maybe twenty people there when I called in this evening. You stay with your crop, and don't let the progress out of your sight until the oil is made. In the smaller presses I had almost got it mastered, but this one was a bit overwhelming for me tonight. Oh dear, wish me luck on Saturday.

Then it is time to preserve the table olives. I have learnt how to do the oven "wilted" black olives, with hot peppers, garlic, mandarine zest and salt, preserved in sunflower oil. Last year it was the green ones split then treated with boiling water, with the addition of fennel seeds and garlic preserved in light oil. Next year I'll have to find another to try. I don't put them in brine, they are so cheap to buy it is not worth the effort. But the added extras are definitely worth doing.

Today I am grateful for a helping hand.