The Olive Harvest
Date: 11/26/2007
Almost all properties in the olive-growing regions of Greece have olive trees on the land.
Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007
Crete, Greece
Read more about Greece in International Living Postcards--your daily escape
I walked over the pale brown earth at the edge of Crete’s Mesara Plain. There was little evidence of last year’s harvest, just a bare scattering of olive stones. Because each olive in Greece is valued for its precious oil, only a few escape the finely webbed black netting placed around each tree to end up drying on the ground.
A colleague of mine decided to look into acquiring land for an olive farm. We spent a day touring an off-season olive processing plant by special arrangement. We nodded gravely over the proprietor's demonstration of the equipment--all of it without power. “The olives go in here,” he announces, indicating a hopper (a machine used to harvest hops)...then, they are washed.”
Demonstrating the olive oil bottling machine, he bounces along clutching a bottle, demonstrating each step of the process to us. In his office, he displays some of each variety he packages for his clients, everything from small bottles to gallon cans.
Earlier, we drew out theoretical olive farms over the reception desk at the hotel, calculating potential tree densities. I spent all morning designing an olive oil bottle label for this hypothetical olive oil business.
I asked our olive expert how much space was needed between each tree. He told me six meters was average, but some “greedy” planters use less. This gives the roots more room to spread out without competing with another tree. Older groves and “eating” olive trees tend to be very widely spaced and grow much bigger than the “oil” olive trees. “Eating” olives are rarely planted now; an individual farmer may have a handful of them just to make olives for the family.
Even if you don't intend to be an olive farmer in Greece, if you buy property in olive country, you will almost certainly have some trees on your property. Sooner or later, those fallen olives will begin to haunt you and you will either begin preserving them or turning them into oil. For just a small quantity, you will probably acquire or borrow the necessary equipment, but for large amounts, you'll take it to a processor.
Most olive farms on the market will be dormant and you’ll need to work hard to get it off the ground. Working farms will rarely be sold as Greek families regard these as an eternal inheritance and are reluctant to permanently part with profitable fields.
If you want a taste of the experience yourself, you can travel to the Greek island of Paros where Michael Shepherd, a guesthouse owner, will introduce you to a local Greek olive grower and take you through the olive oil experience.
deTraci Regula
For International Living
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- Six Things You Should Know Before Buying a Property in Crete
- A Second Home in Sunny Crete?
- Dig out Your Passport, Pack Those Bags--and Prepare for Adventure
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