I do want to mention that a few weeks ago we did hand pick the olives that we want to eat for the next year. I really enjoyed spending the time choosing the best olives that I wanted to cure. Those olives are almost ready to eat!
The stats
We ended up with 66 lbs.(30 kg )of oil from the nearly 500 lbs.(227 kg) of olives that were picked. I couldn't believe how heavy those sacks were! (yes, I helped K lift them into the trailer...) The oil was still warm from the press when Kosta came home and I just have to say that I've never tasted better olive oil in my life! It's really amazing!
30 liters/5 people/12 months = not quite enough, I think. Yummy! It is a completely different animal from the grocery olive oil we used to get back home(of course anything can be had for a price - I've seen California producers charging $40-80 per liter.)
ReplyDeleteSyd, you're right, not quite enough for the year. The man that sold us the house actually left a few cans of oil for us so me may actually make it without buying for the year, we'll see.
ReplyDeleteBack home we always bought our olive oil from the Greek grocery stores, which I though had much more reasonable prices than the regular grocers. It can be very expensive!! :)
Cheryl, I know it is wrong to start every post with expressing my envy for the property you have and its abundant trees, but I can't help myself! It would be so nice to have a little more land than the little avli that surrounds our house. But even though I'm a little jealous, I'm really happy for you, expecially because you got away from the crazy neighbors.
ReplyDeleteMmm. The taste of fresh pressed olive oil -- the taste is still vivid in my mind, even though its been awhile since I've had it. Like you used to do, I buy olive oil from the Greek wholesaler in town for $22 per 3 liter can (and that reflects a big jump in price since last year). But it tastes nowhere near as good as the liquid gold you now possess in large quantity.
Enjoy it! I'll be thinking of you tomorrow when I dress our salads!!
There's nothing better than your own oil; my friend Pavlo brought me 2 liters from Crete every year.
ReplyDeleteI participated in an olive harvest once by choice, but to be honest it's not that exciting and quite tiring. It's good experience though.
I'm glad you all are feeling better.
Laurie- It's ok to be a little envious...you're a cook after all. I wish that I had more time to spend in the kitchen! It is nice to have a big chunk of land, especially here. I think that we're still shocked with the amount of work it requires. We keep saying, "next year we'll be better"...it's funny.
ReplyDeleteKat-Thanks! We're all better now. It's about time! Sick of being sick.
I was looking forward to harvesting our olives for the experience as well. Like I told Laurie, next year! :)