Farmstay in Calenzo, Italy during olive harvest

Today there is a guest entry from Maria. Accompany her on her authentic trip to Italy. I follow the road that leads from a small suburb of Florence into a hilly landscape. It's late and I can only guess the silhouettes of the high mountains on the horizon. After another curve of the road, an avenue with meter-high cypresses opens up. Hello Tuscany - you already feel really good! The endless cypresses line up along the narrow driveway and lead me to a gate.

Calenzano, a small suburb of Florence

And here I am. In Calenzano, a small suburb in the north of Florence in Tuscany. The olive harvest begins at the end of October. And that's exactly why I'm here. I want to know: Where does our olive oil come from? How are olives harvested and how is the process up to the oil? And of course: What actually makes the good quality of olive oil? In order to find out this and to be able to answer the questions myself, I will live on a small country estate and support the harvest. I am now a harvest helper for a whole two weeks. I feel comfortable in my Italian host family from the first moment. I am totally looking forward to the next two weeks. I have never traveled to Italy like this before. I will certainly learn much more about our neighboring country in the next two weeks than in the numerous holidays I have already spent here. And that's exactly what I'm all about, traveling a country to get to know it. Not only fleeting and not only the well-known tourist spots, but with much more authenticity and depth.

From the small, winding window of the kitchen we look down into the valley-shaped area of Podere Montisi, the Montisi farm. There are still deep clouds of fog over the olive groves this morning. Behind the mountains, the sun is already announced, a morning mood as ordered and served on a silver platter. Just a few minutes later I'm in the middle of it. Tree by tree we go down the field. First we lay out nets under the trees, on which the olives will later collect.

Thirty-year-old olive groves

In the lower part of the tree it goes well, the higher the branches are, the harder it will be. For this we use an electric hand-shaker in the form of a rake, with which we get to the olives in the upper treetop and shake them down. Fortunately, olive trees are rather small, at least this one.

The olive groves of the Podere Montisi are about thirty years old. Just like many olive trees in the region. Saverio tells me about an atypical winter in 1984, during which snow and frost lay across the landscape in parts of Tuscany over three days. As a result, almost 80% of all olive trees have frozen. The olive growers had to saw their olive trees up to the trunk and grow completely new. I quickly notice that the trees look different somehow. Several small trunks subsequently developed from the trunks and thus gave the olive trees a whole new form. Many now consist of three to four narrow trunks, instead of a strong trunk. Saverio is very satisfied with the degree of ripeness of the olives, whose color slowly turns from green to purple. In fact, it is a mistake that olives in the fully mature state - i.e. when they are dark purple to black colored - have the greatest oil content. Rather, the oil content is practically identical exactly in the color change between green to violet. At this time, the olives are picked more gently due to their even harder skin, which increases the quality of the olive oil.

Country with the highest olive oil production

Saverio and Babara make every effort to tell me as much as possible about the harvest and the process of olive oil. Although Italy is not the country with the highest olive oil production, it is one of the best in the world. The oil of Tuscany stands out once again compared to other parts of Italy. The soil quality and the climate are almost optimal in Tuscany. Due to the occasionally very cold winters, the yield is far from as high as in Puglia, for example, the soil quality, variety choice, cultivation and harvesting methods make the Tuscan oil a very high-quality product. Like Podere Montisi, many olive growers in Tuscany attach great importance to a gentle harvesting method. Here, the olives are usually picked by hand. This is different in other countries. In Morocco or Spain, the trees are often planted very close to each other in order to be able to harvest them faster and better with large harvesters. They drive between the rows of trees and shake the trunks of the trees until the olives fall down by themselves. The olives are then collected with a special suction machine. Overall, the process is bad for the olive trees and, above all, of course, the quality of the oil suffers. The plantations are often geared towards mass production.

Almost like a meditation

Saverio tells me about commercial tricks, such as that olives are imported from Morocco, pressed in Italy and later sold as high-quality Italian olive oil.

You can tell by the fact that the label says "bottled in Italy" instead of "made in Italy." An EU seal confirms the designation of origin. However, the best indication remains the price: In order to cover the cost of organic cultivation, a liter of olive oil must cost at least twelve euros if you buy it directly from the farmer. The olive oil from Podere Montisi is sold for 20 euros per liter.

In the evening we count eight boxes full of olives. In total, we have achieved almost 200 kilos today. Not bad for the first day of harvest. In the coming days, we will continue to work our way through the olive groves. Harvesting the olives is almost like meditation. I manage to do my work completely thoughtlessly for hours. We pick from sunrise to sunset. The time window for the olive harvest is tight. In our first conversations, Babara said that last year a couple came specially from Japan just to help with the olive harvest. Now I can understand it. It's a wonderful job that's not too strenuous. To spend the whole day outside, always surrounded by the balance of nature, the beauty of the landscape and the mild climate. Nevertheless, I feel what I have done in the evening.

We picked a proud 1039 kilos

On Sunday afternoon we brought the first harvested olives to the oil mill. A proud 1039 kilos have come together since our harvest start on Monday. It's our turn at four o'clock in the afternoon. Each olive grower gets its own time window, so that everything can be treated separately. That can also be at night. In the harvest season, the oil mill is in continuous operation.

The olives are first separated from the branches and leaves and then carefully bathed. After cleaning, they go into the actual oil mill and are mechanically pressed. In addition to the peel and pulp, a large proportion of water is removed from the oil. Each olive grower may decide for himself at what temperature the olives should be pressed.

Cold pressed, is the best olive oil. That is known. But what exactly does cold pressed mean? On average, they are pressed at 27 degrees. In general, the warmer, the more oil, but less concentrated. The quality is decreasing. Saverio would like to have our olives pressed at 24 degrees. It relies on extremely gentle processing with excellent quality. The olive oil of Podere Montisi is exclusive.

And then it finally shows up. The green gold of Calenzano. Now I understand what's behind it. The freshly squeezed oil is a deep-bright green. The smell that envelops us takes shape. From the 1,039 kg of olives, we get 145 liters of the finest oil, which is filled directly into our brought metal barrels.

Try freshly harvested olive oil

After we are back from the press, Saverio and Babara will not miss the opportunity to try the fresh olive oil immediately. For this, they roasted slices of bread freshly in a cast pan on the oven and rubbed them lightly with garlic. Now we all sit around the big table in the Italian kitchen and put the green olive oil over our breads. The oil will keep this green color for about a month, says Babara, before it plays more into yellow over time, but retains green reflections. It is balanced and harmonious, the taste has a slight bitter note and even a certain spiciness. It's a very exciting feeling to eat your own produced olive oil. I mean, when do you have the opportunity to participate in the whole process and try freshly harvested olive oil?

It will rain a lot in the next few days, so we are in arrears with the harvest. I can see from the trees that the olives are slowly falling off. In addition, they become increasingly softer due to further maturation. We now have to pick more carefully so as not to crush them. Because then atmospheric oxygen and germs would enter the interior of the olives and reduce the quality of the oil.

And so two weeks pass quickly. Actually, today would be my last day. But I find it hard to go in the middle of work. About a third of the trees are still unreinted. I decide to stay, at least for another day. Babara has planned a picnic for the last lunch break.

Saying goodbye to a great adventure

We all sit down together under a large olive tree. Babara has prepared paninis, there are freshly baked cakes and good coffee. For a moment we forget all the events in the world and simply enjoy the play of light and shadow that the deeper sun casts on us through the branches of the olive groves.

"We only let you go because your family is waiting for you at home," says Saverio when saying goodbye. Babara has packed all sorts of things for me that she wants to give me. Our fresh olive oil, a few olives to ferment, pasta, jam, bread, homemade pesto and even paninis for the trip. I thank her for the incredibly great time before I get into the car and drive through the avenue of cypresses again to leave Podere Montisi. I am infinitely grateful to have got to know Italy from its most authentic and at the same time most beautiful side. And not only that, I feel much more relaxed and energetic than I usually return from vacation.