This morning the fog has lifted and the sun burned away the chill that had been in the air for the past few days. Tiny trees with tree trunks no thicker than a quarter, stand in geometrically straight rows. A row here, in this valley, can be acres long or up to what seems like a mile..........some, I just can't see where they end. Though the rows may seem at times to run to infinity, each tree must be careful trellised and trimmed several times before they are old enough to be harvested from. Then pruned once a year after that. To harvest these high density varieties, a large machine will be pretty much engulf each tree as it travels down the rows. Here long fingered tines will agitate the tree limbs up and down and back and forth causing most of the fruit to relinquish its hold on the tree. From there, the olives will be collected and sent to be pressed for olive oil. Today, while running into town for a couple of errands we stopped at the local olive oil shop. Here we tasted several varieties and blends. I never knew there could be so many variations in the flavor, texture and color. Sure wish i could grow olive trees in PA. For dinner, we tried out one of our several purchases and created a blend of our own. Mmmmmmmm!
