The olives harvestThe olives harvest takes place from October to January to March. The harvest period decision depends from the fruit ripeness, concerning to the climatic area cultivation conditions and to the water availability. In the Gargiulo mill, the olive harvest extends from October and it ends in December in relation to weather conditions. The best time in the olive harvesting is the “invaiatura”, when the olive fruit began to mature. The olive is still green to yellowish and stains in reddish patches, when in a more advanced growth, will expand throughout the fruit.
Among the harvest olive systems, the most traditional and effective system is the manual one, although it is very expensive. This system is called nibbling. Instead the mechanical system is the most widely used, with machines that shake the tree. The mechanical system is definitely faster, but it is necessary to make care in order that the oil does not suffer bruises that could speed the fermentation process. Gargiulo mill uses the nibbling and the shakers hook systems. We also have a machine that, thanks to an asynchronous vibration system, allows collecting the olives to an optimal ripeness level reducing costs considerably. It 'important that the olive doesn’t fall voluntarily on the ground, because it could be attacked by mould and parasites. In ancient times it has known that the oil obtained from olives buggy was intended to tables of those in the social pyramid occupied the last place, namely the slaves. After the harvesting the olives are transported to warehouses for the extra virgin olive oil production. Also this stage is very sensitive and we must put a lot of attention. The olives are placed in baskets and airy, in capacious little boxes, without creating many layers or store the fruits in a way that they were not crushed and results integrated. From harvest to the olive pressing should not spend more than 36 hours. The cultivation of olivesThe pressing of olive oilOil conservationHow to taste olive oil |
Collection timing is extremely delicate, because the skill is in the olives picking is when the plant does not have many black olives. In fact, the the fruit maturation, due to exposition to plant on the sun, does not take place homogeneously on the tree.
