TREES AND TRAYS

In 2012 we found ourselves with a grove of 140 olive trees in Salento, at the far south of Italy, and a tray factory in Peckham, London. It’s really only life story and coincidence that links the trees and the trays, but for us they came together under one mission; To make well, to revive and sustain. We sell the trays in 40 countries, while sharing the excellent organic extra virgin oil those trees now give us is a more modest venture. Some goes for use by our family and friends while the balance, a few hundred litres in an abundant year, we bring up from Salento (Puglia) to London to share from there. This is your chance to try and enjoy it.

 THE GENTLE WAY

We look after our grove in a way that’s kind to the trees and to nature. No chemical fertilisers, herbicides or pesticides are used. We collect discarded plastic bottles from the lanes to make honey and vinegar traps that keep the olive flies in check, while lime paint protects against infection of any tree damage. For a few years now we have been following a no-till principle, managing ground growth through goat grazing and mechanical cutting, rather than by tillage and ploughing of the soil. We have restored the dry stone walls around our land and are tolerant of rocks on the ground, all of which enhances the microhabitats that shelter the natural enemies of pests (such as our friends the spiders).

SHAKE, DRAG, TIP

7 million people around the world depend on olive oil farming for their livelihoods. The oil doesn’t conveniently drip from the trees, it must be hard won, with around a dozen steps to the annual process. In Italy there are said to be about 170 million olive trees, nurtured by legions of small-scale producers who take the autumn harvest to 6,000 mills (the frantoio) where the oil is extracted. Close to 40% of Italian olive oil is produced in Puglia, and that’s where our grove of native variety trees is, flourishing in the unique soil, enjoying the wet winters and sun-baked summers.

During the days before harvest the ground must be prepared, got clear and level enough for the laying and dragging of nets, manoeuvring vehicles, the intensive work of the picking team. Each year a judgement is made, a semi-gamble, setting the time to act. Rain on the day is bad news, a storm before is a disaster, too early and the yield will be low, leave it late and acidity rises, more olives drop to the ground.

The moment comes and big nets are laid, one tree at a time. The tractor with hydraulic grab and shake arm gets busy as the lower branches are worked with long armed combs. A green and black shower of fruit. Nets are tucked, dragged and lifted, olives transferred to the 25 kilo buckets, carried to the sifter, then into the trailer, onward around the grove.

As evening comes the 6 person team disbands as the trailer trundles to the frantoio, tips into the 600 litre pallet boxes, stacked while we wait for our turn, then forklift somersaulted into the hopper, and away through the line. Soil, twigs and leaves get removed, the olives are cleaned, crushing begins, into the whirring Pieralisi cold extraction machines. Soon the oil comes through and a first taste, the colour is admired and a sample taken to the testing area, the acidity discovered. Yes, of course it’s extra virgin, it’s pure and tastes perfect. A steady stream flows into the big stainless steel canisters, ready to be settled for some days before we bottle and get it ready for the long journey north.

SHE’S STILL MISSING

This year Barking, our 14 year old dog, went for one of her olive grove adventures and did not come back. We still hope she might reappear, as she always did before, even as the smaritto cane anziano posters fade away and summer turns to winter. Each year as we worked to get the olive grove in a happy state, pruning the trees, cutting the ground vegetation, she was busy with her own work, hunting lizards, tracking the shade, listening for the horses, the goats and familiar engine sounds.

It’s because of Barking that we got into the habit of driving the long road from London to Puglia, and back, 2,400 km each way, taking it slow to see ever more of our Europe. And then we thought, if the dog is being carried with us then why not the extra virgin. So it is that ever since the harvest was restored we have been carrying olive oil back to London with us on 4 wheels, and then we started our homespun distribution effort from a corner of the Kaymet factory near the Old Kent Road.

TASTY

See, like, follow: @casaseisalento