My Day In The Olive Oil Fields



Ever wondered where that rich tasting olive oil came from?  You know, the kind your dip you bread in at an Italian restaurant and hope to find something of equal quality at the grocery store?

Here in Spain, olive oil is just as common in the household as milk and eggs are in the United States.  Pretty much every Spanish dish contains olive oil—whether used as a topping on toast or an ingredient in pasta—with an accompanying aceitera (oil bottle) always within hands reach.   This is all with good reason: Spain is the world’s biggest exporter of olive oil.  In addition, and just recently, the Mediterranean diet (which includes olive oil) was moved to “UNESCO status” and placed on its world heritage list.

But where does it come from?   What follows is my day working in the olive oil fields, explained in pictures, in Jaen, Spain. 



It was around 8 in the morning and 32 degrees outside.  We're on our way to the field.



  



About to park and start working.  The olives on the mat are from the previous day's work. 

 



Putting together the tool that shakes the branches of the olive tree so the olives fall off.  It looks like a weed wacker with a different end. 





It was cold! We're laying down the mats so the olives won't get dirty.  This makes it easier to collect them as well.

 

Getting ready to "variar."  This refers to taking the stick that's in my hand and hitting the tree so the olives fall.  You do this while the machine is shaking the branches to make sure nothing but the leaves stay on the tree.  Any olives left behind will meet their fate with the stick as well. 



Olive oil is Jaen's (and my friend's town Huesa) biggest source of income.  There is no sympathy to birds who decide to nest during olive season.  (Fortunately, there were no eggs.) 

After a few hours of hitting the tree with the stick, I was told to give the machine a try.  Its certainly not easier: it weighs nearly 40 pounds and vibrates the branches by brute force.  You have to put the hook-like-end of the machine around a branch and hold on tight while the "olive-wacker" vibrates back and forth. 

"Tirando los mantones" is what happens next: dragging the mat from one tree to the other.  This was the most physical aspect of the day as the mat can weigh a few hundred pounds with all the olives on top. 

After, we drag the mats in the opposite direction so as to tip all the olives onto another mat.  There is about 450+ pounds of olives on the one pictured.  I believe it came from 5-7 trees.  If you look closely, the olives ooze a red kind of jelly that can stain you worse than ink. 

 

Naturally, not all the olives make it on the mats.  For those that seemed to escaped, we blow them into big piles and pick them up by hand. 

   

When all the olives are off the ground, we call in the tractor to pick up the mats.

After finishing with the first field, we headed to another with "baby" olive trees.  We spread about 400 pounds of fertilizer down to ensure that the next season's trees grow strong. 

  



A view from where I was working.  There were olive fields all over and people working till sunset.



Coming back after a day's work with my 5L of olive oil and Pedro's dog.

Check out the videos below to see how the machine shakes the trees and how the olives get picked up:



After all the work, my day was only halfway done.  We went directly from the field to the olive oil factory, located in Huesa, to watch how the olives are turned into olive oil.  I brought my camera as well. 

Stay tuned