Olive Harvesting

We got a unique opportunity to go olive harvesting the other day at an authentic family olive grove. There were about 16 of us who got a chance to go, we rode behind a pick up truck through the countryside before we reached their beautiful home. We were all welcomed with open arms by the grandmother of our bus driver. She kissed each one of us saying things in Greek we assumed could only be welcoming judging by the giant smile plastered on her face. The family was absolutely precious and 100% Greek, felt like we were walking into a movie.



After the greeting process we were put straight to work. We were each given a hand held rake (AKA olive comb) to retrieve the olives. There were giant tarps under all of the trees which would collect the olives as you would "comb" them out of the trees. One of the workers there gestured at my hair and pretended to brush it with his rake to give me instructions since he spoke no English (which was quite comical).

We spent the entire afternoon combing out the olives, naming the trees, and drinking Raki (which contrary to popular believe is not in fact hydrating). We gathered the olives in giant buckets after picking out all the twigs and leaves. From there they were taken to town to be made into olive oil. We finished the day with lunch which consisted of giant chunks of meet, a block of cheese, and half a tomato, completed with their homemade wine. Overall it was a successful day in the Greek countryside!