- Olives can be harvested green or black
- Traditional olive harvest in the producing countries
- Modern harvesting methods
- tips and tricks
Olive growers in the Mediterranean countries have had thousands of years of experience in timing a harvest. But when should you harvest olives in Germany?
Olives can be harvested green or black
With good care and lots of sun, it should not be unusual if you can also harvest fruit from your own olive tree in Germany. Many people believe that green and black olives belong to different varieties - they are just different degrees of ripeness. The darker an olive, the more mature it is. You can therefore also harvest unripe - i.e. green - olives. Green olives contain significantly less oil than black ones and therefore fewer calories. However, they taste bitter. In this case, the optimal harvest time depends on your personal taste. However, olives cannot be eaten fresh, they must be pickled.
Traditional olive harvest in the producing countries
Unless you own an olive grove in Tuscany, you probably won't be able to harvest too much fruit from your olive tree. Olives are traditionally harvested by hand, and the riper they are, the easier it is to separate the fruit. So you can just pick the olives from the tree. The same goes for the olive farmers in the producing countries, who often knock the fruit off the branches with rakes or sticks. The falling olives are caught by a dense mesh net. A method that seems very brutal is also widespread, but it saves a lot of time: the farmers saw off entire fruit-bearing branches and twigs in order to loosen the fruit later. Since the olive trees are pruned after the harvest, the farmers do two work steps at once in this way.
Modern harvesting methods
In many places, however, so-called vibrating machines are used to briefly shake the trees. The olives then fall to the ground, being caught by a net again. However, the disadvantage of the otherwise more effective machines is that they can only be used on level terrain. Otherwise, however, they are just as gentle on the tree and fruit as harvesting by hand. Ultimately, only the time of harvest is decisive for the quality of table olives or olive oil. The olives should be ripe, but not overripe. Ripe olives falling to the ground alone will yield an inferior quality oil.
tips and tricks
In order to be able to pick olives yourself, you should have at least two olive trees. Although many olives are self-pollinating, cross-pollination produces significantly more fruit.