Watching the Olives Grow

by Stavros Allanopolis

  Both sets of works involved pruning and digging up some Olive trees. Consequently, there were a lot of branches and tree stumps left lying around, and I decided that these would be perfect for burning.

  As part of the national fire prevention laws, the local law restrictions do not permit any fires during the period 1st April to 31st October, so we were going to be ok with our bonfire on the 5th. Notwithstanding, if we did have a large bonfire, I knew that we would have to be vigilant because, despite the rainfall recently, the sun has dried the grasses in the surrounding Olive tree groves and do present an element of risk.

  I went and found Valerie and explained my idea and she thought it would be fun. So, we made the suggestion to Anne Grethe to host a joint party for some of our friends. She also thought it was a great idea.

  We also agreed to provide Chilli Con Carne, Spinach Cannelloni, Rice, Ciabbata bread and a mixed Salad. We drew up a list of 10 people who we all knew, and who knew each other too, and made telephone invitations. The invitations extended advised our guests to bring their own wine and beer, other alcohol and glasses!

  We agreed that Valerie and Anne Grethe would share the food preparation between them, and my two tasks were to build the bonfire and get the fireworks. Simples!

  I set about collecting all Anne Grethe’s cuttings, some of our own and others nearby, and built a really great bonfire. A ‘pyramid’ shape about two metres high. It looked great and I couldn’t wait to light it!

  Next, I went to Kalamata to get the fireworks. There is only one shop in the whole region who has a licence to sell fireworks; Big Bang Events!

  The owner of the shop explained that they specialise in professional pyrotechnic displays for weddings, birthdays and other big celebrations like New Year and Church Name Days, as well as selling fireworks. www.bigbangevents.com

  He told me that he was not able to sell me rockets by law because of the fire risk, but he had a wide selection of other fireworks.

  As the fireworks were quite expensive, I restricted the mix of the selection. I chose some Roman Candles and other ‘pretty’ sparkling items, and a few things that went ‘whizzzzz’ when lit! I cannot remember the last time I had celebrated Guy Fawkes Bonfire Night, but I was quite excited now, and looking forward to our event at Meerkat Manor.

  I returned from Kalamata and showed Valerie what I had purchased, and then went in search of Annne Grethe to show her my selection. She was quite excited at the prospect too!

  As we were chatting, we collected a few odd branches that I had missed in her garden and walked over to the clearing to put them on top of the pyramid. What pyramid? It had gone! What! It wasn’t there! Vanished into thin air! It was there when I left for Kalamata, and now a few hours later it was nowhere to be seen. What was going on?

  With only one day to go, someone had stolen our bonfire! It transpired, that Anne Grethe’s builder thought that I had collected all the ‘rubbish’ for him to take away! As Greece does not have a tradition of “Remember, remember the 5th of November, Guy Fawkes, gunpowder, treason and shot,” he was oblivious to the fact that I had constructed the pyramid of wood deliberately. Curiously, it is very un-Greek to tidy up in this way as they usually leave their rubbish for others to clear up for them!

  Anyway, not to panic, there was plenty more to be had, so I set about collecting more branches and cuttings again to build another bonfire.

  This time, the builder was under strict instructions not to touch it!

  After building another pyramid shape, I decided that we ought to have a ‘Guy’ to put on top. I went in search of some old clothes and papers for the stuffing and constructed ‘Guy Fawkes’ to place on the top of the wood pile, high in the clearing between our two houses. This task was easier said than done as I don’t have many items of clothing that I don’t wear. I selected my oldest jeans and my oldest long sleeved shirt and decided that they had to go towards a good cause!

  Everybody turned up around 7.30pm, and at 8pm we lit the fire. A big cheer went up as the flames started to take a hold on the wooden pile, and made their way up towards ‘Guy Fawkes’. It was a great sight!

  Photo: Guy Fawkes – All Dressed Up.

  Photo: Flames Take Hold Of Guy Fawkes.

  I was very pleased with both my construction of the fire and my ‘Guy Fawkes’, who looked quite fetching my blue jeans and check shirt.

  I wasn’t so sure about his face and head though which I had made out of an old canvas holdall!

  We were seated around two tables put lengthways and as close to the fire as we could manage without getting too hot. The fire burned bright, the food was excellent, and everybody was drinking their drink of choice! We all had a good time.

  At around midnight our guests left, and we decided to leave the tables and chairs out in the clearing for the night and leave the washing up until the morning.

  As we collected the food plates to take inside, the embers were still glowing quite brightly, and I realised that it had been quite a unique experience; Out in the open air, eating and drinking under the stars, beside the fire, and with the temperature around 21C! This environment was not to be wasted – time for a ‘night cap’ before going to bed.

  What a ‘night cap’ it was too!

  Anne Grethe had given Valerie some of her Pomegranates and she had made some into juice. The three of us sat there under the stars, in the glow of the embers, drinking chilled Vodka and Pomegranate juice shots. Delicious combination!

  The following morning it was ‘business as usual’ which meant that Valerie was back to the weeding, and I was painting the railings, and fulfilling some ‘Watching’ session!

  Virtually every other day during November was the same too, and virtually every other day was dry too. Believe it or not, I was hoping for rain! If the Olives were to be big enough to pick, then we needed more rain to help ‘Plump’ them up.

  My only ‘escape’ from the daily routine was to be a visit to the UK for my Client during the last four days of the month. Needs must!

  So, on November 28th I set off for the UK.

  As I left the house, the temperature was 25 C (it had been as hot as that every day for the last two weeks), and I was heading for sub-zero temperatures!

  I had checked the weather on the Internet and seen reports on the UK television news channels, and the UK was having snow; lots of snow. In fact, so much snow in Scotland that motorways were closed and people were stranded in their cars overnight.

  I didn’t like the sight or sound of this one little bit!

  I duly arrived in London to find that, although there was no snow, it was freezing cold.

  I travelled to a Country Park hotel on the outskirts of Cirencester in the Cotswolds. It had been built in the midst of a nature reserve and was surrounded by six lakes, all of which were frozen over!

  Job done, I returned to London and an Airport hotel to spend the night before taking the early morning flight back to Athens.

  It was BITTERLY cold when I got to Heathrow for my return on the Wednesday night; temperature at around - 2 C !

  I turned the heating up to 32C and slept with two duvets on the bed!

  The following morning was colder still, and the snow had arrived in London, and more worryingly at London Airport! Just over 5cm of snow had fallen overnight, including on the runway. I feared the worst!

  I checked in at 6am and boarded soon after. The Captain greeted everybody with ‘Good News, Bad News, Good News, Bad News’ which seemed to go on forever!

  “Welcome aboard Ladies and Gentlemen. The ‘Good News’ is that the plane has had its wings de-iced ready for take-off.

  The ‘Bad News’ is that we don’t know when it was done because the Engineer failed to enter the time in his Log Book, and we will not be allowed to take off until we have had it confirmed that it was less than two hours ago, and this is as a safety precaution.”

  He went on, “The ‘Good News’ is that we are in the queue to have them de-iced again. The ‘Bad Ne
ws’ is that we are 15th in the queue. Even more ‘Bad News’ is that we will probably miss our take-off slot!”

  In the end, we had to have the wings of the plane de-iced twice before take-off, but although two hours late, we did get off the ground.

  I got home around 9 o clock in the evening and it reminded me of "Gee, but isn’t it great to be back home!"

  Even at that time of night, I had returned to 21 C! As we went to bed, with only a sheet covering us, I could once again hear the sound of the waves gently rolling up on to the sand and stones at Pantazi Beach.

  Back home in ‘Paradise!’

  DECEMBER 2010

  I cannot even begin to describe how I felt when I opened the front door on the Friday morning, to see the sun and blue skies and the temperature already at 22 C! I set about unpacking. I put my dirty clothes into the washing machine, and then read and answered all my emails, and after breakfast, it was off to the village to the Post Office to see if there were any letters. Oh no! No letters, but ‘Bad News’ was delivered. As part of the savings in the ‘Austerity Measures’ plan, Local Government has decided that the Post Office is going to close. There is no Post Office in nearby Stoupa, so, in future, everybody will have to travel to Kardamyli, which is just over 20 minutes by car.

  This will mean that over 1000 people from the surrounding areas will have to go to Kardamyli to send and receive their mail and parcels, and to collect their pensions, withdraw money from savings accounts, pay insurance renewals, pay car tax and pay their utility bills. Disaster! The service at the Post Office in Kardamyli is not good at the best of times; slow, dead slow or stopped for coffee! Now it will get to be even worse with so many people having to go there.

  It seemed a strange decision. Also, what about the cost for the customers in terms of time and petrol or bus fares? Not to mention the cost of the ‘Carbon Footprint’ from all those journeys. The older folks with no transport will be hit the worst. If they don’t get a lift then they will have to use public transport. The only buses are at 8am and 10am. The Post Office hours are morning only as it closes at 1pm. The only return bus is at 2.30pm. Big problem!

  An even bigger problem will be generated for the businesses in Agios Nikolaos. For certain, if the closure goes ahead, the coffee shops and the small grocery store will be affected. Probably people will have their coffee and do their shopping in Kardamyli when they go for their mail. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. No point in worrying.

  Very soon it will be time for our harvest. This year it will be a little trickier than the previous two because the garden has developed so much; more paths, more plants, more rocks to scramble over and the steel fence to circumnavigate.

  Meerkat Manor is ever the challenge!

  Valerie and I are used to it, but Antonis and his team haven’t been here for a year and I think that the additional elements will slow them down. Meanwhile, all around me in the Olive tree groves surrounding Meerkat Manor, the harvest has started and teams of men descend on the trees and strip the Olives off the branches and put them into hessian sacks to be taken to the Olive press. Ours won’t be far behind them!

  There are several presses nearby, so I decided to walk up to the one in our nearest village; Riglia. As I walked through the grove, I saw sacks stacked up waiting to be collected and when I got to the press there were quite a few loaded on wooden pallets waiting for their turn to be pressed.

  Photo: Sacks Of Olives Awaiting Collection.

  Photo: Full Sacks Being Stored Before Pressing.

  When their turn comes, the sacks are loaded into a big hopper and from there they get washed.

  Photo: Olives Going Into The Hopper.

  The stones are extracted, and the Olives then proceed along the production line to be crushed and pressed to squeeze their oil out.

  Eventually, the crushed Olives produce oil which gets filtered under pressure to produce the finished oil which is then pumped into large holding tanks ready for dispensing into the various tins and containers that the owners take it away in.

  We use 18 litre cans as they are easier to carry and store, but some owners have their oil pumped into containers that can hold as much as 100 litres or more; bigger business than ours that’s for sure!

  During the harvest, the presses usually work 24 hours a day until the whole harvest has been gathered in and the Olives pressed to produce the oil.

  The press in Riglia still uses one of the traditional stone wheels to grind the Olives.

  Photo: A ‘Traditional’ Stone Wheel In Action.

  www.Oliveoilsource.com is a good website to visit as it explains in great detail the process for making Olive oil.

  Also, if you ‘Google’ the subject of ‘Making Olive Oil In Greece’ you will find a whole list of sites to visit to understand more about oil production and oil products.

  Meanwhile, back in the Olive grove, after the sacks of Olives are taken away to be pressed, the trees are pruned and the discarded branches are burned, and I can see a lot of this activity from my terrace at the same time as I am doing my job of ‘Watching.’ I can see and smell the smoke as it drifts up into the sky.

  Sometimes the fires can be quite big, with huge flames leaping up to the clear blue sky above them, fanned by the gentle breeze.

  These flames usually don’t last for long as it is just the small leaves burning quickly; the branches take a little longer and the flames are less fierce. As I look towards the surrounding hillsides, there is a lot of smoke from other bonfires as they burn the cuttings. Lots of men having fun with their fires!

  Photo: Burning Branches.

  Sunday 12th December was a ‘first’ for us, as there was a GAIA Festival. GAIA is a voluntary organisation for Firefighting, Rescue and Medical Services. The volunteers serve the region in times of Emergency. They are in addition to any other service and are required for services in the rural area, especially in the event of fires.

  The Festival was the first of its kind and it was to raise money for new equipment; tyres for the volunteers’ Fire Engine and a new stretcher cradle for mountain rescue. It appears that although the region cannot manage without their services, they get no Government funding whatsoever.

  The day was bright and sunny and over 1,000 people turned out to support them. A bazaar had been organized with food stalls, local craftwork and a whole host of other stalls with ‘bits and bobs’ for sale. It was just like a ‘Car Boot Sale’.

  The only the difference was that this was being held on the main road along the sea front in Stoupa. The road had been closed for the day in order that everybody could move freely without any fear of traffic. There was even a band playing Traditional Greek Folk and Rock music! All the proceeds went to the GAIA fund. Everybody appeared to be having a great time and all for a good cause.

  The following day, the expression ‘needs must’ came to the fore again, and once again I am off to Athens to work with my client; Monday, week two December.

  Meanwhile, I am still hearing reports on the radio that the UK is experiencing snow, ice, frost and generally very cold and miserable weather conditions. However, as I travelled, I realized that some of it had spread to Greece! As I travelled towards Athens, I could see snow on the tops of the mountains. Great for those planning to go skiing but not those that prefer the creature comforts of warmth at home!

  The 48 hours passed quickly, and once more I returned, late at night, to the ‘welcoming and reassuring’ sound of the waves rolling up on to Pantazi Beach.

  As I have said before, the trouble with staying in city and airport hotels is that I cannot sleep with the windows open, and I cannot hear the sound of the waves breaking on the sand! So, it was great to sleep in my own bed once more. Bliss; the sound of the sea!

  The following morning, I was soon back into the ‘routine’ and here I was back on the ‘Watching’ terrace once more. The long term weather forecast said that rain was on its way. With less than 10 days to go before Christmas, last Friday and Saturday
it had been 26 C, and so bright and sunny, but the forecast rain and 'gloom' started on the Sunday afternoon.

  The cloud base thickened and we had had rain for three days. Chilly but not too cold at 14 C. However, and regardless, the plants enjoyed it; the rain is very good for the garden and plants, but maybe too late to benefit the Olives.

  I was right. It was all too late for the Olives. The ‘gloom’ of the weather wasn’t the only type. I became ‘gloomy’ too after Antonis and his men harvested the Olives. It was very, very poor. It seems that despite my best efforts of ‘Watching’ them and generally encouraging them to grow, they did not ripen properly. Antonis told me that they did not get enough rain in the spring and also no rain during September and this meant that they would not produce very much oil. In fact it will be so little that it won’t really be worth paying to have it done. Time for a decision; heart-breaking though it was.

  I decided to let Antonis have whatever Olives he harvested to add to his own sacks from his harvest. So, for the first time in four years, Valerie and I will have to buy Olive oil for our cooking and food as we won't have enough oil to last for the next 12 months, in fact, right up until next year's harvest!

  After picking the meager amount of Olives, I asked Antonis and his men to prune and cut the trees very hard to get them into better shape for next year. Despite the rain, it didn’t take him very long, and they are looking much better. The cutting was quite severe and drastic, but it is for the best as the trees did need the attention, they hadn’t been pruned like this for years.

  It was rather an ‘empty’ moment for me, and not even the prospect of the bonfires to follow cheered me up. I felt that somehow I had failed. I don’t know enough about growing Olives, because if I did I would have spotted that they weren’t ripening properly. If I had known that fact, then I would have watered them during the hot days of September to help them develop.