Picking-check. Pruning- no check

The harvest was long hard work but a lot of fun too. We brought the last load of olives to the press on December 30th. Grand total of 23 tons of olives, about 3 1/2 tons of olive oil.  We went right into pruning mode, since our small band of farmworkers is dwindling. It has been going great.  Pruning is an art, with each type of tree and each individual  tree needing a different emphasis. The basic idea is to cut away shoots from the base and lower trunk, get rid of dead wood, open up the tree to light and air, and keep the branches low enough to pick.
But after a week, when we had pruned about 1/3 of the grove and the pace was going great, the biggest rainstorm we've seen in a while hit and hasn't stopped for 5 days.  Temperatures dropped from t shirt weather to winter coats and boots.  About 250 mm has fallen in that period, over half our yearly average. You can see in the picture that the bottom edge of the grove near the wadi is under water.  This will dry up within a few days, and no harm done. But meanwhile the pruning has been on hold. Today we got a little work done, and hopefully the next couple days before Jan Ruth and Chaz head off to the big world . Great working with great friends. .

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