October and thoughts drift to olive picking

Sukkot is here, the nights are even a bit chilly, we've had our first sprinkle of rain, the World Series approaches, the chatzav has bloomed and the first wildflowers have popped up..... and that means olive picking time is near! Once again we have a few WWOOFERS coming to help at the beginning of November, from Germany, Italy and Israel. And once again, Ruth and Jan will make their way from the frozen tundra of Norway in mid-November to spend a couple months here at Gezer. So it looks like we'll have a top notch crew, supplemented with help from various Gezer folks. If you are interested in helping, we can't really take any more long term people, but for a day or a few days we can always squeeze in more. So come on over. 

Meanwhile I'm working to get things ready, arranging rooms to stay in, equipment, getting the kashrut guy to come tell us the olive orchard is pickable (!) and not to pick olives from the youngest trees , and generally getting excited.  Can you feel it?

The yield isn't too great. The Nabali and Suri trees are nice and loaded, but the Shimlali and Barnea olives vary from few to non-existent.  Such is nature. I think we'll harvest at least 5 tons of olives. Any bets?