Before you know it the new harvest season has begun. The Shimlali were especially early to ripen this year, but the volunteers were arriving only around November 1. Fortunately the Habonim workshop, a group from North America (and one Englishman!) in Israel for the year, were happy to come help for a day. It's amazing what 17 people can get done. Thanks Rox for organizing a great weekend.  So  the Shimlali is all picked and pressed, although the yield is much smaller than last year. Now we are picking the Suri and some of the Nabali as well. The Barnea, which usually has the highest yields, has virtually no olives on the trees. At this rate we should be finished with the harvest in 2-3 weeks. But there's always pruning and other work to be done. Can't wait to taste the fresh oil!

Today is the first day of the Jewish New Year. Here in Israel most things are closed, and everyone is eating, praying, hiking, visiting,and just hanging. 
So how does this effect the olive grove?  Part of being kosher is not picking olives from trees that are younger than 3 years old. This is called "Orlah". If a tree is planted a day after Rosh Hashana (New Years) then you need to wait an entire extra year before the fruit can be harvested.  So this year we wanted to plant some new trees to finish of the new section of the grove with a new variety for Gezer- Picholine, a French variety. So I rushed to buy the trees and get them planted just before the holiday.
So now I'm resting, happy to know the trees are in the ground. Hopefully in 3 years we'll taste their oil for the first time. 

In addition to selling Gezer olive oil at the Gezer colbo (store), sales through Arye (who sells our oil in gallon containers  in Tel Aviv) and directly to customers, we  have also started selling Gezer olive oil through HaOrgani, an online organic food store. Check out their website at:
Haorgani.co.il

They buy food from different farmers and deliver to customers who order from an online menu. If you contact them, let them know how you heard about them.  If anyone has any other marketing ideas, we'd be glad to hear about them.
In the Gezer colbo, we also sell Gezer olive oil soap (plain and with Dead Sea mud), and eating olives from the Suri and Nabali varieties. We  hope to begin making our own homemade zaatar. I have started planting wild marjoram, and am looking for bushes to grow sumac. Maybe we'll even grow our own sesame seeds!

Every few months I read about new research that proves the benefits of olive oil. The latest is from Germany, which claims that even the smell of olive oil increases serotonin in the blood, which makes you feel full.  http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/is-the-secret-to-olive-oil-in-its-scent/


On a more sober note, this past Wednesday April 24th on channel 10 in Israel the Colbotek show is airing a story about the rampant fraud in olive oil in Israel.  Some olive oil that's bottled and used in restaurants is actually some kind of oil that is not suitable for eating!
The segment is available for viewing (for now) on the internet. It's a bit overdramatic, but makes the point. Now we see if someone does something about the problem.
http://kolbotek.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=973229