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From the olive grove

Anyone would expect that the only critical time for the quality of the olive oil is Winter when the olives are harvested. This season is the final result of conditions which existed in the previous periods of Spring, Summer and Autumn.

Let’s try to explain this in more detail. The olive tree is a tree with a long life cycle and of course like all living organisms, it has a specific biological cycle. The olive tree blooms, the blossoms are fertilised, they develop into the fruit, the fruit grows, at some stage it matures, the fruit is picked and collected, and then the whole procedure is repeated.

The blossoms

So, starting with spring, we characterise this as the blossoming period which is the period when the olive trees produce the flowers which will later develop into the fruit. Spring is a very important period meaning that this will indicate the first few but very important indications as to how the coming season will develop. It is the time of the beginning of fertilization. It is very important to have some specific weather conditions during the Spring, such as not very dramatic weather phenomena, not a combination of high humidity in relation to abrupt changes in temperature or very high temperatures as they can damage the blossoms of the olive tree and the blossoms which are damaged, will not mature to olive fruit.

The olive

Heading towards summer, the blossoms are gradually transformed into small fruits, the ‘pellets’ as they are called in Greek. They are very small at the beginning and slowly grow. It is very important during this period that they are not affected by irregular weather conditions, such as high atmospheric humidity or too much heat, with an objective for the fruit to grow and mature. Summer is also a very crucial period, especially for the southern areas of Greece where there is more intense olive production. In the summer, there are long periods of high temperatures resulting in the fruit being in danger of becoming vulnerable to certain diseases.

The Maturity

Autumn is a period when the fruit begins to grow. This is a very crucial stage as this is when the fruit creates the oil inside, and it is very important not to have any diseases such as dakus, which can begin in the very early stages. Dakos is an insect which attacks the olive tree with the capability within a short period of multiplying in many different biological cycles and significantly harming the olive tree. It is the greatest enemy, the most serious disease of the olive and particular weather conditions can contribute to its development. At the same time, different weather conditions such as extremely high temperatures in the summer can interrupt the biological cycle.

The Harvest

Autumn and winter, which is the harvesting period, are equally important. For example, if there is too much rain, the producers are unable to collect the olives. Consequently, many olives fall to the ground because of strong winds and the fruit itself is damaged by heavy rain, as result to be referred some new diseases which will certainly affect the quality of the oil.

It is important to note that oil from the same crop may differ from area to area. The reasons are the weather conditions and the micro climate, i.e., the local conditions which are connected with the structure of the soil, with the atmospheric humidity, with the local rains and the wind. For example, Kalamon olives have been planted in Kea and in California. This does not necessarily mean that the olives are the same.