Joy and Pain

Our freshly picked olives

YES we managed ,it’s  done. But let’s start from the beginning.

On Saturday morning by 9.30 am the mist had disappeared and  warm sun shine welcomed our guests, twenty three altogether, consisting of 14 nice girls and a young professor all from the American school based  here in Orvieto, 4 close friends, two adorable children and of course  my dear parents.

The organization was perfect: after a quick explanation by Nick regarding what needed to be done, 7 big nets and many sticks with a plastic hand nailed to the end,  were on the field ready to be used. Everyone put on their gloves and took their position under the trees and  the harvest began.

In the meantime my mom and I, after drinking a strong cup of coffee, turned  the ovens and stove on and the Sagraincasa Kitchen was ready for action too:

On the Menu:
Fresh  Focaccia baked with salt and rosemary  served with a good Mortadella D.O.P.
Eggplant Parmigiana

Lentils from Gradoli cooked in a red wine, herbs and few home grown chillies.
Thick Chickpea soup cooked with Cannolicchi pasta , fresh rosemary and extra virgin olive oil
Pork sausages gently cooked with vegetables, capers, olives and balsamic vinegar.

We set three tables under the porch and by 1pm everyone was  enjoying their lunch. It was a lovely, relaxing time, with  the atmosphere so cozy  that when we had finished eating, a large group of the students decided to move on into the living room , lie down on the two sofas in front of the roaring fire, and watch TV ! Outside the young professor and I were chatting about how the day had gone and he very kindly professed that  everyone had enjoyed the experience so much they would be more than happy to come back and help with ANY task ,even tilling the soil in the spring…… …anything, he said, we just want to eat your food again. How sweet is that !!

The next morning in the (promised ) heavy rain (we felt so relieved all the picking had been done) we left our 160 kilograms of olives down to Frantoio (the olive press), we hope that once pressed the result  will be around  20/23 litres of Fresh Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  We had already rightly guessed the production was going to be exactly half of last years. But never mind , I thought , it’s still enough to make a good few bruschetta !

Unfortunately, at this point our happy story takes a turn for the worst . During the night the rain carried on falling , growing heavier and heavier . Lightning and thunder shook the house  and in the morning we heard that the river Paglia had burst her banks . A flash flood had torn through Allerona Scalo destroying acres of vineyard and completely flooding the Olive press where we had left our olives !!!

In the morning we drove down to see  the situation for ourselves . The area looked like a disaster zone with vines thrown to the ground and mud everywhere. Once inside the Frantoio , we saw that everybody was working hard to get it cleaned up and back to work .” Hopefully two days” we were told. Luckily no one was hurt and to our great surprise  one of the guys working there Laughed and said “ your olives are still there , I don’t know how they didn’t get washed away “.

The river Paglia

There seems to be no let up in the rain . I only hope that no more damage will be done and that all those who have already lost a lot, will be back on their feet soon.  As for us , a few olives would not have been such a great loss .This years crop may have been small ,but it will definitely be remembered !