Why I'm Not Afraid to Pay Big Money for Olives
I live on the side of a mountain. I have a terraced garden as a backyard. I have at least 3 olive trees in aforementioned backyard. Now picture this: those three trees are nearly perfectly placed so that only that really tall guy in Middle America could actually REACH said olives. They're not just out of reach in that if I stood on my tiptoes I could reach the branch, hold it and pick the olives. No, they are about 2 - 3 feet away - just close enough to see every luscious olive that is completely, totally, 100% out of my reach. And remember - it's terraced, so after a few feet it becomes twice as far away... sigh. Today Mark and I tried to pick 4 pounds of these olives. We might have gotten one pound. Mark tried shaking the tree, at one point he stood on the steps and gently hit the branches with our broom - plunk, plunk - so much expended energy for such a miniscule return! By the end I was laughing so hard. Here he was, with the broom straight over his head - bobbling it up and down - to get _plunk_ one olive... At one point I was picking olives and because of the angle of the sun I couldn't see what I was doing really well - twice I got branches stuck in my glasses. What geeks are we?!
This was sort of my parents idea - they really encouraged us. We really should have done this while they were here. I know they would have thought of some crazy successful way to get the olives. But we didn't. I guess I felt like I'd be disappointing them if I didn't try.
Well, we tried. And I'll be first in line to pay for premium olives in the future. We will try to do something with the olives we picked; however, I don't think we'll try again next winter. Unless we get really desperate for exercise or something :-)
Comments
Okay, okay. So it was an 'interesting' idea. ;-) And now we know why we saw all those olive groves on FLAT land. I love the images you painted. I can just see Mark waving that broom over his head, attaching that evil olive tree.
Let me clarify for the rest of you. The olive tree that grows on the terrace actually has its roots at about shoulder-high level and overhangs a spot of terrace, making it even more inaccessable.
Good try though. You would have thought wacking the try would have worked since the *&%# olives fall down every day, littering the walkway.
Posted by: Nannie | January 21, 2005 10:09 PM
I know! That made it even worse! I'd swept something like 3 tons of olives out of the way so that I could pick & shake off fresh ones - and then all we got was maybe 30 olives by shaking, shaking, shaking!! Gah!
Posted by: Mara Fojas | January 22, 2005 01:05 AM
pretty olives, fallin' on the street, pretty olives, the kind i like to eat.
so, there I was, just awalkin' down the street singin' do a ditty ditty dum ditty do, they look good, they look fine, and everybody knows they're mine! cause i'm the only one who can reach them!
next winter. perhaps i'll be there. I know I'll have a chore to do when I get there. but, when i'm done picking, don't be surprised if all you get are the integuments!
Posted by: really tall guy in middle america | January 23, 2005 07:43 AM
Hey, Mensch, you can pick them but, unless you stay for quite a while, you won't be eating them. They take from 3 weeks to 3 months to cure. They are quite inedible right off the tree.!
' Love your little song!
Posted by: Nannie | January 23, 2005 04:03 PM
Unfortunately, if you come in the summer there will be no olives on the trees, sorry. Well, there might be green ones, but with these olives you really want to wait until they're purple.
But then, not to worry, there are very yummy olives to be bought here :-) Plus, they're free in all the falafel places!
Posted by: Mara | January 24, 2005 10:40 AM