Olive picking and a GIVEAWAY

The heart of winter. 

It's the time of year that olives are ready.

Can I describe it? Certainly. 
I have just two words for you: tough work.

As romantic as it may seem, olive picking is not. 
Yes, we practically 'live' in the olive grove as we go early in the morning and leave just before sunset.However, there are hardly the perfect weather conditions for it: cold, rain, frost and wind are no friends to olive pickers. Of course there are times when there is sun and it's warm, in which case it's a feast! You can only hear the birds, bells of sheep that are gazing or even the distant voices of olive pickers in nearby groves. Sometimes it's so quiet that even insects can be heard.It's the time that the sun makes this rare silver green colour of the olive tree leaves shine in the breeze. It's then that I take my camera and start picking photos instead...

Our olive grove. What a striking difference of the grass green and the olive green...

Olive picking is really hard work. When I get back home after a day's work my body aches aaaall over. Imagine how this is when it goes on everyday for weeks. On top, olive pickers are always in stress since they need to make the best use of the weather and the short ammount of hours during winter daytime.

After the olives are picked, we make sure we leave no twigs or bad olives that will inevidably destroy the oil's flavour.  It's quite time consuming, but it's worhtwhile. I like dipping my hand in this pile! The feeling is awsome!

Not only is it hard, but a dangerous work, too! During the olive picking period the hospitals get filled with people who have accidents. The most common is that they fall off  ladders and they break legs, hands, or backs. Unfortunately, I  had this experience with my father falling off the ladder and ending up with his both hands broken- nothing romantic about it. I can assure you!

Peacefulness...

Yet, all this pain, effort and exhaustion simply dissapear the moment the first golden drops of the new olive oil that have just come home from 'liotrivi' (the place where olives are pressed) touch a slice of homemade toasted bread.It's the highest reward an olive picker can get. Not to mention the best snack to take with them to the grove the next day!

The healthiest snack

 How does fresh olive oil taste like? Heavenly!
 It has got a light greenish colour and as it matures, it gets clearer and turns yellow. Of course it's flavour also changes getting deeper and it loses these fresh, fruity tones to an extent.

This year our oil was of an amazing quality (not every year is the same, as the weather conditions greatly affect it)! It has the most subtle fruity taste and I just can't stop dipping chunks of bread in a bowl with olives and olive oil- it's my favourite lunch and supper these days. 

Another version I like is bread, a pinch of salt, olive olive and fresh thyme: an explosion of flavours in my mouth!
 

 My dad has a spoonful of olive oil everyday before breakfast: a bomb of vitamines! And of course all kind of food gets more exciting drizzled with olive oil. In Greece olive oil is in our everyday diet and we use it everywhere. There is no salad dressing without olive oil in it, it's the most basic ingredient! We always use it in cooking, in baking, even in desserts, practically everywhere!

A green river of olive trees flows into the blue sea in my father's village

So, to celebrate this year's harvest,
I'm happy to announce a giveaway!!!!!!!!
A small bottle of our fresh olive oil along with ideas how to enjoy it, will be sent over to you!

What do you need to do to enter?
2 options:

1. Just leave a comment on this posting and become a follower 
 of my blog (in the case that you aren't already)

If you would like to double your chances to win:

  2. Spread the news to other bloggers either by linking to this posting  or by reffering to it in one of your postings 
(in which cases make sure to let me know)

The giveaway will be open until 10th February.
The winner will be announced on the 13th February.

Hoping that I challenged your appettite enough!
Looking forward to your entries!