Olive Pruning Day

Where I live in Central Italy, there are a large number of olive trees, all used to produce olive oil. There are two main times of the year when there is a lot of activity in the olive groves. The first is when the olives are picked in October and November. The second is when the olives are pruned in the spring. By the spring, the trees have a wonderful shape and canopy and the first time you ever see a tree pruned it is quite horrific! It looks like the trees are annhialated. In reality, of course, the pruners know exactly what they are doing, and the trees are pruned to encourage the necessary growth and shape for the best olive oil crop. The trees respond well to this intense pruning, thankfully.

In this photo art image, the pruners have turned up in their cars and have started to prune a large olive tree on the edge of the olive grove. There is still more to do, and the prunings will be gathered up and removed. These days they are usually mulched, in the old days the prunings were disposed of by burning. Still today you see regular fires across the landscape where the smaller olive groves, usually owned by families rather than the big growers, burn their cuttings.