THE OLIVE
THE OLIVE - DID YOU KNOW?
The olive was native to Asia Minor and spread from Iran, Syria and Palestine to the rest of the Mediterranean basin 6,000 years ago. It's among the oldest known cultivated trees in the world - being grown before the written language was even invented. The olive was being grown on Crete by 3,000 BC and may well have been the source of the wealth of the Minoan kingdom. The Phoenicians spread the olive to the Mediterranean shores of Africa and Southern Europe. Olives have been found in Egyptian tombs from as early as 2,000 years BC. The olive culture was spread to the early Greeks then Romans. As the Romans extended their domain they brought the olive with them. In most Mediterranean areas, olives are harvested in the months of November, December and January. But in Tuscany, where cooler valleys are sometimes touched with early frosts, the harvest can begin as early as the end of September.
For the first time last year, we ordered our olive from Italy fresh from the harvest - from Follonico in Tuscany - absolutely delicious and well worth the money! There are plenty of boutique hotels in Tuscany, Umbria and Puglia that offer this wonderful experience, most of them family-owned and family-run. Let me know if you would like other recommendations of boutique hotels in Italy where you can enjoy olive harvesting.