Harvest 2007 is Here

We're excited around here because our 2007 harvest has begun. We've already started making our Estate Organic and it promises to be spectacular. As we walk around the orchard, we see most of the trees are full with the olive fruit. We wanted to start milling in early October, but the olives were just not ready. When we checked back in two weeks later, they were set to go! Last week we milled our first drops of our early harvest, rich estate organic. We wish you could have experienced the earthy aroma filling the room as the olives were pressed.

In late November we will check in on the olives for our Late Harvest Gold. For this late harvest olive oil, the olives need to be completely mature to provide that smooth and mild taste so characteristic of this product.

Creamy Pumpkin Soup — without the cream!

Here’s a warm, satisfying soup that is healthy and delicious. It’s texture is creamy, but without the cream! We use olive oil instead of butter or cream. The secret is in the blending method. Okay, go ahead and drizzle some cream on top if you like as an added decorative touch.

Ingredients
Small pumpkin, cut in half
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons Olinda Ridge Olinda Gold extra virgin olive oil
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. oil the cut side of the pumpkin, and place cut side on a baking sheet. Place in oven and bake until the pumpkin is soft, and a fork can break it apart easily.
3. Remove the pumpkin from the oven. Scoop out the seeds and separate the pumpkin from the skin.
4. In a medium saucepan, sauté the onions in the olive oil until soft and golden.
5. Add the pumpkin pieces and salt and pepper, and stir to coat with the olive oil and mix with the onion.
6. Add the broth a little at a time, stirring. Cook for about 5-10 minutes. The consistency should be slightly thick, and not too liquidy.
7. Remove from heat and using a hand immersion blender*, proceed to blend the soup thoroughly until completely creamy. You will note the soup taking on a lighter color as you blend, as if you added cream to it.
8. Serve plain or with desired garnishes.

Serves 4

* If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a food processor to purée the mixture.

Substitution: You can also try this recipe with butternut squash or zucchini.

Picking Olives

The first time I picked olives during the harvesting season was not on the Olinda ranch, but actually at a friend's vineyard in Catalonia, Spain. The vineyards are skirted by several rows of olive trees, pressed into extra virgin olive oil, and sold as well. Even though grapes are Jordi's primary crop, he feels strongly about conserving the landscape and traditions of the area, and as the olive trees are a large part of the culture, he tends to them as well.

Jordi was gracious enough to let me learn about the manual methods they used to gather the olives. His father and neighbor were already up in the trees when I arrived. I admit I wondered what they thought about an American woman coming to pick olives! Jordi gave me a a small hand tool like a rake to comb through the branches, like brushing one's hair. The olives easily came off, sometimes with the whole branch. From the first moment I raked through the branch, I felt like I was at home. I imagined my mother and her family back in Sicily doing the same thing. A whole history coursed through me and I understood what the tales were about -- the black hands, the olive collections, the family gathering to work together. It was relaxing and satisfying to comb through the trees while the neighbor told tales about his army experience, and the men told jokes in general. I understood some as they spoke in Catalan, and occasionally translated in Spanish.

Jordi told me that originally the olives weren't picked until they were ripe. He asked his father when they would start, and he chimed in the thirteenth of December through mid-March! Nowadays, the mills wanted a more complex flavor that is achieved by picking them around November. Harvest time is condensed into three weeks or so.

Once we were finished with a tree, we would transfer the olives onto one net, move the rest to the next tree. The one left behind, we would pile up the olives, and then cart them to the truck to sort through a wire grate. As I was sorting through a batch, I came across a silver watch that fell off of the neighbor while he worked! Later, Jordi and his father would drive the whole batch to the local mill the next town away. Jordi said that after some time, if you stick your hand in the middle of the batch, it gets really hot as the olives start to ferment.

We picked about 7-8 trees that afternoon. We were in the middle of doing a rather large tree as the sun set. I wondered how long they kept it up without light. It was tough to see and I imagined I missed many. All at once, Jordi announced we were done. It was peaceful and beautiful. I felt so at home and thrilled to have the opportunity to do this at the time.