We had a good time at the Caltech Olive Festival.They had some really cool tripod ladders that volunteers were climbing on. Everyone seemed to have their own method of picking the olives. Some swatted the trees, others picked each olive carefully while others made raking or stripping motions.
This is the mill that crushes the olives. We didn't get to see it in action but it is a serious piece of machinery.
This is the press that squishes the juice out of the crushed up olives that come out of the mill. The liquid from the press is then sent to the centrifuge (is this how the Greeks did it?)
To control the olive fly they use a special yeast mixed with water and hung from the trees in plastic water bottles. Small, precisely sized holes are drilled in the necks of the bottles which allow the flies to crawl in through but from which they cannot escape.
More pictures at our flickr account.
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looks pretty interesting...plus i LOVE olives!
ReplyDeleteAnother year that we missed the Olive Festival, the pictures were a wonderful substitute. Did you stay for dinner?
ReplyDeleteMimi C.
No, the dinner was for volunteers which we weren't able to do this year. Next year I'd like to volunteer though. It looks like hard work but fun.
ReplyDeleteHey there! I was at the Harvest too. Definitely volunteer next year. The rewards are handsome!
ReplyDelete